1. What is this database about? Why are you maintaining it?
2. Where did you get this database from?
3. Why isnt my record in the database?
4. I found the person I was searching for, but the details are wrong. Why is it so?
5. Why are only the Officers covered in the database? Why not cover the airmen / SNCOs and Warrant Officers?
6. The details in my batch are wrong – How can I correct my details and other entries?
7. I would like to volunteer for this effort. What can I do?
8. But isn’t all this personal information restricted and secret? Why are you disclosing this to foreign agencies?
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1. What is this database about? Why are you maintaining it?
The Indian Air Force Service numbers were constituted in the middle of the Second World War. The sequence of numbers start from 1551 and are believed to be currently in the 29000 range as of 2006 (Update: 35000 as of 2016). This query page gives access to a database of available Service numbers for Officers. Clicking on the individual service number in the results page will run an additional query on a database of gallantry and service awards, as well as an appointments database and provide a “Record View” page that lists out the service details of an Officer.
But why are Bharat-Rakshak.com and its webmasters maintaining this database? Well, initially the effort started off as building a database of all Officers who fought in the Second World War. Once that was afoot, we could not stop and here we are!
2. Where did you get this database from?
This database in its existing form has been compiled from publicly available sources like awards lists, Gazette of India Notifications , Library archives etc.
3. Why isnt my record in the database?
Currently 95% of records between 1551 and 30000 are available. Roughly put there is a 95% chance of a record that you are searching for being there in the database. The chances of finding the record is higher if its an older one, or if that particular person had received an award or a recognition. To give an idea of the size of the database – of the nearly 35000 service numbers till date, our database currently has 30021. 85% of all issued numbers and more.
4. I found the person I was searching for, but the details in the entry are wrong. Why is it so? How can I correct it?
Most of the records are based on the 1942, 1944, 1945 and 1956 Air Force Lists, Gazette of India Notifications – and award lists. There is a high probability that the details like rank, dates etc are either missing or are incorrect. You are welcome to email the webmasters the corrected information.
5. Why are only the Officers covered in the database? Why not cover the airmen / SNCOs and Warrant Officers?
Unfortunately the database currently covers only commiissioned officers. Personnel below officer ranks can be queried in the Gallantry and Service Awards database if they had received an award . Some reasons that no database is maintained for PBORs are as follows:
There is no publicly available database available that provides the information.
Moreover many of the older airmen records dating back from the Second World War were reportedly destroyed in the early 80s keeping in view with the policies. Thus many of the older records of airmen are not available even with the Air Force.
The current database is maintained by only two individuals and thus maintaining an additional database is beyond the available resources.
That said, if you, or anyone you know, is willing to volunteer to build the database for PBORs, we will provide all assistance in this effort. Currently we have several pages with information on PBORs that will provide a start. Once that is afoot we will also help in sourcing newer material to keep the database current. We will also provide you the hosting space and the software resources needed to run the database.
6. The details in my batch are wrong – How can I correct my details and other entries?
Input the details in an excel spreadsheet file. Provide us the following details for each member of your batch
| Number | Branch | Rank | Name | Date of Birth | Date of Commi -ssioning |
Date of Retirement, Relinquishment of Commission | Awards | Remarks | Course | Type of Commission |
After you fill in the details Just email us file to aiforce AT bharat-rakshak DOT com (replace ‘AT’ with ‘@’ and ‘DOT’ with “.”)
7. I would like to volunteer for this effort. What can I do?
We always have some data-entry work to do – Please email us and let us know if you are interested.
8. But isn’t all this personal information restricted and secret? Why are you disclosing this to foreign agencies?
All the data available here is publicly available in the Gazette of India, published by the Indian Government. Most national libraries – including libraries in UK, US maintain microfilm copies of the Gazette of India from the 19th Century till the current date. Moreover additional information are sometimes provided by the officers themselves, who are either serving or retired, or sent by their families.
Information is also regularly published in Newspapers, Investiture booklets etc which are publicly available in the country.