Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh, DFC (Retd) was born on 15 May 1919 at Lyallpur. He was educated at Montgomery and later at Govt College in Lahore. In 1938, he was selected for pilot’s training at Cranwell, UK and was commissioned as a pilot in the Royal Indian Air Force in December 1939. He joined No. 1 Squadron at Ambala, first on Wapiti aircraft and later converted to Hurricane aircraft. He took over as Commanding Officer of No. 1 Squadron in September 1943. He was awarded the "Distinguished Flying Cross’ in 1944, for his outstanding leadership in Burma Campaign during World War II. At that point in time, the country was still under the British rule and for an Indian to be awarded such a high honour was indeed a matter of immense pride for the nation.

        He was promoted to the rank of Wg Cdr in 1945 and attended the first course at Royal Staff College, Bracknell. After partition, as Gp Capt, he commanded Air Force Station Ambala. In 1949, as Air Commodore, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding Operational Command and in 1952, he was appointed the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Operational Command. Subsequently, he held key appointments of AOA, DCAS and VCAS from 1958 to 1964. During 1960, he was specially selected for the Imperial Defence College, UK (later named as the Royal College of Defence Studies).

        He was appointed the Chief of the Air Staff in July 1964. He was the first Chief to be promoted to the rank of Air Chief Marshal, in December 1965. In recognition of his services of an extremely high order, and for his leadership during the 1965 War against Pakistan. Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest national award. He retired from the Air Force in July 1969. During his tenure as the Chief of the Air Staff, he brought about significant changes in the structure and functioning of the Air Force, to charter it towards a path of strong professional growth. His outstanding leadership groomed the Indian Air Force into one of the best Air Forces in the world.

        Even after retirement, Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh has rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order to the nation for nearly two decades. During this period he held various important assignments, in each of which he served with exceptional success.

        His inspiring career and high reputation have endowed him with a unique stature in society and has earned him the respect of the nation. Even till date, he associates himself with various welfare activities of the Air Force as a father figure of the service, which he nurtured from a fledgling status.