Arjun Subramaniam was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF in December 1981. He is an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) and National Defence Academy. An experienced fighter pilot with over 3000 hours on various types of fighter aircraft that include two variants of the MiG-21 and the Mirage-2000, he is a Qualified Flying Instructor and has commanded a MiG-21 Squadron. He has also been the Chief Operations Officer of a SU-30 base and is presently a senior faculty member at The Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.