Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar and Air Marshal Harjit Arora are now AOC-in-C

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Indian Air Force
Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar (Left) And Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora. Photo : Indian Air Force

Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command of Indian Air Force where as Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora AVSM took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), South Western Air Command on 01 October 2018.

Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the IAF as Fighter Pilot in June 1981. He is an Experimental Test Pilot and has flown 42 types of aircraft as Pilot in Command. He has the distinction of having the highest number of flying hours on the Mirage-2000 in the IAF, with over 2300 flying hours on the aircraft to his credit, and a total of 5100 hrs of flying experience. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and was the Project Test Pilot for the Light Combat Aircraft “Tejas”.

Indian Air Force
Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar. Photo : Indian Air Force

Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar has been a Flight commander of a Mirage-2000 Squadron, the Senior Test Pilot and Commanding Officer of the Flight Test Squadron at Aircraft System Testing Establishment (ASTE). He has commanded the oldest Squadron of the IAF, the prestigious No. 1 Squadron. He flew the Mirage-2000 in combat during the Kargil conflict and has flown 25 operational missions. He was the Director of Space Applications at Air HQ and the Chief Operations Officer of Air Force Stn Gwalior.

Marshal Raghunath Nambiar was posted to Embassy of India in Israel as the Defence Attaché. He was the Principle Director of Offensive Operations at Air HQ. The Air Officer has also held the appointments of Air Officer Commanding Air Force Station Jamnagar, Commandant ASTE, Air Defence Commander Western Air Commander, Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of Southern Air Command, Training Command and EAC.

Before taking over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, he was the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for Gallantry by the President of India for the Kargil Operations.

He was awarded a Bar to the Vayu Sena Medal for flight testing the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in 2002, during its first phase of flight testing. He was commended by the Chief of Air Staff in 1991 and by the C-in-C of Strategic Force Command in 2005. He was awarded the Ati Vishist Seva Medal in 2015.

Air Marshal Nambiar ‘s wife Luxmi Nambiar. In a simultaneous function took over as President, Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional)

AIR MARSHAL HARJIT SINGH ARORA :

Commissioned in the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot in Dec 1981 ,Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora AVSM took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), South Western Air Command at Gandhinagar .

Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora has rich and diverse experience of accident free operational flying which includes MiG 21, MiG 29 and other aircraft in India Airforce inventory, including helicopters. He is a meritorious graduate of Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College. He is also Master of Philosophy in Defence and Strategic Studies.

Indian Air Force
Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora. Photo : Indian Air Force

Marshal Harjit Singh Arora commanded a MiG-21 Bis Sqadron in the South Western sector and later was Commander of Air Defence Direction Centre in the same sector. He went on to command a premier MiG-29 Base on the western border and as an Air Vice Marshal he was Air Defence Commander at Headquarters of Western Air Command as well as Eastern Air Command. As an Air Marshal he has held the appointments of Director General (Inspection and Safety) and was Director General Air (Operations) at Air HQ before taking over as the AOC-in-C.

Indian Air Force
Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), South Western Air Command (#SWAC) #IAF, was presented Guard of Honour at AF Station Gandhinagar on 01 Oct 18, on taking over as AOC-in-C SWAC. He succeeded Air Mshl RK Dhir who retired on 30 Sep 18. Photo : Indian Airforce
Indian Air Force
Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), South Western Air Command (#SWAC) #IAF, was presented Guard of Honour at AF Station Gandhinagar on 01 Oct 18, on taking over as AOC-in-C SWAC. He succeeded Air Mshl RK Dhir who retired on 30 Sep 18. Photo : Indian Airforce

He has also served as Directing Staff at ‘Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment’ and as a Flying Inspector in the ‘Directorate of Air Staff Inspection’. He was Defence Attache in the Embassy of India, Bangkok, Thailand from 2006 to 2009.

For his distinguished service, he was awarded ‘Ati Vishisht Seva Medal’ by the President of India on 26 Jan 2011. Air Marshal Arora’s wife Baljeet Kaur Arora, in a simultaneous function , took over as President, Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional).