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Eastern Air Command (India)

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Eastern Air Command
Emblem of the Eastern Air Command
FoundedMay 27, 1958
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Air Force
TypeOperational Air Command
RoleAir Defence, OCA, Offensive Ground Support, Civilian Relief.
HeadquartersShillong
Motto(s)Sanskrit: Samareshu Parakramah
Engagements1962 Sino-Indian War, East Pakistan Operations 1971, Operation Meghdoot, Orissa Super-Cyclone Relief, 1999
Commanders
Air Officer Commanding-in-ChiefAir Marshal Surat Singh, AVSM, VM, VSM

The Eastern Air Command is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force. Currently headquartered in Shillong in Meghalaya. Named No. 1 Operational Group at the time of its inception, 27 May 1958, it was based at Ranikutir in Kolkata as a part of the Govt's increasing emphasis on defence of the eastern borders. The Operational Group was upgraded as Command on 1 December 1959 with headquarters at Fort William, Kolkata and Air Vice Marshal KL Sondhi as the first AOC-in-C of the Eastern Command. After the 1962 Indo-Chinese War, The decision was made to raise a full-fledged command at Shillong. The area of responsibility of the command now covers 11 states, and is bound by the international boundaries of Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh incorporating 6300 km of common border. Eastern Air Command now has permanent airbases at Chabua, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Barrackpore, Hasimara, Jorhat, Kalaikunda and Tezpur with forward airbases at Agartala, Kolkata, Panagarh and Shillong. Eastern Air Command consists of Air Defence squadrons consisting of the MiG-21 and Ground attack squadrons consisting of the MiG-27. It holds the motto "Samareshu Parakramaha" (Lit: Valour in battle),

Activities and responsibilities

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The Eastern Air Command has a specific mandate both during peace and war. In war situations, the command is tasked to conduct counter air operations and provides offensive air support to Army and Para-Military Forces. In peace, the command swings into action whenever there is a natural calamity. It was extensively involved in relief operations in the aftermath of the supercyclone in Orissa and has provided relief supplies during floods in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The command has three broad spheres of activity - operations, maintenance and administration. The fighter squadrons under the Eastern Air Command are equipped with MiG variants, and pilots are under continuous training for operational flying.

At Tezpur, located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra in Upper Assam, newly commissioned ab-initio fighter pilots undergo fighter pilot training and on successful completion get inducted into various fighter squadrons in IAF. Majority of the fighter fleet of Eastern Air Command consists of MiG-21 and the MiG-27 (Bahadur).

The transport aircraft and helicopter of the Eastern Air Command are critical in the North-East India. The topography in the hill regions restrict the construction of a standard runway. Tribal settlements in places like Menchuha, Vijaynagar and Tuting in remote and inaccessible areas of Arunachal Pradesh totally depend on the aerial supply by the Air Force. They also depend on these aircraft to airlift their sick and ailing. The district headquarters at Anini, a conglomeration of about ten tribal settlements with a population of a couple of thousand in Arunachal Pradesh is the only one of its kind in the world which is totally air-maintained.

Pilots operate from the advance landing grounds (ALG) with only one third of the length of a regular runway, having unique and uni-directional approach and take off requirements. This coupled with the vagaries of weather expects superior skills from the pilots and their navigators. Both man and machine are stretched to the limits of their capabilities.

Helicopter operations also form a critical part of the responsibilities of the Easter Air Command. For the pilots who negotiate this remote and inaccessible terrain, the experience gained over the last five decades has been well assimilated. The contribution of Eastern Air Command in bringing relief and in aiding civilian population in times of calamity and strife is an unsung saga of commitment, daring and dedication.

War operations

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The Eastern Air Command was a major participant in 1962 Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pak war of 1971.

During the 1962 war, Eastern Air Command was tasked with mounting transport support missions, a task admirably performed by its Dakota and Caribou aircraft. It also mounted reconnaissance and casualty evacuation sorties using the Bell and Sikorsky helicopters it operated at the time.

During the 1971 war, Eastern Air Command was tasked with offensive as well as supply operations. It was involved right from the first clash over Boyra to the Tangail Airdrop. It also operated Mi-4 helicopters in offensive roles behind enemy lines, operating from helicopter bases in Tripura.

Organization

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Squadrons include (as of 2015):

Squadron Base Equipment Notes
No. 43 Squadron IAF Jorhat Air Force Station AN-32 No. 10 Wing
No. 129 Helicopter Unit, IAF Jorhat Air Force Station Mi-17 No. 10 Wing
No. 2 Squadron IAF Tezpur Air Force Station Su-30 MKI No. 11 Wing
No. 106 Squadron IAF Tezpur Air Force Station Su-30 MKI No. 11 Wing
No. 115 Helicopter Unit, IAF Tezpur Air Force Station HAL Dhruv No. 11 Wing
No. 101 Squadron IAF Hasimara Air Force Station Dassault Rafale No. 16 Wing
No. 102 Squadron IAF Chabua Air Force Station Su-30 MKI No.14 Wing
Helicopter Unit Chabua Air Force Station Mi-8 No. 14 Wing
Helicopter Unit Chabua Air Force Station Mi-17 No. 14 Wing
No. 59 Squadron IAF Mountain Shadow Air Force Station Avro 748M No. 19 Wing
No. 118 Helicopter Unit, IAF Mountain Shadow Air Force Station Mi-8 No. 19 Wing
No. 142 SSS Flight, IAF Bagdogra Air Force Station HAL Chetak No. 20 Wing
No. 110 Helicopter Unit, IAF Kumbhirgram Air Force Station Mi-8 No. 22 Wing
No. 127 Helicopter Unit, IAF Mohanbari Air Force Station Mi-17 No. 42 Wing
No. 128 Helicopter Unit, IAF Mohanbari Air Force Station Mi-17 No. 42 Wing
No. 87 Squadron IAF Air Force Station Arjan Singh C-130J No. 31 Wing

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief

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List of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Rank Name From To
Air Vice Marshal Kundan Lal Sondhi 7 December 1959[1] 28 December 1961
Kanwar Jaswant Singh 3 March 1962[1] 1 January 1963
Shivdev Singh 14 January 1963[1] 9 June 1963
Ramaswamy Rajaram 10 June 1963[1] 4 August 1963
Minoo Merwan Engineer 5 August 1963[1] 30 September 1964
Yeshwant Vinayak Malse 1 October 1964[1] 30 September 1966
Ranjan Dutt 28 October 1966[1] 31 March 1968
Air Marshal Hirendra Nath Chatterjee 1 April 1968[1] 23 March 1971
Hari Chand Dewan 24 March 1971[1] 31 March 1973
Maurice Barker 1 April 1973[1] 21 April 1976
Lal Singh Grewal 24 April 1976[1] 12 August 1978
Lakshman Madhav Katre 4 September 1978[1] 2 January 1981
Malcolm Shirley Dundas Wollen 3 January 1981[1] 26 February 1983
Douglas George King-Lee 1 March 1983[1] 30 November 1983
Minoo Jehangir Dotiwalla 1 December 1983[1] 31 October 1984
Kapil Dev Chadha 5 November 1984[1] 31 December 1987
Man Mohan Sinha 8 February 1988[1] 31 January 1991
Rajendra Kumar Dhawan 11 February 1991[1] 5 October 1991
Brijesh Dhar Jayal 7 October 1991[1] 30 March 1992
Dushyant Singh 1 May 1992[1] 31 January 1995
Janak Kapur 1 February 1995[1] 31 March 1996
Prithvi Singh Brar 1 April 1996[1] 3 January 1999
Krishnan Narayan Nair 4 January 1999[1] 30 November 2000
Satish Govind Inamdar 1 December 2000[1] 31 October 2004
Avinash Deodata Joshi 1 November 2004[1] 21 August 2005
Fali Homi Major 5 September 2005[1] 31 March 2007
Pranab Kumar Barbora 1 April 2007[1] 31 December 2007
Shiv Kumar Bhan 1 January 2008[1] 31 December 2009
Krishan Kumar Nohwar 1 January 2010[1] 31 July 2011
Simhakutty Varthaman 1 August 2011[1] 31 November 2012
Ravi Kant Sharma 1 December 2012[1] 31 December 2013
Rakesh Kumar Jolly 1 January 2014[1] 31 December 2014
Shirish Baban Deo 1 January 2015[1] 31 August 2015
Chandrashekharan Hari Kumar 1 October 2015[1] 31 December 2016
Anil Khosla 1 January 2017[1] 30 September 2018
Raghunath Nambiar 1 October 2018[1] 28 February 2019
Rajiv Dayal Mathur 1 March 2019[1] 30 September 2020
Amit Dev 1 October 2020[1] 30 September 2021
Dilip Kumar Patnaik 3 October 2021[1] 30 September 2022
Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar 1 October 2022[1] 30 September 2024
Surat Singh 1 October 2024[2] Incumbent

Aircraft

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an "Eastern Air Command - BRF". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Air Marshal Surat Singh assumes command of Eastern Air Command in Shillong". India Today. 2024-10-01.
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