Shillong, Sep 9 (IANS) Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia on Monday assumed charge as the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at the Indian Air Force’s Eastern Air Command, an official statement said.
The SASO’s post in the IAF is equivalent to the Chief of Staff in various Commands of the Indian Army and the Indian Navy.
An alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, he was commissioned into the IAF’s fighter stream on June 11, 1988.
“With an illustrious flying career spanning over 3,200 hours, Air Marshal Walia has flown a wide variety of fighter aircraft, including all variants of the MiG-21, MiG-23 BN, MiG-27, Jaguar, and Su-30 MKI,” an official statement said.
The Air Marshal has commanded a frontline fighter squadron, the Tactical and Combat Development Establishment (TACDE), and a key base in the Central Sector.
In addition to his operational expertise, he has held several important staff appointments at both Command and Air Headquarters. He has also served as the Defence Attache to Japan, further enhancing his diplomatic and international experience.
Prior to the appointment to the position of SASO at the Eastern Air Command, he served as Air Defence Commander at the frontline Western Air Command (WAC).
The official statement further mentioned that in recognition of his distinguished service, Air Marshal Walia was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2018.
One of the IAF’s five operational commands, the Eastern Air Command has its headquarters in Meghalaya’s Shillong. Initially designated as the No 1 Operational Group on May 27, 1958, it was situated in Ranikutir, Kolkata, as part of the government’s growing focus on border defence in the east. The decision was taken to establish a full-fledged command in Shillong following the 1962 India-China war.
The command’s current area of responsibility spans 11 states and is bounded by the 6,300 km border shared with Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar. Currently, Chabua, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Barrackpore, Hasimara, Jorhat, Kalaikunda, and Tezpur have permanent airbases operated by EAC.
–IANS
tdr/vd
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
