Air Marshal RD Mathur New Chief Of Eastern Air Command In Shillong

Staff Correspondent

SHILLONG: Air Marshal RD Mathur assumed charge as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command of the Indian Air Force, headquartered at Shillong, on Friday.

An alumnus of St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, the Air Marshal had joined the National Defence Academy in 1978 and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 1982.

He has attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the National Defence College, New Delhi and holds M.Sc and M.Phil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies. He has commanded a frontline fighter squadron and an airbase in the western sector.

His staff appointments include Principal Director, Information & Electronics Warfare and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Space) at Air HQ New Delhi, Air Defence Commander at HQ Eastern Air Command, and Senior Air Staff Officer at HQ South Western Air Command, Gandhinagar.

He is a qualified flying instructor and instrument rating examiner with over 5,000 hours of flying experience on a variety of fighter aircraft, trainers and helicopters. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2003 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014 by the President.

Shipra Mathur, wife of Air Marshal Mathur, also took over as president of Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional) on March 1.

Headquartered in Shillong, the Eastern Air Command’s area of responsibility covers 11 States. It has permanent air bases at Chabua, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Barrackpore, Hasimara, Jorhat, Kalaikunda and Tezpur with forward bases at Agartala, Kolkata, Panagarh and Shillong.

Also read: Meghalaya news