Change of Command of Air Force Station Hakimpet

Hyderabad: Air Commodore Pankaj Jain took over as Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station (AFS), Hakimpet, from Air Commodore Manish Sabharwal, a statement said on Thursday. AFS personnel presented a parade to mark the event.

Air Cmdre Jain is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Pune, and was commissioned into the IAF fighter stream on December 19, 1992. He has flown fighter aircraft like Su-30, MiG-21 and MiG-29. As a Cat 'A' qualified flying instructor, Air Cmdre Jain has had a long instructional stint, wherein he flewn training aircraft like the Hawk, Iskara, Kiran and the HPT-32.

The new AFS chief was directing staff at the prestigious Flying Instructors School, the statement said.

He was the youngest member of the commissioning aircrew for the Su-30 aircraft, when they were inducted into the IAF in 1997. He was instrumental in inducting the Embraer-based Airborne Early Warning and Control System into the IAF as the first Commanding Officer-designate of a new formation, christened 200 Squadron.

During his career, Air Cmdre Jain has held several important appointments at various IAF bases. He has commanded a front-line fighter base, the Air Force Station Bathinda and later served as Command Ops Planning Officer at CATSPAW of HQ South Western Air Command (SWAC), the Ops 1A at HQ SWAC, Directing Staff at Naval War College and Deputy Commandant of College of Air Warfare.