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Air Marshal was Nowhar was the Commander in
Chief of the Eastern Air Command at Shillong,
where he was replaced today by Air Marshal Simhakutty
Varthaman.
Air Marshal Nohwar was born in Ambala in 1952
and after graduating from the National Defence
Academy, he was commissioned into the fighter
stream in 1972.
With 3,400 hours of flying to his credit, the
air marshal has flown the MiG-21 and later commanded
a Mig-27 Squadron.
He is also a qualified flying instructor, fighter
combat leader, and an alumnus of the Defence Services
Staff College and Air War College (US).
His command appointments include a premiere fighter
squadron, Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment
(TACDE) and a fighter air base.
Air Marshal Nohwar's staff assignments include
chief operations officer, deputy commandant at
the College of Air Warfare, principal director
of Air Staff Inspection, and assistant chief of
air staff (plans). He was chief of staff at Andaman
and Nicobar tri-services command and deputy commander-in-chief
of Strategic Forces Command, and as Senior Air
Staff Officer at training command.
Air Marshal Nohwar is a Vayu Sena Medal winner
and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal awardee.
Air Marshal Varthaman is an alumnus of the Sainik
School at Amaravathinagar in Tamil Nadu and trained
at the National Defence Academy. The officer joined
the IAF as a fighter pilot in 1973.
He is among the few select pilots in service
today who hold the distinction of having flown
40 types of aircraft with over 4,000 flying hours
to his credit.
With a wide range of experience in operational,
flight testing and instructional flying, he has
flown most of the fighter, transport and rotary
wing aircraft in service today. The officer is
an experimental test pilot and qualified flying
instructor.
Among his appointments in this specialisation
include chief test pilot of the elite Aircraft
Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE) of IAF
in Bangalore, and chief flying instructor at fighter
training wing in Andhra Pradesh.
In the 1999 Kargil conflict, he was the chief
operations officer at Gwalior where he used his
flight test experience to coordinate the up gradation
of the Mirage-2000 aircraft that proved instrumental
in the success of the air campaign then against
the intruders.
Again during the 2001-02 Operation Parakram,
when India deployed troops on the Pakistan border
after the terrorist atack on Indian parliament,
he was in command of an operational air base in
the western sector.
As air attache in Paris and the Benelux countries,
he made an indelible mark on international defence
co-operation with European air forces.
He continued to strengthen ties with air forces
of the world on his return to Delhi and appointed
as the assistant chief of air staff (intelligence).
He is the recipient of the presidential awards
of Athi Vishist Seva Medal (AVSM), Vayu Sena Medal
(VM) and Vishist Seva Medal (VSM).
( IANS)
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