THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Air Marshal Ravinder Kumar Dhir took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of South Western Air Command (SWAC), Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat, on Tuesday. Prior to this appointment, he was Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO), Southern Air Command, Thiruvananthapuram.
Dhir is an alumnus of National Defence Academy Khadakwasala and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on June 15, 1979. He has flown over 3,200 hours on more than 25 types of aircraft in his career spanning over 36 years. He is a recipient of the ‘Vayu Sena Medal’ and ‘Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.’
A qualified flying instructor, he has been instrumental in providing valuable inputs to the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project.
Dhir was project test pilot of the MiG-21 Bison upgrade project team in Russia and he later commanded the first Bison Squadron at Ambala. The Air Marshal is married to Neelam Dhir.