Air Marshal Ravinder Kumar Dhir

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Di ...

, VM, ADC is an advisor to

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

state for 'Defence and Aerospace Industries'. He was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C),

South Western Air Command Victory embraces the brave , colors= , colors_label= , battles= Atlantique incident, Bhuj earthquake relief, 2001, Gujarat flood relief, 2005 , anniversaries= , commander1= Air Marshal Vikram Singh, VSM , commander1_label= Air Officer C ...

of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

from 1 June 2015 to 29 September 2018. He took over from Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa and was succeeded by Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora.

Early life and education

Dhir is an alumnus of

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

, Pune. and Sainik School Kunjpura Karnal Haryana.

Career

Dhir was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 15 June 1979. He has clocked over 3200 hours of flying on more than 25 different types of aircraft to date. He held several key operational and administrative appointments at various stages of his service including as a project test pilot in the Bison upgrade project in Russia; Commander of the first Bison Squadron "Cobras" at Ambala; Commander of a frontline operational air base; Principal Director Air Staff Requirements at Air HQ; Technical Manager (Air) at the Acquisition Wing in Ministry of Defence; Air Defence Commander at South Western Air Command; Senior Air Staff Officer at

and Senior Air Staff Officer at Southern Air Command. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor, an experimental test pilot, Commander of the Air Force Test Pilots School and provided input to the Tejas LCA project at

Aeronautical Development Establishment Aeronautical Development Establishment is a laboratory of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation. Located in Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karna ...

Awards and medals

During the 39 years of his career, he has been awarded the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) ( IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Di ...

(January 2012) and the

Vayu Sena Medal The Vayu Sena Medal is a military decoration, usually awarded in peacetime for a job well done in the Indian Air Force. However, it has been granted during times of conflict for acts of gallantry in the face of enemy, though not in the same numb ...

(January 2006).

Personal life

Dhir is married to Neelam Dhir, an educator, and they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhir, Ravinder Kumar Living people Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal 1979 births Indian Air Force officers