Air Vice Marshal Mangalvedkar Jivanrao Vittal was commissioned in the Air Force in January, 1950, Since then, he has served as Engineering Officer of a Heavy Bomber Squadron, Officer incharge Overhaul, Repair and Maintenance of various types of aircraft in one of the biggest Repair Depots of the Air Forces, Chief Technical Officer of a major operational station, Deputy Air Attaché in the Embassy of India, Moscow, and Senior Maintenance Staff Officer of both Training and Operational Commands. At present, he is Air Officer Engineering and Systems at Headquarters Maintenance Command. At Air Headquarters, he held the appointments of Director of Maintenance Plans and Inspection, Director Armament and Safety Equipment and Director of Engineering 'A' responsible for maintenance of all types of aircraft of Soviet and East European origin. He has undergone training in inspection and major overhaul of a fighter aircraft in France. He was member of a number of Defence delegations which visited various foreign countries for evaluation of Weapon System to be inducted into the IAF.

During his tenure as Engineering Officer of the Heavy Bomber Squadron, he was called upon to fly as Flight Engineer, as there was a shortage of Flight Engineers. He undertook this assignment at his personal risk and flew approximately 250 hours. As Officer incharge overhaul at the Base Repair Depot, he undertook the task of completing the major overhaul of twelve fighter aircraft in two months without any established overhaul schedule. He successfully completed the task in time and also prepared a major servicing for the aircraft, as the schedule supplied by the foreign manufacturers was not suitable for adoption by the Indian Air Force. As Chief Technical Officer of a major Operational Station, he established the first Maintenance Control Centre in IAF for coordinating the maintenance activities of the Station. This enhanced the operational potential of the flying units located at the station and consequently similar centres were established at all flying stations. As Senior Maintenance Staff Officer of an Operational Command, he was responsible for the systematic and successful induction of two new types of aircraft in the units under the Command. Although almost half the task year was already over when he was posted as Air Officer Engineering and Systems at Headquarters Maintenance Command, by his professional competence and dedication, he achieved hundred per cent completion of the tasks by all the Repair Depots under the Command. He made significant contribution in refining the production processes and thereby helped in promoting indigenisation efforts of the Maintenance Command. He resolved major bottle­necks in production and maintained a close watch on the progress. Because of his inbred qualities of dedication and sincerity, he generated a sense of co­operation and comradeship among his men and made significant contribution towards effective operational preparedness of the Air Force.

Air Vice Marshal Mangalvedkar Jivanrao Vittal has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.