No.44 Squadron Mighty Jets Motto : Ishtam Yatnen Sadhyet Date Raised : 1961-03-31 Location : Chandigarh The squadron was formed at Chandigarh on 06 Apr 1961, with the AN-12, which was a 4 engine heavy lift turbo prop aircraft. This versatile ac undertook all kinds of airlift ops in the most inhospitable terrain, both in the North East and J&K sectors. the squadron was later equipped with the stretegic heavy transport ac, the IL-76, in Mar 1985. During the Sino-India conflict in 1962, the squadron took active part in airlifting supplies, arms, ammUnitsion and cas evac in the Ladakh sector. The Indo-Pak conflict of 1965 war the squadron carried out strategic and tactical airlift. In 1971, during the Indo-Pak war, when the squadron was tasked to strike troop concentration at Hajipur, Fort Abbas and Skardu. The squadron became the first tpt sqn to be awarded the Battle Honours. During the IPKF ops in Sri Lanka, the sqn continued to support our land forces, both during induction and deinduction. In recognition of its achievements, the sqn has been awarded one MVC, two Vr C, one YSM, three VSM, five mention in despatch, 30 VMs, 25 CAS and 51 AOC-in-C commendations.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
Dates | Rank & Name | Number | Remarks | Location | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 Mar 61 to 17 Dec 62 | Wing Commander Trilok Nath Ghadiok | 2354 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
01 Feb 63 to 30 Nov 65 | Wing Commander Tom Lionel Anderson | 3126 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
01 Dec 65 to 28 Jun 67 | Wing Commander Gurdip Singh | 3944 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
29 Jun 67 to 10 May 70 | Wing Commander Vijay Chand Mankotia | 4041 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
11 May 70 to 16 Aug 71 | Wing Commander Ajit Kumar Bhattacharjee | 4427 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
25 Aug 71 to 17 May 74 | Wing Commander Vidya Bhushan Vashist | 4584 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
18 May 74 to 31 Oct 76 | Wing Commander Narinder Singh Arora | 4983 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
01 Nov 76 to 16 Jul 77 | Wing Commander Dalip Singh Sabherwal | 4756 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
08 Aug 77 to 15 Aug 77 | Wing Commander Kambiranda Muthanna Ponnappa | 4503 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
18 Aug 77 to 12 Aug 80 | Group Captain Kambiranda Muthanna Ponnappa | 4503 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
27 Oct 80 to 21 Apr 81 | Group Captain Ashwini Kumar Bhide | 5674 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
22 Apr 81 to 31 Jan 85 | Group Captain Madhavan Ambaidy | 5372 GD(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
01 Feb 85 to 30 Jan 87 | Group Captain Ashok Kumar Goel | 8151 GD(P) | CO | Agra | |
01 Oct 87 to 22 Oct 89 | Group Captain Anant Gopal Bewoor | 9718 GD(P) | CO | Agra | |
23 Oct 89 to 27 Sep 92 | Group Captain Mohinderjit Singh Singha | 9711 GD(P) | CO | Agra | |
28 Sep 92 to 11 Sep 94 | Group Captain Pravesh Kumar | 12411 GD(P) | CO | Agra | |
12 Sep 94 to 14 May 97 | Group Captain Robin Chandra Baruah | 13156 F(P) | CO | Agra | |
15 May 97 to 31 Aug 00 | Group Captain Trikandiyur Kollath Venugopal | 13598 F(P) | CO | Agra | |
01 Sep 00 to 25 Aug 02 | Group Captain Anil Kumar Sharma | 14670 F(P) | CO | Agra | |
26 Aug 02 to | Group Captain Sridharan Panicker Radha Krishnan Nair | 16040 F(P) | CO | Agra | |
Unknown to | Group Captain Rajat Sharma | 17008 F(P) | CO | Agra | |
01 Apr 17 to 30 Jun 19 | Group Captain Naveen Kumar Singhal | 22530 F(P) | CO | Agra |