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 No.21 Squadron Ankush Motto : Siddhivasti Saha Se (Success lies in courage) Date Raised : 1965-10-16 21 Squadron, AF was formed on 16 October 1965 at 7 Wing, AF, to be equipped with Gnat Mk I aircraft. The Squadron initially flew aircraft borrowed from 2 Squadron, AF and 18 Squadron, AF, until on 14 May 66, when she got her first complement of ac. Thereafter the Squadron moved to 17 Wing, AF, Gorakhpur until the 1971 operations. The Squadron was visited by DASI in 72 and 75 and the Squadron moved to 7 C&MU at Bakshi Ka Talab and operated there til the time she was earmarked to be re-equipped with the Mig-21 BIS. On 1 December 1976, the Squadron moved out of C&MU to 2 Wing, AF Pune to be re-equipped with the MIG-21 BIS. The Squadron moved out from 33 Wing, AF where it had been located since 1 January 1987, to 12 Wing, AF. Sixteen fighter aircraft were ferried out on May 9-1, 1988.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
| Dates | Rank & Name | Number | Remarks | Location | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Oct 65 to | Wing Commander Emanuel Raymond Fernandes | 3577 F(P) | CO | Ambala |  |
| 01 Aug 67 to 01 Jan 69 | Wing Commander Jayaram Nilkanth Jatar | 4040 F(P) | CO | Gorakhpur |  |
| 01 Nov 70 to | Wing Commander Sube Singh Malik | 4663 F(P) | CO | Gorakhpur |  |
| 01 Nov 74 to 23 Feb 76 | Wing Commander Satya Prakash | 4988 F(P) | CO | Gorakhpur/ Bakshi Ka |  |
| 24 Feb 76 to 06 Dec 76 | Wing Commander Bidyut Mukhuty | 5196 F(P) | CO | Bakshi Ka Talab | |
| 07 Dec 76 to 18 Oct 79 | Wing Commander Dev Nath Rathore | 5780 F(P) | CO | Pune |  |
| 18 Oct 79 to 16 Nov 81 | Wing Commander Srinivas Anand Bhaskar Naidu | 7230 F(P) | CO | Pune |  |
| 16 Nov 81 to 01 Feb 82 | Wing Commander Dinesh Chander Nayyar | 8995 F(P) | CO | Pune |  |
| 01 Feb 82 to 06 Aug 84 | Wing Commander Harbans Singh Sahota | 7663 F(P) | CO | Pune |  |
| 06 Aug 84 to 07 Jul 86 | Wing Commander Rajkumar Joseph Williams | 9036 F(P) | CO | Pune |  |
| 07 Jul 86 to 22 Aug 88 | Wing Commander Har Prakash Singh Sidhu | 11051 F(P) | CO | Pune/ Jamnagar |  |
| 22 Aug 88 to 05 Nov 90 | Wing Commander Rajesh Lal | 11634 F(P) | CO | Chandigarh |  |
| 05 Nov 90 to 01 Dec 92 | Wing Commander Nirdosh Vatsyayan Tyagi | 12765 F(P) | CO | Chandigarh |  |
| 01 Dec 92 to 31 Oct 94 | Wing Commander Arun Vasudeo Thakur Desai | 13372 F(P) | CO | Chandigarh |  |
| 31 Oct 94 to 01 Jan 96 | Wing Commander Ashok Dhar | 13940 F(P) | CO | Chandigarh |  |
| 01 Jan 96 to 01 Jan 98 | Wing Commander Rajan Bhasin | 15006 F(P) | CO | Chandigarh |  |
| 01 Jan 98 to 01 Jan 00 | Wing Commander Sunil Malhotra | 15719 F(P) | CO | Chandigarh | |
| 01 Jan 00 to 21 Dec 02 | Wing Commander Mugi Dhanraj | 16210 F(P) | CO | ||
| 21 Dec 02 to | Wing Commander Tarun Banerjee | 16776 F(P) | CO |  | |
| 24 Jul 06 to | Wing Commander Pushpendra Singh Nara | 20478 F(P) | CO |  | |
The URL for this page is http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Units/21 Sqn
Note: All the data available here is publicly available in the Gazette of India, published by the Indian Government, or from public domain sources, press releases about Awards and Right-To-Information (RTI) Requests. Additionally data shared by veterans is added to the page with permission. No data with respect to serving officers below the rank of AVM is displayed. Information in Gazette of India and Award citations and photographs as released by the Indian Air Force are the only details displayed.