Armament Training Wing Date Raised : 1951-04-01 Disbanded : 1978-04-21 Location : Jamnagar After Independence, the IAF setup the Armament Training Wing for Air to Ground and Air to Air Armament training. It had an air to ground range at Sarmat and and air to air range in gulf of Kutch near the coastal strip of Jodhya - Balachandi. The ATW had a staff of PAIs (Pilot Attack instructors) who conducted the training. It has no aircrafts of its own except a few Dakotas. The ATW staff was considered the cream the fighter pilots. In 1957-58 a PAI School (Pilot Attack Instructors) was formed to train instructors. A new Air to Air range was bought into Gulf of Arabia. In 1964, a new operational Conversion Units (OCU) was formed with Hunter aircraft. the PAI school was closed in 1975. OCU moved out and TACDE moved in. On 22 April 1978, ATW was converted into a operational wing by the name of 33 Wing.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
Dates | Rank & Name | Number | Remarks | Location | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 Apr 51 to 11 Oct 52 | Wing Commander Padam Singh Gill | 1656 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
12 Oct 52 to 05 Oct 55 | Wing Commander Sidney Basil Noronha | 1735 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
06 Oct 55 to 15 Jun 58 | Wing Commander Keki Nadirshah Gocal | 1764 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
01 Jul 58 to 09 Feb 60 | Group Captain Om Prakash Mehra | 1639 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
10 Feb 60 to 23 Apr 63 | Group Captain Ramachandra Balaji Godkhindi | 1760 GD(O) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
24 Apr 63 to 14 Jan 64 | Group Captain Pothery Charuvary Ramachandran | 3514 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
15 Jan 64 to 09 Oct 66 | Group Captain George Henry King | 2386 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
10 Oct 66 to 03 Apr 68 | Group Captain Shamrao Ramrao Powar | 3100 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
04 Apr 68 to 01 Mar 72 | Group Captain Peter Maynard Wilson | 3590 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
02 Mar 72 to 05 Jan 75 | Group Captain Surapati Bhattacharya | 3974 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
06 Jan 75 to 14 Mar 76 | Group Captain Surendra Kumar Mehra | 4197 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar | |
15 Mar 76 to 01 Jan 78 | Group Captain Mohinder Singh Bawa | 4494 GD(P) | Stn Cdr | Jamnagar |