Flight Lieutenant Ranjit Kumar Malhotra has been flying Aloutte III Helicopters in Ladakh since June 1964 and has flown about 400 hours in Ladakh and other areas of Jammu and Kashmir. Despite difficult and mountainous terrain he has always volunteered for difficult operational missions and set a fine example to his colleagues.

In May and June, 1965, in adverse weather conditions, he undertook twelve sorties to Kargil for the purpose of evacuating army casualties. Again on 14th August, 1965, he undertook two sorties to evacuate army battle casualties from Naugam in Srinagar valley. During these sorties, he had to land at a place which was encircled by Pakistani infiltrators. They fired at him after he had landed; but with cool courage and presence of mind, he successfully evacuated the casualties from the encircled area. The courage and devotion displayed by him were in the best traditions of the Indian Air Force.

Air Commodore Ranjeet Kumar Malhotra was commissioned in the Air Force in May 1962. Apart from having held 'A' category and Master Green Instrument Rating on a variety of aircraft, he is among the extremely few Air Force Officers who have achieved 'A­1' QFI category. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College.

He is commanding an Air Force Station since February, 1988. He has brought about a high degree of cohesion, purposefulness and quest for excellence amongst the personnel of his station. He tackles all assigned tasks with a positive outlook, well-defined objectives, meticulous planning and flawless execution. As a result of his deep personal involvement and leadership, there has been a significant improvement in the quality of flying training while phenomenal gains have been made in maintenance, administration and welfare activities. His station was adjudged best in the Command in aircraft maintenance and in the cleanliness/beautification of domestic campus. In addition, his station performed most creditably in Mechanical Transport (MT) maintenance, flight safety, upkeep of libraries and management of messes. Additionally, his station has been awarded Air Headquarters Flight Safety Trophy for single engine trainer group during 1989-90.

Air Commodore Ranjeet Kumar Malhotra has, thus, rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.