No.43 Squadron Ibex Motto : Nabhasa Jivan Dhara ( Lifeline through the skies) Date Raised : 1958-01-20 Location : Jorhat The chequered history of the IBEXES dates back to 20 Jan 58 when it was first formed at Barrackpore. The squadron was then equipped with Dakotas fondly nicknamed as the "GOONEY BIRD". The first Commanding Officer was Wg Cdr MK Nerurkar. The squadron chose for its emblem the IBEX, which is undeterred by the jagged rocks, steep cliffs, inhospitable terrain and forbidding shows of the challenging Himalayas.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
Dates | Rank & Name | Number | Remarks | Location | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 Jan 58 to 20 Apr 59 | Wing Commander Mohan Krishnarao Nerurkar | 1925 GD(P) | CO | Barrackpore | |
28 Apr 59 to 05 Jul 61 | Wing Commander John Francis Lazaro | 2944 GD(P) | CO | Barrackpore/ Srinaga | |
06 Jul 61 to 23 Jul 62 | Wing Commander Damodar Madhao Oka | 1813 GD(P) | CO | Srinagar | |
01 Feb 63 to 03 Dec 65 | Wing Commander Hardyal Singh Dhillon | 3237 GD(P) | CO | Srinagar/ Sarsawa | |
04 Dec 65 to 15 Jan 68 | Wing Commander Ranjit Singh Uberoi | 3522 GD(P) | CO | Sarsawa/ Jorhat | |
16 Jan 68 to 15 Jun 70 | Wing Commander Kapil Dev Chadha | 3845 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
16 Jun 70 to 09 Oct 73 | Wing Commander Kailash Chandra Sharma | 4412 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
10 Oct 73 to 30 Apr 75 | Wing Commander Vaidyanathan Krishnamurthy | 4487 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
01 May 75 to 05 Jul 77 | Wing Commander Gurmohan Singh Dhingra | 4903 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
06 Jun 77 to 16 Jun 79 | Wing Commander Puthettu Kurien Mani | 5666 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
17 Jun 79 to 26 Oct 80 | Wing Commander Om Kumar Chhabra | 5675 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
27 Oct 80 to 16 Jan 83 | Wing Commander Inder Puri | 6499 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
17 Jan 83 to 18 Nov 84 | Wing Commander Raj Kumar Saini | 7694 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
19 Nov 84 to 02 Dec 84 | Wing Commander Gurdarshan Singh Brar | 6146 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
03 Dec 84 to 09 Mar 88 | Group Captain Gurdarshan Singh Brar | 6146 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
25 Apr 88 to 30 Jun 91 | Group Captain Harkirat Singh Sekhon | 9512 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
01 Jul 91 to 27 Feb 94 | Group Captain Surjeet Singh Bhatti | 10945 GD(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
28 Feb 94 to 13 Nov 96 | Group Captain Keshav Rangachary Narayan | 12960 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
14 Nov 96 to 05 Jul 98 | Group Captain Vinod Kumar Sood | 13781 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
15 Sep 98 to 26 May 02 | Group Captain Arun Gopinath | 13397 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
27 May 02 to 13 Jun 04 | Group Captain Rajiv Gaur | 15196 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
28 Jun 04 to 23 Oct 05 | Group Captain Kishore Dhami | 15556 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
24 Oct 05 to 17 Jun 07 | Group Captain Nabodh Kumar Mahto | 16405 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
09 Jul 07 to 05 Jul 09 | Group Captain Tarun Kumar Sinha | 18084 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
06 Jul 09 to 31 Mar 10 | Group Captain Jagbir Singh Johar | 18254 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
01 Apr 10 to 22 Jan 12 | Group Captain Shekher Chauhan | 18550 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
23 Jan 12 to 24 Nov 13 | Group Captain Hemant Priyadarshi Kumar | 19563 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
25 Nov 13 to 15 May 16 | Group Captain Nongthombam Lokendro Singh | 22714 F(P) | CO | Jorhat | |
16 May 16 to 08 Jul 18 | Group Captain Saroj Kumar Panda | 23554 F(P) | CO | Jorhat |