Air Marshal R D Mathur took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of Training Command, Indian Air Force (IAF), in Bengaluru on Thursday. The Air Marshal took over the command from Air Marshal A S Butola.
Air Marshal Mathur was commissioned into the IAF in June 1982 as a fighter pilot. His flying experience is said to be more than 5,100 hours on a variety of fighter aircraft, trainers and helicopters in the inventory of Indian Air Force.
Mathur was Commanding Officer of a fighter squadron and has also commanded a frontline Fighter Base, the IAF said in a statement. As an Air Vice Marshal, he held the coveted appointments of Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Space) at Air HQ Vayu Bhawan and Air Defence Commander at HQ Eastern Air Command.
As an Air Marshal, he held the appointment of Senior Air Staff Officer at HQ South Western Air Command, Gandhinagar. Before his present appointment, he was AOC-in-C Eastern Air Command.