Two IAF officers from J&K elevated to Air Vice Marshal rank
   Date :15-May-2021

Two IAF officers from J&K
                                         Air Commodore Kirti Khajuria   Air Commodore Hilal Ahmed
 
 
Hilal played a crucial role in acquisition and delivery of the fighter aircraft Rafale from the French manufacturer Dassault Aviation while being posted for over two years as Air Attache in the Indian embassy in France
 
 
By Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
  
IN A historic development for Jammu and Kashmir, two senior officers of the Union Territory—and both alumni of Sainik School Nagrota—have been promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal in the Indian Air Force (IAF). This is only for the second time that someone from J&K has risen to this senior rank and for the first time that two Air Commodores from the UT have simultaneously become Air Vice Marshal.
 
Previously, Gen (retd) N.C. Vij of Jammu reached the top slot in the Indian Army and functioned as Chief of Army Staff in 2003-05. Kapil Kak of Kashmir retired as Air Vice Marshal after holding a stint as Deputy Director Centre for Air
Power Studies.
 
Air Commodore Hilal Ahmed Rather is a resident of the Bakhshiabad neighbourhood of the Anantnag township in southern Kashmir. Air Commodore Kirti Khajuria is from Tikri, Jammu. Both the officers are from the 1978 batch of Sainik School Nagrota, Jammu.
 
Hilal played a crucial role in acquisition and delivery of the fighter aircraft Rafale from the French manufacturer Dassault Aviation while being posted for over two years as Air Attache in the Indian embassy in France. He received the Vayu Sena Medal (VM) for devotion to duty in 2010, followed by the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) in 2016. He carries an impeccable record of 3,000 accident-free flying hours on Mirage-2000, MIG-21 and Kiran aircraft.
 
Kirti was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Flying Branch of the IAF on June 11, 1988. For the distinguished service of a high order, he was awarded VSM. He is currently posted at the IAF Headquarters in
New Delhi.