CHANDIGARH: Air Marshal Pramod Vasant Athawale, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief( AOC-in-C), Maintenance Command, Indian Air Force will arrive on a two days inspection visit to 3 BRD Air Force on 14 Sep.
Air Marshal Athawale took over as AOC-in-C, Maintenance Command on 01 Apr this year. He was commissioned in the Electronics Stream of Engineering branch in IAF, on 02 July 73. A graduate of Electrical Engineering from University of Rookee, he earned his postgraduate degree in Computer Science from IIT Kharagpur. Beginning as an Engineering Officer in HF-24 Marut Squadron, he worked on to become Chief Engineering Officer of a MiG-21 fighter Base, thereby gaining rich and varied experience in maintenance of various fighter and transport aircraft. An aircrew tenure on Super Constellation aircraft provided him valuable flying experience, which was followed with a stint in Aircraft and System Testing at ASTE, Banglaore.
He has been credited with immense experience in Radar and Communication fields. Having held appointments in Microwave Communication units besides steering the Low Level Radar Networking Project as its Project Director, he also held the appointment of Principal Director Ground Electronics at Air Hq.
Apart from the work in engineering and system, Air Marshal Athawale pioneered the software initiatives in IAF. In 1992, he established the Software Development Institute of IAF at Bangalore as its first Commandant. Known as the ‘projects man’ he has steered the vital projects of Integrated Air Command and Control Systems and Air Force NeT as the Asst Chief of Air Staff (Signals & IT) at Air HQ. Before assuming responsibilities as Air Officer Commaing-in-Chief, the Air Mshl held the appointment of Senior Maintenance Staff Officer, HQ Maintenance Command since 01 Dec 07.
The Air Mshl has represented Services in Ranji Trophy Cricket, besides being a competitive high-level sportsman in many a sport during his younger days. He is an avid golfer today. He was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal in 1997 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2008 for distinguished service to the nation.
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