Air Commodore Ujjal Prabhat Biswas (14090) F (P) was commissioned into the IAF on 11 Jul 75 in the flying branch. He has been the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of Air Force Station, Pathankot during the period 02 Jan 2006-30 Apr 2007. The air officer is a Fighter Combat Leader and an A2 Qualified Instructor and has flown over 4200 h on various aircraft types. In the Sqn Ldr rank, he has been commended twice by AOsC-inC and once by the CAS. He is a winner of the 'Scudder Medal' at the DSSC for standing first in the M.Sc degree course and is also the first armed forces officer to be deputed for a 'higher' course of instruction in Japan, in which he excelled. The officer has had a distinguished career during which he has done a number of operational commands (two fighter squadrons and an operational flying base), been an instructor (in the Flying Instructors' School and the College of Air Warfare) and held important Staff assign ments in Air HQ (in the Directorates of Personnel and Flying Training). During the period 1995-1997, as the CO of a MiG-29 squadron he achieved all flying and other commitments in a commendable manner that included operational flying during the developments in the Kutch area in end 1996 and leading the MiG-29 fleet for flypast over Rajpath during the Republic Day. The tenure culminated with his squadron being declared as the 'Best Fighter Squadron' for the year 1997. For his high professional competence, the air officer was selected as a member of the Expert Committee on Aircraft Accidents (EXCOM) in 2005. He made significant contribution by carrying out extensive study and analysis of aircraft accidents and suggesting remedial measures. It was after the implementation of the EXCOM that there has been a significant reduction of flying accidents in the IAF. During 2006-2007 as the AOC of Air Force Station Pathankot, an operational base on the Pakistan border, he led from the front and achieved very high all-round standards. He undertook active flying and also participated in the air-to-ground gunnery meet on the MiG-21 aircraft. The excellent performance of the air officer was ratified by the Directorate of Air Staff Inspection when it graded the forward base he led and all the operational flying squadrons located at the base as 'Average Plus' in all aspects viz. Operations, Maintenance and Administration which is a rare achievement. Air Commodore Ujjal Prabhat Biswas has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order. |