No.131 FAC Flight Airborne Pointers Motto : Savage and Powerful Date Raised : 1974-08-02 Disbanded : 2021-12-31 Location : Hindon 131 FAC Flight, one of the firsts of its kind, in terms of role, was established in 1974 at Pathankot. The first Commanding Officer was then Sqn Ldr MS Sekhon Vr C, SC, VM. The Units was established on the Bell-47G-3 and moved to udhampur in Sep 75. The first SAR mission flown by the Units was on 5 jan 75 on Z1085. The Units crest depicting a frontal view of a Cheetah has the Units's name that of Air Borne Pointers inscribed in a semi-circle. The Units's motto that of 'Savage and Powerful' is related to the Units's all important role that of a FAC. By its accurate guidance to fighter aircraft on to the tgt, it assists in the destruction of enemy's Vas and VPs.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
Dates | Rank & Name | Number | Remarks | Location | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
02 Aug 74 to 02 May 77 | Squadron Leader Manjit Singh Sekhon | 6756 GD(P) | CO | Pathankot/ Udhampur | |
03 May 77 to 30 May 79 | Squadron Leader Bertrand Joseph Vaz | 8418 GD(P) | CO | Udhampur | |
31 May 79 to 03 Apr 80 | Squadron Leader Narender Paul Narang | 9728 GD(P) | CO | Udhampur | |
04 Apr 80 to 29 Dec 81 | Squadron Leader Chiman Lal Bhasin | 9465 GD(P) | CO | Udhampur | |
30 Dec 81 to 28 Mar 82 | Squadron Leader Anand Jaivanth Rao | 10512 GD(P) | CO | Udhampur | |
29 Mar 82 to 08 Jul 84 | Wing Commander Charanjit Singh Sandhu | 5591 GD(P) | CO | Udhampur | |
09 Jul 84 to 05 May 85 | Wing Commander Ram Singh | 9458 GD(P) | CO | Udhampur | |
06 May 85 to 21 Jun 87 | Wing Commander Surinder Singh Bains | 11288 GD(P) | CO | Udhampur/ Leh | |
22 Jun 87 to 25 Jun 89 | Wing Commander Anand Jaivanth Rao | 10512 GD(P) | CO | Halwara | |
26 Jun 89 to 01 Nov 92 | Wing Commander Pradip Shrikrishna Behera | 11889 GD(P) | CO | Halwara | |
02 Nov 92 to 16 Jul 95 | Wing Commander Roderick Osbern Joseph Assey | 14108 F(P) | CO | Halwara | |
17 Jul 95 to 28 Jun 98 | Wing Commander Ravindera Singh Mann | 15434 F(P) | CO | Halwara/ Hindon | |
29 Jun 98 to 14 May 00 | Wing Commander Ritojit Mukherjee | 16410 F(P) | CO | Hindon | |
15 May 00 to 30 Jun 02 | Wing Commander Sreenivasa P Rao | 17172 F(P) | CO | Hindon | |
01 Jul 02 to 20 Jun 04 | Wing Commander Hemant Kumar Sachdeva | 17355 F(P) | CO | Hindon | |
21 Jun 04 to 20 Aug 06 | Wing Commander George Thomas | 17722 F(P) | CO | Hindon | |
21 Aug 06 to 19 Oct 08 | Wing Commander A K Singh | CO | Hindon | ||
24 Sep 12 to 31 Mar 14 | Wing Commander Nitin Anil Welde | 23193 F(P) | CO | Hindon | |
01 Apr 14 to 30 Nov 14 | Group Captain Nitin Anil Welde | 23193 F(P) | CO | Hindon |