Air Marshal Arvindra Singh Butola,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

, VM, VSM is a retired officer of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. He was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Training Command, and assumed office on 14 October 2019 succeeding Air Marshal

Surendra Kumar Ghotia Air Marshal Surendra Kumar Ghotia, PVSM, VSM is a retired officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), South Western Air Command till 30 April 2021. He assumed the office on 1 October 2019 follo ...

. Air Marshal AS Butola superannuated on 30 September 2020.

Early life and education

Butola graduated from

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

Khadakwasla in May 1981. He is an alumnus of the

Defence Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , presi ...

, Wellington and the National Defence College, New Delhi.

Career

Butola was commissioned as a helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force in June 1982. He was a qualified flight instructor and had a flying experience of over 6700 hours on 21 different types of aircraft. He has commanded a helicopter unit in Jammu and Kashmir, and had also been senior flying instructor and advisor to

Namibian Defence Force The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) comprises the national military forces of Namibia. It was created when the country, then known as South West Africa, gained independence from South Africa in 1990. Chapter 15 of the Constitution of Namibia establ ...

. His other appointments included chief test pilot at

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence (military), defence company, headquartered in Bangalore, India. Established on 23 December 1940, HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manuf ...

, station commander of an air base under

Western Air Command , colors= , colors_label= , battles= 1962 Sino-Indian War, 1971 India-Pakistan War, Operation Meghdoot , anniversaries= , commander1= Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran, AVSM, VM , commander1_label= Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief(AOC-in-C) , n ...

, senior officer-in-charge of administration of an operational command, as well as assistant chief of air staff operations (transport and helicopters) at air headquarters. Butola assumed office of Commandant

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

on 4 September 2018 and served there till his appointment as AOC-in-C Training Command. Prior to Commandant of Air Force Academy, he served as Senior Air Staff Officer,

Central Air Command ''Nigrahya Rasava shastrava'' , colors = , colors_label = , battles = 1962 Sino-Indian War, East Pakistan Operations 1971, Operation Meghdoot, Orissa Super-Cyclone Relief, 1999 , anniversaries = , commander1 = Air Marshal Amar Preet Si ...

, taking over on 1 August 2016.

Honours and decorations

During his career of 37 years, Butola has been awarded the Vayusena Medal (VM) and Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) and the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

in 2021 for his service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butola, Arvindra Singh Living people Indian Air Force air marshals National Defence Academy (India) alumni Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Year of birth missing (living people) National Defence College, India alumni Military personnel from Uttarakhand Commandants of the Indian Air Force Academy Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Defence Services Staff College alumni