Vinod Bhatia

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Air Marshal Vinod K. Bhatia (born 1942), PVSM, AVSM, VrC and Bar is a retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer. He is also known by his nickname 'Jimmy'. He was awarded the Vir Chakra during both the 1965 and 1971wars, and thus became one of only five IAF officers to ever receive this honor. Bhatia was born in 1942 to a police officer in Mardan, now located in Pakistan. All three of his brothers and his mother died during the Partition of India; he and his father then settled in the Indian state of Rajasthan. He was commissioned into the IAF in 1962 after graduating from the National Defence Academy. In 1963, Bhatia along with other Indian Air Force officers trained with the United States Air Force. He received the Top Gun medal during this training period. Bhatia executed strategic bombing and reconnaissance missions during the 1965 and 1971 wars, for which he received the two Vir Chakras. From 1974 to 1976, Bhatia was stationed in Kut to train Iraqi Air Force pilots on flying the Sukhoi Su-7. After graduating from the Defence Services Staff College, Bhatia commanded No. 220 Squadron while it was inducting the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23. He also commanded Leh Airbase after Operation Meghdoot, and Srinagar Airbase during the violent Kashmir insurgency. Bhatia then served as the commander of three air commands from 1997 to 2002; namely the Central Air Command, South Western Air Command and Western Air Command. In 2002, an Antonov An-32 piloted by Bhatia almost crashed after it briefly crossed the international border into Pakistan and was hit by a Stinger missile. He retired the same year, having accumulated almost 5,000 flying hours on 16 different aircraft platforms.