Arvindra Singh Butola

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.^[2][6][1]

He has commanded a helicopter unit in Jammu and Kashmir, and had also been senior flying instructor and advisor to Namibian Defence Force. His other appointments included chief test pilot at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, station commander of an air base under Western Air Command, 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.^[7][6]

Butola assumed office of Commandant Air Force Academy on 4 September 2018 and served there till his appointment as AOC-in-C Training Command.^[5][2] Prior to Commandant of Air Force Academy, he served as Senior Air Staff Officer, Central Air Command, taking over on 1 August 2016.^[7]

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 in 2021 for his service.^[6][8]