Air Force Station Bidar now under Air Commodore Sameer Sondhi

Hyderabad: Air Commodore Nikhilesh Gautam handed over Command of Air Force Station Bidar to Air Commodore Sameer Sondhi on Friday. A ceremonial handing and taking over of the Hollow Square was conducted with all COVID-19 restrictions in mind.

During his farewell speech, Air Commodore Nikhilesh Gautam highlighted that the station had grown from strength to strength to firmly establish itself as a premier fighter training establishment of the Indian Air Force. He exhorted all personnel to keep the mission statement of the IAF foremost in their minds and work towards it, in consonance with their motto of the IAF - "Touch the Sky with Glory".

Air Commodore Sameer Sondhi was commissioned in the fighter stream in the IAF on 18 Dec 1993. He has a total of 3,200 flying hours of operational and training flying on various fighter aircraft such as Mirage 2000, Jaguar, T77, T96, Bison, Kiran HPT 32. He is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Army War College, and the College of Defence Management. He has commanded a frontline Fighter Squadron. He has also held different staff appointments including Directing Staff at DSSC, and Group Captain Staff Duties at the Directorate of Education.