Bengaluru : Air Marshal Arvindra Singh Butola took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Training Command here on Monday.

Butola is a recipient of the Vayu Sena and Vishisht Seva medals. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Helicopter Stream of the Indian Air Force in June 1982. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and Experimental Test Pilot and has flown over 6,700 hours on 21 different types of aircraft.

In a career spanning 37 years, Butola has held a number of command and staff appointments, which include Commanding Officer of a Frontline Helicopter Unit in J&K, Senior Flying Instructor and Advisor to the Nambian Defence Forces, Deputy Chief Test Pilot at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Station Commander of a premier Air Force Station in the Western Sector, Senior Officer-in-Charge, Administration, of an Operational Command, Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Operations (Transport and Helicopters) at Air Headquarters followed by Senior Air Staff Officer of an Operational Command. Prior to assuming the present appointment, he was Commandant of the prestigious Air Force Academy at Dundigal, Hyderabad.