CUTTING EDGE PAF

Air Chief Marshal M Anwar Shamim graduated as a pilot from Point Cook, Australia in 1954. After his jet conversion on Vampires in Australia, he was posted to PAF’s first jet unit, No 11 Squardon, which he later went on to command in 1963. In 1964, he was given charge of PAF’s elite 33 Wing, which he commanded during the 1965 War. He led the famous raid on Amritsar’s radar, which earned him a Sitara-i-Jur’at. In 1968, he was sent to Jordon as Air Adviser to King Hussein. On return to Pakistan, he took over as Air Defense Sector Commander – South, in which capacity he controlled air defense operations in 1971 War. He had the privilege of commanding Sakesar, Korangi Creek and PAF’s largest, Masroor, Air Bases. He was appointed Assistant Chief of Air Staff in 1975. In 1978, he was selected to be the Chief of Air Staff, an appointment he held till 1985. He was instrumental in two important developments in the PAF that have helped it remain second to none: Introduction of Regional Commands to decentralise command and control and ensure better liaison with the Army and Navy field formations; secondly, the induction of F16s which redressed the imbalance against the traditional adversary India over the years."An Air force facing multiple threats cannot mature and become a self-assured fighting force overnight. Air Chief Marshal Shamim inherited an air force, a large part of which had yet to be operationally trained and fully tested in its fighting mettle. He therefore set himself the goal of attaining the highest possible level of operational preparedness for the PAF within the resources, which the nation could make available. This was no easy task. Taking into consideration our grave security situation, he drove himself and all of us hard and relentlessly."Newly-appointed CAS, then Air Marshal Jamal A Khan's tribute to outgoing CAS