New Delhi, March 30: Senior fighter pilot Air Marshal NS Dhillon was on Saturday appointed as the new chief of the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) -- the body instituted in January 2003 by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government to monitor the strategic nuclear arsenal of the country. The first commander-in-chief of SFC was Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana.

Air Marshal Dhillon, born in 1961, is a native of Dhand village near Amritsar in the frontier state of Punjab. He joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 1981, at the age of 20. Vice Admiral Karambir Singh Appointed Next Navy Chief.

Dhillon had graduated from the National Defence Academy in Pune's Khadakwasla, followed by a degree in the Defence Service Staff College in Wellington Cantonment and the National Defence College in New Delhi.

Dhillon has commanded the MiG-21 squadron, along with being the chief operational officer of a strategic flying base. He was also appointed as the chief of a helicopter base in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission.

The Air Marshal is currently designated as the Air Defence Commander HQ SAC. His new deputation is slated to start on immediate basis.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2019 08:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).