Air Marshal JS Kler takes over as the Commandant at the NDA!

Air Marshal Jasjit Singh Kler, an Air Officer with vast flying experience in helicopter and a qualified flying instructor took over as Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA) on Monday, a press release from the Defence PRO said.

Kler was commissioned into the helicopter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 13, 1980. He is a third generation soldier and was holding the position of Senior Air Staff Officer of Eastern Air Command at Shillong prior to his appointment in NDA. On May 31, the earlier Commandant of NDA, Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar, took over charge as the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff. Deputy Commandant Air Vice Marshal Sandesh Wagle was officiating as Commandant.

Kler has flown more than 8,000 hours on various helicopters, flying mostly in Siachen Glacier and in the Eastern sector. He has flown most types of helicopters in the IAF inventory including Cheetah, Chetak, Mi-8, Mi-17 and Mi-17 IV. Kler was promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in 2015 and took over as Director General (Inspection and Safety). He has held various command and staff appointments including Inspector General (Air), Border Security Force; Senior Air Adm Staff Officer Maintenance Command; Deputy Comman-dant of Air Force Academy; Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station, New Delhi; and Station Commander of Air Force Station, Jammu.

Kler also commanded an Mi-17 helicopter unit and was posted to Namibia to raise and train the Namibian Helicopter element. The press release said that Kler is an alumnus of College of Defence Management and National Defence College, Bangladesh. Kler is a Master of Business Administration and also has a Masters degree in Public Administration from the Indian Institute of Public Administration. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 2001

~ Source- IndianExpress