Hilal Ahmed Rather

Career A native of southern Kashmir's Anantnag district, Rather studied at the Sainik School Nagrota near Jammu from Class VI in 1978. According to family friends, he rarely visited his home following the beginning of the insurgency in 1988. He passed out from the Air Force Academy at Dundigal as the "Best All-Round Pilot", winning both the President's Plaque and the academy Sword of Honor. Rather was promoted squadron leader on 17 December 1999, and went on a flight safety course in Bangladesh in 2003. He was promoted wing commander on 16 December 2004 and group captain on 1 May 2010. He also served as an instructor at the DSSC.

As defense air attaché in Paris, Rather is one of only four IAF officers in this role; the others are posted at the Indian missions in the U.S., the U.K. and Russia. and was promoted to the substantive rank on 12 January 2023 with seniority from 1 September 2021.

Awards Rather received the Vayu Sena Medal (VM) for devotion to duty in 2010, followed by the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2016.