On 1 April 1944, Moolgavkar was promoted to the acting rank of Flight Lieutenant and transferred to No. 4 Squadron IAF, commanded by Squadron Leader Geoffrey Sharp of the Royal Air Force, at Chittagong. He flew the Supermarine Spitfire in escort fighter role in supply dropping missions. In January 1945, while on a sortie, the engine of his Spitfire failed. He crash landed on a beach and was stuck upside-down. Luckily, a couple of British Commandos spotted the plane and rescued him.[4] He had multiple crushed vertebrae which required surgery and he spent about six months with his back in plaster. He got back to flying soon, joining the No. 10 Squadron IAF.[7]
In January 1947, Moolgavkar was promoted to the acting rank of Squadron Leader and took command of No. 6 Squadron IAF at Kohat. After a short stint, he took command of No. 10 Squadron at Kanpur. The squadron was equipped with the Hawker Tempest II.[5][4]
The No. 1 Operational Wing was in the thick of battle during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. Moolgavkar led the planning and execution of close air support during Operation Bison in Zoji La. He also flew sorties himself.[4] For his exceptional gallantry and leadership, Moolgavkar was decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), the second highest military decoration in India. He was among four IAF officers who were awarded the MVC during the war, the other three being Air Commodore Mehar Singh and Wing Commanders Minoo Merwan Engineer and Sidney Basil Noronha.[9]
The citation for the Maha Vir Chakra reads as follows:[10][11]
Gazette Notification: 59 Pres/51,1.12.51
Operation: 1947 Indo Pak Kashmir War
Date of Award: 08 Dec 1951
CITATION
WING COMMANDER HRUSHIKESH MOOLGAVKAR
(1644) GD(P)
Wing Commander Moolgavkar commanded No. 1 Operational Wing of the IAF in Kashmir from September 1948 to May 1949. In spite of having to plan out as well as conduct operations from both Jammu and Srinagar, this officer made time to take the air whenever the more difficult and dangerous commitments had to be carried out.
In these tasks, he showed great leadership by his selfless devotion to duty and fearless readiness for offensive action against the enemy, this leader inspired great confidence in his Squadron Commanders and pilots.
The air attack on the well defended Domel bridge and the Uri and Saadabad sectors was led and directed by Wing Commander Moolgavkar personally. When the defences around Uri presented severe obstacles in the way of operational flight on that area, he evolved a plan and attacked the Uri guns in conjunction with one of his Squadron Commanders. This attack not only exposed them to the fire of the anti-aircraft guns but also brought him within the dangerous probability of their aircraft entering the “Compressibility Zones” with a risky load of bombs at high altitudes.
The final link-ups with Poonch, Kargil and Leh were established during the period he was in command of No. 1 Operational Wing. The effective support that the IAF was able to render the Army during these operations was in no small measures due to his determination, initiative and drive in planning and co-ordinating the offensive to success.
Post-war career
After the war, in March 1950, he commanded a detachment of de Havilland Vampire aircraft, which were recently received by the IAF. He led the detachment touring South India and in flying demonstrations in Bombay, Poona, Bangalore and Madras. In October 1950, he moved to Air headquarters as Deputy Director Operations. He was promoted to the acting rank of Group Captain and appointed Director of Operations at Air HQ in May 1952. He became the first IAF officer to serve in this appointment, since the previous officers were from the RAF.[2] After a two-year stint at Air HQ, he took command of Palam Air Force Station from Group Captain H N Chatterjee.[12]
Moolgavkar as the Commandant, National Defence College
Moolgavkar was promoted to the acting rank of Air Commodore and returned to India. He subsequently took over as the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of the Operational Command. In October 1962, the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 arrived in India for a tour of demonstration flights. Moolgavkar led the team for this tour.[15] He moved to Air HQ in June 1963, where he served as the Air Officer-in-Charge Policy and Plans. He was promoted substantive Air Commodore on 1 April 1964. He served in this appointment for a year-and-a-half before moving to the Maintenance Command at Nagpur. He served as the Senior Air & Administration Staff Officer (SAASO) of the Command.[5] Promoted to the acting rank of Air Vice Marshal on 25 January 1967, he took command of the newly created HQ Western India at Pune. He was made substantive Air Vice Marshal on 1 April 1968 and appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) Central Air Command at Allahabad.[5] He was at the helm of the Central Air Command for three years, till March 1971.
After a two-year stint at the helm of the NDC, in 1973, he took command of the Western Air Command, the biggest command in terms of resource, as its AOC-in-C.[14] In March 1975, Moolgavkar personally participated in the Western Air Command Inter-Squadron Gunnery Meet. He won the Staff Pilots Championship Trophy for firing rockets from a single-seater Hunter aircraft. As the Commander-in-chief of the command, and at the age of 55, he was the envy of many younger pilots.[17] In April, he took over as the Commodore Commandant of the squadron that he had commanded in the past - No. 10 Squadron.
The Moolgavkars, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu by caste, had two children - a son Dr. Prakash and a daughter Jyoti.[3] Jyoti later wrote the biography of the former CAS titled Leading from the Cockpit: A Fighter Pilot’s Story. The book was published and released in 2010.[7]
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