Rab Nawaz Choudhary

Rab Nawaz Choudhary (Urdu: رب نواز چودھری) is a retired Group captain of the Pakistan Air Force who played a key role in the 1959 Indian Canberra shootdown. On 10 April 1959, while most of Pakistan was busy in Eid ul Fitr celebrations, Rab nawaz was the duty officer at the 223 Squadron in Wegowal when his Type-15 radar unit showed a blip crossing the India–Pakistan border towards Rawalpindi.

Rab Nawaz Choudhary
Native name	رب نواز چودھری
Born	(1932-08-01) August 1, 1932 Tarlai Kalan (Present day Islamabad Capital Territory), Pakistan
Allegiance	Pakistan Air Force
Branch	Air Defense
Years of service	1957 – 1980
Rank	Group captain
Unit	223 Squadron
Known for	GCI of the fighter formation which scored the PAF's first aerial kill.
Battles	1959 Canberra shootdown 1965 Indo-Pakistani war 1971 Indo-Pakistani war
Alma mater	Government Gordon College Flying Training School
Other work	Author of: "World With No Visa". "Of Truth and Terrorism".

His subsequent decision to directly permit PAF F-86 fighter jets to shoot down the Indian Canberra without informing the Chain of command, against PAF protocol is credited to have prevented the Indian spy plane from escaping thus playing a key role in achieving the first aerial victory for the Pakistan Air Force.

Early life & military career

Rab nawaz was born on 1 August 1932 to a Punjabi family in Tarlai Kalan village (present day Islamabad). His mother was a Housewife while his father died of a heart attack when he was an year old. Nawaz's mother was remarried to his uncle which was an arranged marriage by the village elders according to local traditions. His uncle brought him up who though illiterate was fond of education and was a progressive man according to Rab Nawaz. He received initial education at his village's local schools passing vernacular final in 1947. He took admission at a high school in Rawalpindi and later enrolled in Government Gordon College. 2 years into it, Nawaz tried to join the civil police but his age and education was not compatible to join the police. During this time he came across an Officer from the then Royal Pakistan Air Force (which at the time was facing manpower shortages) who persuaded him to join the air force as an Air Scout.

After graduating from Gordon College in 1952, Nawaz along with some of his colleagues joined the air scouts as part of an emergency program by the RPAF to cope with manpower shortages. After initial training at various RPAF airbases, he was sent to PAF Academy in Risalpur where he spent 2.5 years before graduating. Subsequently, he was commissioned as a Pilot officer and sent to the No. 2 Squadron flying T-33 Shooting Stars where he was permanently grounded. Nawaz was resultantly transferred to the C&R Branch (Present day Air Defense branch) and sent to the USA for Air Defense Weapons Controllers (ADWC) training.

Later career

After his return to Pakistan, Nawaz was re-commissioned in March 1957 and remained deployed at several Air defense squadrons serving throughout the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani wars.

Nawaz later retired from the PAF as a Group captain and entered politics initially joining the Pakistan People's Party and later leaving it for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Nawaz is also a heavy critic of the US invasion of Afghanistan and is opposed to the war in Afghanistan. He currently lives a retired life in Rawalpindi.

Published works

• World With No Visa, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4772-2035-1
• Of Truth and Terrorism, AuthorHouse, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4634-4916-2