No. 6 Squadron (Pakistan Air Force)

No. 6 Squadron Antelopes
Active	1947—Present
Country	Pakistan
Branch	Pakistan Air Force
Role	Airlift
Part of	No. 35 Composite Air Transport Wing PAF Northern Air Command
Airbase	PAF Base Chaklala
Nickname	Antelopes
Mascot	A standing antelope.
Anniversaries	August 14
Aircraft	C-130 Hercules
Engagements	1947 Indo-Pak War 1965 Indo-Pak War 1971 Indo-Pak War
Battle honours	4× Sitara-i-Juraat 1× Imtiazi Sanad 2× Tamgha-i-Jurat
Commanders
Notable commanders	Air Vice-Marshal Eric Gordon Hall Air Vice-Marshal Allan Perry-Keene Air-Commodore Mukhtar Dogar Air-Commodore Nazir Latif
Aircraft flown
Transport	Douglas Dakota Bristol Freighter C-130 Hercules

The No. 6 Squadron, named the Antelopes, is a transport squadron of the Pakistan Air Force.^[1].

History

The squadron was formed on August 14, 1947 at Maripur, Karachi. While it was formed without any aircraft or equipment on its charge, its first Commanding officer was Flight-Lieutenant (Captain) M. J. Khan. On 16 August 1947, Air Officer Commanding Air Vice Marshal visited the squadron and commissioned the squadron for heavy airlifting and airborne operations. The PAF acquired Douglas DC-3 or Dakota 22 October 1947. It was flown by the Flight Lieutenant A.K.S Ahmad. Meanwhile, the squadron acquired Bristol Freighter, Tiger Moth, and Auster aircraft. On 29 June 1948, a detachment of the squadron presented a guard of honour at Mauripur to the Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah on his arrival from Quetta. On 9 September 1948, three Dakota aircraft did the fly past at the Quaid-e-Azam's funeral ceremony.^{[citation needed]}

No. 6 Squadron had been a Royal Indian Air Force unit until 14 August 1947, the date of Pakistan's independence, when it was transferred to the Royal Pakistan Air Force (RPAF). The squadron was stationed at Peshawar and had inherited one serviceable Douglas Dakota from the RIAF, alogn with 2 pilots, 3 navigators and 3 signalers. A three phase program was initiated by the RPAF to increase the numbers of personnel and equipment and, by the end of the first phase on 31 March 1948, a total of 8 Dakota transports were in service. The squadron strength was brought up to 20 Dakota transports over the next 12 months. During this period, regular supply drops in Azad Kashmir were carried out by the unit for troops and villages that had been cut off by snow. Dakota pilots had to fly between the region's mountains because their fully loaded aircraft had a ceiling of around 10,000 ft while the surrounding mountain peaks were 16,000 ft to 20,000 ft high. In November 1948 the squadron dropped 40,000 kg of supplies while operating from Risalpur and Peshawar. On 4 November 1948 a Dakota was attacked by two Hawker Tempest fighters of the Indian Air Force but Flying Officer Mukhtar Dogar managed to evade the fighters.^[2] On 22 February 1949, the Globe Trotter's Dakota performed the first landing at Gilgit; in the following month was made a landing at Skardu.^{[citation needed]}

The RPAF purchased a large number of Bristol Freighter transports in early 1950 for the No. 6 Squadron. The Freighter's fuel capacity meant that longer transport and communication sorties could be flown by the squadron. Some of the Freighters were modified in 1955 for carrying a 1,800 kg "block-buster" bomb under each wing and limited training in night bombing was done. Similar operations occurred later with the C-130 Hercules. Freighters would be used in varying climate and geographical conditions such as the snowbound mountains in Kashmir, the southern Punjab deserts and East Pakistan's tropical forests. The 1952 floods lead to the unit being deployed for large scale food supply drops and the squadron was later awarded for this on 17 August 1952 by the Governor of the Punjab. 'Operation Snow Drop' began in 15 November 1953 and involved dropping supplies in Pakistan's Northern Areas from PAF Base Chaklala. From 15 to 30 November 1953 the Antelopes flew 780 hours and dropped 363,000 kg of supplies. The Bristol Freighter began to be replaced in 1963 with the delivery of four C-130B models of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transports. The C-130B Hercules enabled the squadron to fly over the Karakoram mountain ranges rather than flying between the mountains, improving flight safety.^[2]

In the 1965 Indo-Pak War the Antelopes dropped para commandos into Indian territory in a night-time mission involving three C-130B transports. Just before the 1965 war started, the squadron's commanding officer Wing Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel) Eric Gordan Hall had the idea to make up for the PAF's deficiency in heavy bombers by modifying the Hercules to carry bombs.^[3] The Hercules was converted to carry 10,000 kg of bombs, rolled out on pallets from the rear ramp, and over 21 night-time bombing raids were flown against Indian forces approaching for the battles of Chawinda and Pulkanjari. Support missions for troops in the Northern Areas were continued after the war.^[2]

With the unstable political situation at the end of 1970 and the resulting civil unrest, the Antelopes moved a large number of troops to East Pakistan and assisted in flood relief operations there. India stopped the PAF flying over its territory in 1971 and the Antelopes had to fly to East Pakistan via Sri Lanka. Two of the unit's C-130 transports were deployed to Dhaka from March 71 until the 1971 Indo-Pak War began in December 1971. They were used to evacuate soldiers and civilians from hostile areas of East Pakistan, in one sortie the aircraft flown by Wing Cmdr Munim A. Khan and his crew evacuated 365 people from Sylhet to Dhaka. During the war which began on 3 December 1971, No. 6 Squadron flew bombing missions from West Pakistan in the same manner as those flown during the 1961 war and no transport aircraft were lost during these sorties. During one such mission Group Captain Mir Alam damaged the Jaisalmer technical complex of the Indian Air Force and his crew was awarded for their efforts.^[2]

The squadron was regularly involved in the 'Exercise Nejat', a series of CENTO exercises held at PAF Base Masroor, Rezayiah in Iran, Turkey and England.^[2]

Modern era

No. 6 Squadron Globe Trotters C-130 flies over McChord Air Force Base, United States.

The bomber squadron saw the aerial action during the Pakistan war in Afghanistan. In September 1995, Afghan insurgents had attacked the Pakistan Embassy. The embassy was destroyed and left one killed while dozens were injured including the Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan. On 7 September 1995, a C-130 aircraft with Group Captain Hassan Nayyar as Mission Commander was sent to Kabul for the recovery and evaluation of the embassy staff^[4]. The Army and Navy dispatched commandos belonging to SSG(N), SSG Division, and the 50th Airborne Division.

The aircraft landed under very hostile conditions and the crew still managed to evacuate the personnel within half an hour. In 2009, the Globe Trotters performed hundreds of airborne mission, including the operations commenced by the Pakistan Army. The Globe trotters parachuted hundreds of Pakistan's paratroopers in the Swat Valley and took participation in South-Waziristan operations. During the Operation Black Thunderstorm, Operation Rah e Raast and the Operation Rah-e-Nijat, the Globe Trotters parachuted thousands of Pakistan Armed Forces personnel and continuously flown the aircraft day and night.

1998 Chagai Tests

On May 1998, the Globe Trotters flown the 5-6 nuclear devices which were in CKD sub-assembly form, from Rawalpindi to Chagai. The C-130 aircraft was given an escort by 4 F-16 Falcon jets of Arrows— the fighter squadron of PAF^[5]. The mission was carried out in extreme secrecy, and the security of Globe Trotters was extremely strict. The fighter pilots of Arrows were secretly given standing order that in the unlikely event of the C-130 being hijacked or flown outside of Pakistani airspace, they were to shoot down the aircraft before it left Pakistan’s airspace. The radio communications equipment turned off, and they were instructed to ignore any orders to the contrary that got through to them during the duration of the flight even if such orders originated from Air Headquarters^[6].

No. 6 Squadron Antelopes
Role	Operational	Aircraft	Notes
Transport	1947—1950	C-47
Transport	1950—1963	Bristol Freighter
Transport	1963—Present	C-130 Hercules

References

1. ^ "Pakistan Air Force Squadrons". http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/air-force-squadrons.htm. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "No. 6 Squadron (1948-1988)". Pakistan Military Consortium (www.pakdef.info). http://www.pakdef.info/pakmilitary/airforce/squadrons/sqdr6.html. Retrieved 11 June 2011. 
3. ^ "PAF's Gallant Christians Heroes carry Jinnah's Message.". The Nation. The Nation and Pakistan Defence Journal. 1998. http://defencejournal.com/dec98/christian.htm. Retrieved 2011. 
4. ^ 1998-Present
5. ^ Azam, Rai Muhammad Saleh (2000). "When Mountains Move – The Story of Chagai: The Road to Chagai". The Nation. The Nation and Pakistan Defence Journal. http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/june/chagai.htm. Retrieved 2011. 
6. ^ The PAF's No. 6 Squadron Globe Trotters

External links

• No. 6 Squadron Globe Trotters
• Globe Trotters