 Named No 1 Operational Group at the time of its inception, 27 May 1958, it was based at Ranikutir in Kolkata as a part of the Govt's increasing emphasis on defence of the eastern borders.The Operational Group was upgraded as Command on 1 December 1959 with headquarters at Fort William, Kolkata and Air Vice Marshal KL Sondhi as the first AOC-in-C of the Eastern Command Indian Air Force#Rank structure.After the 1962 Indo-Chinese War, The decision was made to raise a full-fledged command at Shillong.