Moskvitelev was one of eleven instructors who were required to learn how to fly new models of jet fighters, including the Yakovlev Yak-25, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, and then retrain naval aviators to be able to fly them. During this time he was promoted from the position of flight commander to air squadron commander, and then to regiment navigator. As well as carrying out training missions, he performed reconnaissance missions on NATO installations on Gotland, and interceptions of English Electric Canberra reconnaissance aircraft in the MiG-19. By 1957 the regiment's task was judged to have been successfully completed, and it was disbanded. Moskvitelev, then holding the rank of major, was transferred to Sevastopol as deputy commander of an air regiment, followed six months later with the post of senior inspector-pilot of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force. This was followed in April 1958 with the position of commander of the 62nd Fighter Aviation Regiment in the fleet's air force, and the award of the Order of the Red Banner that year. In 1960 the fleet's naval aviation began to be phased out as part of a restructuring, with personnel and equipment transferred to the Air Defence armies. A commission led by General arrived at Belbek Air Base in April 1960, tasked with transferring Moskvitelev's fighter regiment from the Black Sea Fleet Air Force to the 8th Air Defence Army. With the commission was three times Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Pokryshkin, who enquired of Moskvitelev how he felt about the transfer. Moskvitelev replied that he was feeling positive, but when Pokryshkin asked if it wasn't a pity to give up his naval aviator uniform, Moskvitelev admitted that it was. Pokryshkin replied "Well done! Do not bother!" Moskvitelev's regiment was accepted into service with the Separate Air Defence Army, and in 1962 it was declared the best in the Soviet Air Defence Forces. Pokryshkin came to rely on Moskvitelev for important tasks, such as on 1 May when an enemy high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was detected. Pokryshkin ordered Moskvitelev to prepare to destroy the intruder if it came within range. Moskvitelev was appointed deputy commander of the aviation division in 1963, and at Pokryshkin's request, submitted an application to study at the Air Defence Military Command Academy.