[1][2] State exams and related flights by the graduating cadets were supervised by a commission of experienced military pilots, headed by the prominent WWII fighter-pilot, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal Ivan Kozhedub.

[2] In 1976, Koval was a squadron commander in one of the air regiments of the Northern Group of Forces of Warsaw Pact countries.

[2] In 1984, as a commander of a MiG-23 squadron, Major Mykola Koval and his subordinates went to Bagram Airfield (Afghanistan), where in the first year of service he was appointed senior pilot-inspector of the combat training department of the 40th Army Air Force.

[4] He was awarded the most prestigious transitional prize "Super King of the Air" by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

That year he won top prize at the demonstration performance in Tel Aviv (dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Israeli Air Force).