While working under him, twenty-six-year-old flying officer PVC Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon single-handedly engaged with six Sabre Jets.

[6] Indo-Pakistani Air War of 1965 began on 1 September 1965 and PAF dominated the skies with their F-86 and F-104, making 4 kills of IAF Vampire planes on the very first day.

[7][8][9] However their supremacy was overshadowed when on 3 September 1965 a Sabre was hit and a Starfigher had to leave the skies after it was attacked by Pathania who said on his radio "We part to meet again," Air Marshal Arjun Singh on that day remarked on that day's event that tyranny of PAF is over and 'Sabre slayers' were born leading Pakistani intelligence to hurriedly label Gnats as most dangerous.

Pakistani officer N.M Butt of F-86 PAF ejected safely and the wreckage of Sabre Jet was recovered near Akhnoor Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir.

[14] On 14 December 1971, he was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for his commanding lead of Air Traffic Control (ATC) while Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon PVC single-handedly engaged in a suicidal dogfight with six F-86 Sabre Jet Pakistani airplanes in Srinagar while deterring attackers from their prime targets.