Hakimullah Khan Durrani was born in
North-West Frontier Province on 15 October 1935 into a
Durrani Pashtun family. After completing his secondary school certificate from the secondary school in Mardan, he joined the
Pakistan Air Force in 1954,
passing out in 1957 where he gained
commission as a
pilot officer. Further training took place in the
United States where
Flying Officer Hakimullah qualified to fly the
F-104 Starfighter and participated in the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
Flight-Lieutenant Hakimullah notably intercepted the
Indian Air Force's
Folland Gnat flown by then-
Flight lieutenant Brijpal Singh Sikand, who was forced to land at the airstrip in
Pasrur,
Pakistan. This claim, however, has been contested by India. In 1971,
Wing-Commander Hakimullah flew the
Mirage-IIIA in the
western front of the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, seeing
aerial actions against the
MiG-21. On 5 May 1976, Wing Commander Hakimullah was appointed the first commanding officer of the newly established
Combat Commanders' School at
PAF Base Sargodha. In 1981,
Air-Commodore Hakim was appointed
Project-Director of
Project Falcon, overseeing the acquisition of
F-16s by the air force. In 1986–87,
Air Vice-Marshal Hakim served in the
Air AHQ as its
Chief of Staff under
Chief of Air Staff. In 1988,
Air-Mshl. Hakimullah was elevated to
DCAS (Administration) and was later promoted to
four-star rank. == Awards and decorations ==