After graduating from Govt Pilot Secondary School Phalia, Mehdi joined the
Pakistan Air Force in 1961, and shared a
room with subsequent army chief
General Musharraf and future
Pakistan Navy chief
Aziz Mirza, who became his lifelong friends. After their interview with the local commandants, Mehdi, Musharraf, and Mirza went to see the acclaimed Urdu movie
Savera (lit.
Dawn). After being
commissioned and assigned to
No. 16 Squadron Black Panthers as a
pilot officer, he qualified as a
fighter pilot, flying the
F-86 Sabre jet.
Wars with India in flight: Flight Lieutenant Mehdi was
shot down by an Indian Folland Gnat while flying a F-86 in 1971. In 1965, Pilot Officer Mehdi participated in
close air support combat operations during the
Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, where he flew his Sabre against Indian
Folland Gnats. In 1970, Mehdi took over the command of a flight of the squadron, stationed at Dacca airbase. In 1971, Mehdi participated in the
air operations in East Pakistan against the
Indian Army and the insurgent group it supported,
Mukti Bahini. He was flying with a
finger-four formation of the
ground attack/
bomber unit near the town of Garibpur, when his F-86 Sabre was shot down by a
Folland Gnat piloted by Fg Off Donald Lazarus of
22 Squadron IAF. His wingman,
F/Off Khalil Ahmad also suffered a similar fate, and was captured by Indian troops. Flight Lieutenant Mehdi parachuted down to 50 yards behind the
Chaugachha Upazila, where he was
captured by Indian Army soldiers; he was physically attacked by the soldiers before being rescued by
Captain H. S. Panag, the Indian Army section commander. Upon watching the news,
President Yahya Khan imposed the
state of emergency and ordered the military for the preparation of war with India on 23 November 1971.
Repatriation and command appointments The
Delhi Agreement, signed by the Governments of
India,
Pakistan, and
Bangladesh, made it possible for POWs to be repatriated to
Pakistan from India in 1973–75. Upon his return, Mehdi was directed to attend the war course at the
Air War College, where he earned a
master's degree in
War studies in 1976. In 1977,
Squadron-Leader, Mehdi served to join the faculty of the
Combat Commanders School (CCS), a
TOPGUN training school, which he remained associated with several years. In 1981–83,
Group-Captain Mehdi was appointed as the
base commander of Sargodha AFB. In 1991–93,
Air-Commodore Mehdi was appointed
air officer commanding of the
Southern Air Command, based in
Sindh, Pakistan, and was promoted to
two-star rank, and transferred to command the Northern Air Command.
Chief of Air Staff of Kargil in 1999. On 7 November 1997,
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the promotion of Mehdi to
four-star rank,
air chief marshal, and Medhi subsequently took over command of the
Pakistan Air Force as its Chief of Air Staff (CAS) on 8 November 1997. As air chief, Mehdi played a crucial role in expanding the educational scope of the Air War College in
Karachi, and backed up the military's plan for enhancing
communications capabilities between the branches of the
Pakistani military. Gen. Mehdi issued directives to the
F-16s belonging to
No. 11 Squadron Arrows to escort the
C-130H strategically airlifting six-to-seven
nuclear device to the weapon-testing sites in
Balochistan, Pakistan. Mehdi did not comment or offer any opinion when Prime Minister Sharif
relieved the military commission of then-
Chairman Joint chiefs General
Jehangir Karamat in 1998. His retirement was eventually confirmed when a junior-most air force general was promoted succeed him, leading to speculations that "PQ Mehdi's rather straight-faced and forthright dealings with a somewhat junior-general
Pervez Musharraf (although both graduated with same class) particularly during Kargil conflict was a good reason to believe that the general decided to appoint a not-very-senior air chief marshal whom he could order around like one of his Corps Commanders.". Therefore, General Musharraf favoured superseding five senior air force generals and appointed a sixth-in-line to the four-star rank once Mehdi was due for retirement. == Awards and decorations ==