Eric G . Hall Air Vice - Marshal Eric Gordan Hall ( Urdu : ايريک گورڈن حال ; 12 October 1922 – 17 June 1998 ) , was a Pakistan Air Force bomber and fighter pilot , and former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA ) . A two - star general in the Pakistan Air Force , Hall had served as Vice Chief of Air Staff and was one of the distinguished Christian pilots who participated in the Indo - Pakistan wars of 1947 , 1965 and 1971 . He is also notable as the Director - General of the Pakistan Air Force ' s Air Force Science Research Laboratories ( AFSRL ) when he headed the atomic weapon ' s research as part of Pakistan ' s nuclear technology project . Early life . Hall was born in October 1922 in Rangoon , Burma to a British Christian family ( Anglo - Burmese ) . He received his education from Burma and did the pre - engineering courses from there . However , as the political situation worsened in that country , the Hall family migrated to British India in 1942 where they settled in Lahore . Air Force career . He enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman and was selected for the officer cadre in December 1943 . He was subsequently sent to the Royal Air Force Combat Training School ; Hall was then commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force . After the partition and creation of Pakistan , Hall decided to serve in the newly created Pakistan Air Force . For the remainder of the war , he saw active flying duty . Indo - Pakistani war of 1947 . Flying Officer Eric Hall was initially posted to Risalpur to help train and build up the Pakistan Air Force . However , when the Indo - Pakistani War of 1947 broke out , he was called to active duty . He served in No . 6 Squadron , ( Globe Trotters ) , flying Douglas C - 47 Skytrain s with supplies for the Pakistan Army . After the war , he was sent to the United States where he trained as a bomber pilot . Defence attaché . Through his vision , dedication and hard work , he rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and Deputy Chief of Air Staff . During his service , Hall commanded a number of PAF Bases and also served as the Commandant of the PAF Staff College . In 1960 and the early 1970s , Hall served as a Defence and Air Attache in the Pakistan Embassy , United States . Indo - Pakistan war of 1965 . He commanded the air transport Base at Chaklala as a Group Captain ( Colonel ) in 1965 . With war being imminent , he was conscious of the PAF ’ s lack of specialist aircraft . Hall hit upon the idea of converting C - 130 Hercules into heavy bombers . With some modifications , the transport aircraft were made capable of carrying up to 20 , 000 lbs of bombs . Having conducted trials to prove their efficacy , the Group Captain volunteered to lead the first bombing mission over the Kathua bridge on 11 September 1965 . The mission was fraught with danger as the totally unarmed C - 130 was highly vulnerable to enemy action . The success of this mission prompted the high command to authorize thirteen more bombing missions with C - 130s , including the precision bombing of Indian heavy guns at Atari on the banks of the BRB Canal . The success of these missions proved that the now Air Vice Marshal had hit the bull ’ s eye with his innovative idea . For his valour and vision Hall was awarded the Sitara - i - Jurat in 1965 . Indo - Pakistani war of 1971 . Hall was promoted to Air Commodore ( Brigadier - General ) in 1967 , commanding the Faisal AFB in Karachi . During the Indo - Pakistani war of 1971 , Hall was heavily involved in the preparations of aerial operations against India . He trained the country ' s air force pilots who went on to participate in the conflict . Post war . After the war , the President of Pakistan , Zulfikar Ali Bhutto court martial ed and forcibly ousted the Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Abdul Rahim Khan in a military tribunal held by the Judge Advocate General Branch . Hall was promoted to Air Vice Marshal ( Major General ) . His two - star assignment included the command of Sargodha AFB . As AOC , Hall upgraded the facility and a computer intelligence center was also established . In 1974 , he was given another assignment , command of Chaklala AFB . He began the confidential programs of the Air Force , and was instrumental in setting up the U facility at Chaklala , then known as the Chaklala Air Force Centrifuge Laboratories ( CAFL ) . Hall personally supervised the construction of the facility and helped to install the Uranium enrichment pilot plant at the base . He was made the first director - general of the laboratories as well as the officer in charge of security for the scientists . Hall was also in - charge of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission ' s " Directorate of Industrial Liaison " ( DIL ) , and served its first director - general . Hall had witnessed the successful Isotope separation of the U and U isotopes , the program headed by Dr . G . D . Alam and Anwar Ali in 1978 . Retirement . AVM Eric Hall retired from the Air Force in 1978 immediately after the successful U project . He was given an honorable discharge from the Air Force and made Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA ) for the Government of Pakistan . Hall migrated to Maryland , in the United States , where in August 1982 with his wife Marjorie , he founded and served as corporate president of Hall Enterprises , Inc . The company engaged in the business of importing and exporting Pakistani furniture , giftware and military spare parts . Hall died in the United States in 1998 . References .