`Mussoorie main honeymoon manane walon ko pata chale ki IMA mein loha ban raha hai`

This is one of the many punch lines that Drill Instructors of Indian Military Academy (IMA) frequently use to encourage and push Gentleman Cadets, which would become officers of the Indian Army. Now this may be very well true and they would be making LOHA there. But the real steel is casted somewhere else – in the Special Forces battalions of the Indian Army.

H S "Harry" Kler, is well known in the war lores of the Indian Army as the Brigadier who knocked on the doors of Dacca on December 15th , 1971.  Retired as a Major General, he passed away last week at 93 years of age. Wg Cdr Unni Kartha writes a tribute to the man that was in the thick of action - in all wars.

Brigadier Rattan Kaul of the 4/5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) details the Battle of Pakokku (Irrawady river operations) during World War II, an operation that his battalion was involved with during its history.

A Sailor's Story, by Vice Admiral N.Krishnan. Edited by: Arjun Krishnan - Book Review by K. Chandni

INAS 311 was commissioned by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Nirmal Verma on 12th May 2009 at INS Dega in Vishakapatnam.

INAS 311, commanded by Commander Sanjay Nandan, operates the Dornier 228 aircraft.

The Talwar class has its origins in the Severnoye (Northern) Design Bureau that developed intothe Project 1135.6 vessel using an earlier Project 1135.1 design. This back to the early 1980s. The extensive scope of redesign and re-engineering for these vessels has realised a multipurpose surface combatant of about 4,000 ton displacement (this increase being attributed to additional weapon systems and the replacement of light alloys with steel), tailored to meet the Indian Navy's specific mission and performance requirements.

 Wg Cdr P K Raveendran was a young under-trainee flight engineer on a VIP flight to Jorhat in November 1977 when tragedy struck. The miraculous survival story of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Morarji Desai was tempered by the tragic loss of the Flight Crew.  The author recollects the events surrounding the flight, the crash and subsequent rescue effort - and as a post script - his journey to the crash site forty years later!.

IAF Awards Database Updated - Now current till 2018! Contains 4731 individual award records. Officer's Service Page features now enhanced to show Gazetted Promotions where available. 

Updated 03 February 2018: We regret to inform that Wg Cdr A Philipos passed away in Bengaluru on 31st January 2018. He was 101 years old.  Original: Wg Cdr A Phillipos  3033 GD(P) was commissioned as an Accounts Branch Officer in 1944.  He recently turned 100 years old and was felicitated by the Air Force Records Office in Bangalore. In this short article, he writes about his introduction to service life under the British.