Air Marshal Vinod Patney

Commissioned in 1961 in the fighter stream, Air Marshal Patney (spoken as 'patni'), is a graduate of the Royal Air Force Staff College and a founder member of the Tactics & Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE).

During the Indo-Pak war in 1965, Flight Lieutenant Vinod Patney was serving in an operational squadron in a forward area. He flew 16 operational sorties within the short period. On 13 September 1965, he took part in a ground attack mission in the Kasur-Khem Karan Sector and flew as No.3 in a four aircraft formation. During the attack, the formation met with heavy and determined ground fire from the enemy guns. One of our aircraft was shot down. Undeterred by this, he pressed home five effective attacks on different enemy targets and destroyed three Patton tanks. For this he was awarded the Vir Chakra. For his actions during the 1971 Indo-Pak war he was mentioned-in-despatches.

During his long and illustrious career he held various Command and Staff appointments which include Air Officer Commanding of Jammu & Kashmir, Air Officer Commanding Air Defence Control Centre and Senior Air Staff Officer at Western Air Command Headquarters, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Command and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command. On 06 April 2000, Air Marshal Vinod Patney was decorated with the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal (SYSM) for leading the Indian Air Force in the Kargil war, which ultimately proved to be the turning point in Operation Vijay. He was the first officer of the IAF and the sole recipient of the SYSM. He thus became the most decorated serving officer in all three services.

Also in 2000, Air Marshal Patney was honoured by DLF City when Mr. K.P. Singh, Chairman DLF Group presented to him the first ever Key to DLF City. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. K.P. Singh congratulated Air Marshal Vinod Patney for the award of SYSM and said that operation Safed Sagar under the Air Marshal's command was conducted with the precision of a surgeon's knife and became the magnificent contribution of the Indian Air Force to high altitude warfare. On 01 August 2000, Air Marshal Vinod Patney took over as the Vice Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. Air Marshal Patney, who was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command before this promotion and was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Command during the Kargil operations. On 31 July 2000, Air Marshal Vinod Patney retired from the IAF after 40 years of distinguished service. Jai Hind!! Jai Jawan!!