Group Captain UC Singhal (12867) AE (L) has been the Chief Engineering officer of a premier fighter base since 27 Mar 95. Right from the start the officer displayed his commitment to professional excellence by motivating personal office setup to improve their qualitative output in every field of maintenance, be it aircraft, weapon systems, radio nav aids or transport systems. The overall improvement in maintenance standards thus achieved greatly helped this base in achieving all the targets set by higher formation without additional financial material or manpower resources.

He has been instrumental in achieving a consistently high serviceability state of both the MiG-23 BN Sqns at this base whereby demands for additional flying tasks were fully met. In April 1996 when an additional MiG-23 MF Sqn was permanently moved to this base, the officer took up the challenge and displayed his managerial skill and persistence by not only setting-up second line maintenance facilities for the incoming Sqn in record time, but also significantly improved their aircraft serviceability. He achieved all this with the existing infrastructure without any financial help. This has contributed significantly to the overall operational potential of this base.

During this period, he was given the additional task of carrying out 3rd and 4th line servicing of Magic-1 Missiles for which repair cost quoted by the suppliers abroad was high. This officer, with his determination, put back in use eighteen unserviceable missiles, thus saving considerable foreign exchange.

The quality and extent of work carried out, has been duly recognised by HQ WAC, IAF when the maintenance trophy was awarded to this base. Group Captain Singhal's overall contribution was significant in this achievement.

For his devotion to duty, leadership and innovative skill, the President is pleased to award "Vishisht Seva Medal" to Group Captain UC Singhal.