Group Captain Yeranilly Tirurmala Vasudeo (15804) Aeronautical Engineering (Electronics) was commissioned on 02 Jul 1979 in the Engineering Branch of IAF. During 25 years of distinguished service, he has held several important appointments, including staff appointment at Air Head quarter and Headquarter Maintenance Command. He is also a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College. He has been commended by the Chief of Air Staff. Presently, he is posted to a major transport Wing as Chief Engineering Officer.

As Deputy Director (Projects) at Air Headquarter from Oct 93 to May 97, Group Captain Vasudeo closely monitored large number of indigenous programmes, like Prithvi, Trishul, UAV, Lakshya and Phased Array Radar, including coordinating their field trials for IAF utilisation. During his tenure at Air Force Technical College from Jun 98 to Dec 99, he single handedly prepared the college for ISO-9001 certification, and got it too. With this, AFTC became the first training institute of IAF to be awarded such certification, thus becoming trendsetter for other training institutes of the IAF.

At Headquarter Maintenance Command, he played a stellar role during "Operation Parakaram" in steering the Base Repair Depots in the right direction to maintain high operational capability of the field units. His meticulous planning to route specialist teams from the Base Repair Depots to various Missile and Air Defence Squadrons considera bly improved serviceability and availability of the weapon systems in these units. He conceived and introduced several new computer projects, like Desktop Signaling System, computer hardware repair centre, Thin client computer configuration, and soft ware programming for Command operations centre. These efforts were a major step towards achieving a paperless office, and have given a big boost to the computerisation programme in Maintenance Command.

In all his appointments, Gp Capt Vasudeo has shown exceptional involvement and has worked beyond the call of normal duty. For his devotion to duty, he was commended by Chief of the Air Staff on 26 Jan 92. The officer has always excelled in all the service courses that he has undergone in India and abroad. He also earned the "Directing Staff" grading while undergoing the course at Defence Services Staff College.

For his distinguished service of high order, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Group Captain Yeranilly Tirurmala Vasudeo.