Wing Commander Pramod Kumar Shrivastava (17283) Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) was commissioned in the Engineering Branch of the IAF on 31 Aug 1983. In 22 years of distinguished service, he has held many important appointments, which include Chief Engineering Officer of Fighter/helicopter base, staff appointment at Air Headquarters and Command Headquarters. He is a postgraduate in Industrial Engineering and Management from IIT Kharagpur.

Whilst being the Chief Engineering Officer at Air Force Station Udhampur he performed creditably, and was awarded Commendation by AOC-in-C, WAC in year 2000. As staff at Command Headquarters, he incorporated ingenious procedures to reduce the spares requirements of Base Repair Depot and was awarded commendation by Chief of Air Staff, IAF in year 2003. Wg Cdr Shrivastava was appointed as Commanding Officer of Repair & Salvage Unit on 02 Sep 2002. With his thorough professional approach and involvement, he has successfully developed in-house major repair schemes for radiator flange of MiG 21s, tail cone ring of MiG 23s, Microlight aircraft, Engine Efflux Screen of Mi-17 and complex structural repairs for AN-32, IL-76 and Mi-26. This has resulted in substantial financial savings and has reduced down-time of the aircraft, as prior to this, HAL and BRD help was being sought to undertake such repairs.

A 'SPITFIRE' aircraft, crashed 56 years ago, remained buried in the riverbed, was found in the year 2002. With his unmatched spirit, dedication and zeal, he reconstructed the Spitfire to its original shape in record time of four months. On 01 Aug 2003, the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri while on a visit to Air Force Station Ambala, highly appreciated the efforts put in by him in restoring the aircraft. With his methodical approach and deep engineering skills, he could also install one Hunter aircraft at single point at the height of 30 feet near WAC Officers' Mess, and is in the process of repeating the same feat at Ambala. Also, he is giving its original shape to a crashed Otter aircraft by using all ingenuity, and the aircraft is shaping up well. He was also tasked to convert two very old fibre reinforced plastic containers used by radar units for operating ten channel radio relay equipment. With his multidimensional skills, ability to innovate, and capability to marshal resources, he could convert scrapped cabins into ultra modern ergonomically designed air-conditioned cabins in just Rs 30,000/- each. These cabins along with vehicle were earlier fabricated by a civil vendor at the cost of Rs 30 lacs.

Wg Cdr Shrivastava, with his foresight, immaculate planning and perseverance, has provided direction to the personnel of his unit to achieve challenging tasks which helped in reducing the down-time of aircraft and thus enhancing the operational capability of various flying units.

For distinguished service of high order, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Wing Commander Pramod Kumar Shrivastava..