Details : | Group Captain Gorantla Kasi Jalandhar Reddy (20990) was commissioned in the Indian Air Force as a pilot in flying branch on 15 Dec 90. In his 21 years of service, he has held several important appointments including Flight Commander of a MiG-29 squadron and Flight Commander at Flying Instructors' School. He has also to his credit the distinction of forming a new squadron of the Advance Jet Trainer (AJT) Hawk aircraft and become its first Chief Flying Instructor (CFI). An alumni of Defence Services Staff College and a Category '(1; Qualified Flying Instructor, he has over 4500 hours of accident free flying. As the pioneer CFI of a Hawk squadron, he was instrumental in meticulously planning, formulating and conducting Semester - 2 training of Stage-Ill fighter pilots on the newly inducted Hawk aircraft. Under his proactive leadership, the squadron flew over 8000 hours. This entailed providing a high level of dynamism and motivation to all squadron personnel. It was due to his personal involvement that 'Flying Training Pattern' of the Hawk Operational Training Squadron was formulated and which has now become the model for all flying squadrons of the IAF The consistently high standards maintained by the squadron have been appreciated by both Aircrew Examining Board and Directorate of Air Staff Inspection teams. In addition, he was involved in the creation of state of the art infrastructure at Bidar that is conducive to the hi-tech flying training on the AJT. This is now being emulated by other squadrons of the IAF In his present appointment as Senior Flying Training Officer, he is currently instrumental in planning and implementation of all Hawk training curriculum of Stage-Ill (Fighter). With his keen initiative, he explored the local resources and indigenised the Video Debrief System of Hawk ac at just over 1% of the total cost quoted by the OEM. His brilliant foresight, planning and problem solving capabilities have resulted in the smooth progress of training of Hawk aircraft, despite numerous resources constraints. For his distinguished service of high order, Hon'ble President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Group Captain Gorantla Kasi Jalandhar Reddy. |