| Details : | Group Captain Malliyakel Joseph Augustine Vinoth (21819) was commissioned in the Indian Air Force as a pilot in the fighter stream on 13 Jun 92. He is presently posted at HQ EAC as Ops 1B in charge of Centre for Air Tasking and Strike Planning for Aerial Warfare (CATSPAW), Command Intelligence Officer (C Int 0), Officer-in-Charge Command Headquarter Operations Centre (CHOC) and Ops I (Garud). He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. The officer was commended twice by AOC-in-C in 1996 and 2002. The officer has flown over 3000 hours on Mirage 2000, MiG 21 and Kiran aircraft. He commanded the MiG-21 (T-77) Operational Conversion Unit from 2009 - 2011 whose role is to train budding fighter pilots. During his tenure, the Squadron was moved to a new location and was operational within 15 days of the move. As the Commanding Officer, he led the unit from the front and successfully trained 19 ab-initio pilots. The unit also won the team event in Front Guns and Rockets during the Command Annual Gunnery Meet in 2010. Since 2011, he has single handedly discharged the arduous responsibility of CATSPAW with utmost dedication and professionalism. He diligently planned the Tasking Orders for Operations in EAC Area of Responsibility and undertook an assiduous review of Joint Targeting with the Army. In March and November 2012, HQ EAC successfully conducted large scale Command level exercises in concert with the Army and Navy, the former with out of Command Forces being inducted after a considerable gap. As Officer in Charge CATSPAW, he supervised the meticulous planning of all missions for the exercises in minute detail which resulted in achievement of laid down objectives. He contributed proficiently in the revision of EAC Op Instructions. As C Int 0 & Ops l(G), he accomplished multifarious tasks in the fields of Counter Intelligence, Image Intelligence, creation of Digital Target Folders and streamlining of Garuds Operational Training. For distinguished service of high order, Hon'ble President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Group Captain Malliyakel Joseph Augustine Vinoth. |
