Details : | Wing Commander Shiv Shankaram (26561) was commissioned in the Indian Air Force as a pilot in the flying branch on 16 Jun 01. He is on the posted strength of a premiere Mi-I7 Unit since 30 Jun 2014. On 25 Apr IS, the Unit was tasked to participate in Op Maitri. Wg Cdr Shiv Shankaram was the captain of one of the two unit Mi-17helicopters launched at first light on 26 Apr IS from Gorakhpur. On landing at Kathmandu, he took the initiative and interacted with the Nepalese Army Ops Room, the Airport Manager and got the IAF helicopter operating area earmarked and ground procedures established and assisted the Task Force Commander in quick launch of rescue and relief operations. He undertook missions to numerous locations in a very intense and challenging flying environment in an unfamiliar terrain where there were no established landing grounds, no wind indications and missions were extremely time critical. The trauma and scale of devastation further enhanced the difficulty level. Utilising men and machine to their optimum to achieve the extraordinary, Wg Cdr Shiv Shankaram flew 86 sorties evacuating 34 medical casualties, airlifting 350 personnel and airdropping 36 Tons of relief supplies. On 12 May IS, a Huey UH-l Helicopter of the US Marine was declared missing at 2100 hrs and a combined SAR operation was launched. Wg Cdr Shiv Shankaram carried out an intense search along the valley bottom and his initiative to interact with the locals, the police and army troops resulted in providing vital leads on the wreckage. Using inputs obtained from a local lad the wreckage could be located under difficult weather and terrain conditions. For exceptional devotion to duty, Hon'ble President is pleased to award Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty) to Wing Commander Shiv Shankaram. |