Group Captain Krishna Narayana Pillai, (4874), Flying (Pilot), was commissioned in the Air Force in 1955 in the Flying (Pilot) Branch. Early in his career, he displayed his superior flying skill and was selected for the Pilot Attack Instructor's course. After successful completion of his training, he was employed on instructional duties for imparting Weapon Delivery techniques to pilots of fighter squadrons and luring that period there was a marked improvement in the Weapon Delivery accuracy of fighter squadrons. During the period of his assignment at the Aircrew Examining Board, he was responsible for motivating aircrew into accurate flying under diverse weather conditions.

In addition to his teaching and testing duties, he served as a Flight Commander in one of our frontline offensive air support squadrons. Thereafter, he has been in command of a premier fighter squadron for a full tenure and trained his squadron into a very effective fighting force. In recognition of his professional competence, he was posted as Deputy Director in the Directorate of Air Staff Inspection. In this capacity, he was largely responsible for standardising operational techniques in our fighter squadrons and generating flight safety consciousness without sacrificing operational advantages. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Group Captain Pillai has held an Air Staff appointment in an operational Command. In these duties, he has shown an equal amount of zeal and innovativenss in the operational planning entrusted to him. He has an excellent sense of anticipation and appreciation of air operations in general.

Group Captain Krishna Narayana Pillai has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.