Wing Commander Dinesh Chander Nigam was commissioned into the Aeronautical Engineering (Electronics) Branch in Oct 63. During his service career, he distinguished himself in such challenging assignments as management of guided weapon firing ranges and introduction of the GW equipment and its subsequent modification. He was Officer-in-Charge of Project ELINT and Tail Warning Systems which played a vital role in operations.

As Officer-in-Charge, he was responsible for technical evaluation, planning and execution of avionics projects of varied nature. In carrying out this task, he demonstrated technical acumen of a high order.

During his tenure as Officer-in-Change Avionics Modification Team, he was entrusted with the task of installation of Doppler Radar on the Canberra aircraft, Weather Radar on the Mi-8 helicopter and Omega Navigation System on the Avro, the Mi-8, the AN-12 and the Canberra TT aircraft as also trial installation of important secondary Radar on various MiG variants. When called upon to install and commission three sets of Weather Radars on the Mi-8 helicopters, earmarked for the third Antarctic Expedition, the officer undertook the task with zeal and determination and completed it within a short period of ten days, a commendable achievement by any standard. His technique of planning, procurement of installation material and fabrication of the required bracketry helped immensely in speedy completion of the installation task.

For his exemplary devotion to duty, able leadership, resourcefulness and diligence beyond the call of duty, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wing Commander Dinesh Chander Nigam.

Air Vice Marshal DC Nigam (7938) was commissioned on 07 Oct 63 in the Aeronautical Engineering Branch of the IAF. He has since held many prestigious appointments such as Chief Engineering Officer at Barielly, Chief Officer at 9 RRU, Chief Systems Officer at Radar and Communication Project Office (RCPO),

DMPQ & A at Air HQs and the

officiating Director General, RCPO. He is a Post graduate from Greenfield Institute of Technology, UK and Graduate of the National Defence College. For his distinguished service of a high order he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 1985.

Air Vice Mshl Nigam is the Global Coordinator of Integrated Material Management Online System (IMMOLS) project since 26 May 97. He has been associated with 1MMOLS project since its inception and has been closely involved with the drawing up of the contract:, setting up of suitable working environment, for the TCS consultants, maintaining close co­ordination between plethora of agencies in the Ministry, scientific, audit and finance organisations etc. His efforts resulted in completion of the System Study Phase with minimal delay.

During the study phase AVM Nigam also ensured that the Wide Area Network (WAN) for Online information requirement was changed to be based on Satellite Communication where the P & T circuits and tropo communications were found to be suboptimal solutions. The change in proposal required allocation of space segments, additional financial outlays and approval and coordination with a plethora of agencies. The processing of this change and related cases was entirely done by AVM Nigam and his personal contribution is commendable.

Air Vice Marshal DC Nigam, VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Air Marshal Dinesh Chandra Nigam AVSM VSM (7938) AE (L) was commissioned on 07 Oct 63 in IAF and is presently holding the appointment of SMSO at HQ Maintenance Command, IAF. During his career in IAF, he has held various important field and staff appointments like CEO of a fighter base, Chief Production Officer of BRD, DG RCPO, JDEW and GC IMMOLS, all with distinction. From the outset, Air Marshal Nigam has been regarded as an officer with vision and determination and is considered amongst the pioneers in the field of electronic warfare and information technology. As GC IMMOLS & ACAS (IT) at Air HQ, he ushered in the era of distributed data processing and satellite communication wide area network, which have provided significant impetus to computerisation.

Air Mshl Nigam took over as SMSO Maintenance Command on 01 Aug 2000 and immediately gave a massive thrust to the indigenisation of overhaul spares, life extension studies and modernisation of BRDs. By his sustained encouragement, BRDs have achieved almost 90% indigenisation of mandatory overhaul spares. On life extension studies, he mustered the support of a number of competent Government agencies like JGCAR, CEMILAC, HAL and DRDO laboratories. By associating them with BRDs, a number of life extension studies on aircraft and aeroengines could be completed at a fraction of the cost demanded by OEMs. With his penchant for futuristic planning, Air Marshal Nigam has initiated a number of steps towards modernisation of repair depots to bring them at par with international standards. Under his guidance, all the repair depots have already obtained ISO 9002 certification.

Air Mshl Nigam also has an in-depth knowledge and analytical mind to manage techno-logistics issues. With his sharp vision, he has embarked upon the task of liquidation of non-moving stores. He took up this challenge and issued various policies/orders on rationalisation of stores and purification of data. This exercise has started bearing fruits and a large number of non-moving lines have been converted to moving ones

Air Marshal Dinesh Chandra Nigam AVSM VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.