Wing Commander Vijay Achyut Patkar, commissioned in Jul 66, has held important assignments. He has excelled himself in academics and has done Ph.D. in Computer science from France. He has been responsible for setting up the MCF for Gajraj aircraft and for establishing second line bay servicing facilities for sophisticated electronic equipment Installed on Gajraj aircraft.

Gajraj aircraft were inducted in May 85. At that time only a handful of aircrew and ground crew technicians trained in the USSR were available to man the squadron. There was a pressing need for setting up the MCF urgently so that more aircrew and ground crew could be trained. This officer, with great zeal and enthusiasm, took up the challenging task of setting up the MCF for Gajraj within two months against heavy odds caused by paucity of space and other resources.

Wing Commander Patkar has also been instrumental in establishing sophisticated electronics laboratories, Including, a laboratory for the aircraft's computerized navigation and radar system. This officer designed the laboratory and supervised its construction as per the specification. The establishment of this laboratory has facilitated servicing of the sophisticated electronics equipment locally.

For this hard work, professional skill, exceptional ability to guide people in the technical field and the contribution he has made towards planning and establishing the MCF and the Electronics laboratories for Gajraj and Sutluj aircraft, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wing commander Vijay Achyut Patkar.

Air Vice Marshal Vijay Achyut Patkar VSM (8632) AE (L) was commissioned on 23 Jul 64 in Aeronautical Engineering (Electronics) Branch of the IAF. The Air Officer has varied and rich experience in the field of Electronic Warfare, Information Technology and Maintenance of Aircraft and Helicopters. His achievements as Chief Engineering Officer at Air Force Station Agra were indeed commendable where he maintained a very high serviceable state of the transport fleet and zero maintenance lapse state in practice. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 1988.

A Postgraduate from IIT, Kharagpur and alumni of College of Defence Management, the Air Officer has successfully utilized his knowledge to enhance his technical, financial and logistic prowess. During the Kargil Conflict the officer took upon himself the task of the requirement of armament stores vis­à­vis their consumption and availability for various weapon systems and thus worked out the immediate and futuristic requirements. The task was concluded to its logical end by his visit to CIS countries to tie up procurement and delivery of stores.

In his present tenure as Assistant Chief of Air Staff Engineering the Air Officer has utilized his sound knowledge of both ground and airborne systems to suggest improvements to existing software available at our BRDs and incorporation of in lieu systems, thus resulting in saving of foreign exchange. His advice to IAF/MOD on the intricate issue of handling two separate contracts for procurement for Mi-17 helicopter safeguarding the interest of IAF resulted in significant benefits. His highly innovative abilities and professionalism are optimally utilized in dealing with foreign vendors as well as indigenous design of Flight Data Acquisition Systems and other electronic equipment.

Air Vice Marshal Vijay Achyut Patkar VSM has, thus, rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Air Marshal Vijay Achyut Patkar AVSM VSM (8632) AE (L) was commissioned on 23 Jul 64 in the Engineering branch of the IAF. During his career spanning 38 years, he has held many challenging appointments which include Joint Director (EW) at Air HQs, Chief Engineering Officer at AF Stn Agra, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Engineering) and Senior Maintenance Staff Officer at HQ Western Air Command (WAC). Presently he is holding the appointment of Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance (AOM) at Air HQ.

He gained a post graduate degree in Electronic Communication and Radar Systems from IIT Kharagpur. He was associated with installation of first THD-1995 radar and also with induction of IL-76 aircraft in the IAF. For his distinguished service he was awarded VSM in 1988 and AVSM in 2001.

During his tenure at HQ WAC as Senior Maintenance Staff Officer, he strove hard for improving the maintenance standards and practices, modernisation of engineering facilities at the Air Force Stations and improved reliability of power supply systems in the Air Defence Radar and Communication units. His efforts, not only yielded positive results, but also brought about a greater sense of job satisfaction and achievement amongst the engineering personnel of the Air Force Stations under WAC. During this tenure, a new type of helicopter, Mi-17 IV was inducted in the service; and the helicopter squadrons under WAC gradually changed from the old helicopter to the new type. As the Senior Maintenance Staff Officer, he took measures for smooth and flawless induction of the new type of helicopter. He also arranged quick and effective training of the Aircrew and the engineering personnel for systematising the operation of the new helicopters in IAF.

As the AOM at Air HQ, he concentrated his efforts in reduction in the number of aircraft on ground (AOG). Towards this end he successfully concluded the spares provisioning contracts which had been pending for some years due to serious difficulties. This has yielded positive results. During the past one year aircraft fleets such as Jaguar and Mi17 have shown substantial reduction in AOG figures. The Air Officer has also been instrumental in getting a totally damaged Mi-26 helicopter re-constructed at a nominal cost of overhaul, thereby saving the nation to the tune of Rs. Forty crore.

During Op Parakram, the Air Officer was responsible for making available the required number of aircraft and ground radar systems for operations, which could be achieved through meticulous planning of maintenance activities under his directions. The relocation of unit detachments during the operations and their logistic support was executed efficiently under his guidance.

Air Marshal VA Patkar AVSM VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of the most exceptional order.