Group Captain RK Batha was commissioned on 04 Oct 65 in the Engineering Branch. After a tenure as Chief Engineering Officer at Air Force Station Ambala, the officer was posted to Air Headquarters as Joint Director Engineering (Jaguar) in Feb 92.

During the present tenure at Air Headquarters, the officer was responsible for directing and guiding the small team of officers under him in all aspects of technical and logistics of Jaguar maintenance. The officer was instrumental in planning and execution of activities connected with provisioning, repairs by HAL, major servicing plan, induction, repair and overhaul task of rotables/repaira bles etc. The officer has been an effective interface with HAL to execute these tasks.

The specific achievement of the officer during his tenure was to head the Air Headquarters Investigation Team into the two Jaguar accidents in Dec 93 resulting from failure of Slat brake unit. The findings and recommendations were accepted and implemented for re-commencement of Jaguar flying in Jan 94. The follow up on the investigation resulted in modification proposal of the failed part being accepted by the manufacturers.

For distinguished service of a high order, the President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Group Captain RK Batha.

Air Vice Marshal Ramyar Keke Batha VSM (9588) AE (L) was commissioned in the Indian Air Force on 30 Oct 1964. In his 37 years of distinguished service, he has held many important appointments ranging from Senior Technical Officer (STO) of a fighter squadron, Chief Engineering Officer of a fighter base, Commandant Software Development Institute (SDI), Command Engineering Officer Western Air Command, Jt Dir Engineering Jaguar & ACAS Signals (Air) at Air HQ.

In recognition of his contribution he was commended by AOC-in-C Western Air Command in the year 1971 and by the Chief of the Air Staff in 1982. With his experience on western aircraft, he was given the responsibility of the Mirage induction programme, from 1983 to 1985, as a member of CMPT at Air HQ.

As Commandant SDI AVM Batha was responsible for setting up the Institute and taking over the tasks of this vital organization by grooming the human resources for this high-end intellectual engineering discipline. Also during this tenure as JD Eng 'Jaguar', the officer was responsible for a remarkable improvement of Jaguar fleet performance. For this contribution, the officer was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 1996. AVM Batha took over as Command Engineering Officer at HQ WAC soon after the Kargil conflict. With his foresight, accurate planning and hardwork, he ensured high serviceability and maintenance standards in the entire WAC in respect of aircraft vehicles, ground support equipment etc.

As ACAS Sigs (Air), the officer was closely associated with Commanders and Op Staff, specially for planning and execution of communications and IT, impacting command and control requirements. A number of projects were planned and implemented including upgrades to communication network and installation of new network in coordination with OP and Maint Staff, MOD, RCPO, DOT and the Army. The high point in this tenure was responding to the Op Parakaram activation requirements of Commanders whereby all communications, signals and IT resources were mustered and mobilized for WAC and SWAC sectors to facilitate Air-Defence and Offensive operations.

Air Vice Marshal Ramyar Keke Batha VSM has, thus, rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.