Air Marshal Pramod Kumar Mehra AVSM VM (11581) Flying (Pilot) was commissioned in the IAF as a fighter pilot in the Flying branch on 18 May 1968. He has held various important appointments which include Commandant of Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), Director Air Staff Requirements (DASR) at Air HQ, Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station, Hasimara, Air Defence Commander (AD Cdr) of South Western Sector, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence) [ACAS {Int}] at Air HQ, and Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at HQ Central Air Command (CAC). He took over as Air Officer Commanding-inChief of the prestigious South Western Air Command at Gandhinagar on 01 March 06. For his distinguished services, he has been awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2005 and Vayu Sena Medal in 1989. The Air Officer took part in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 and is one of the most experienced test pilots in the IAF today. He has successfully supervised many projects in various capacities at ASTE, thus contributing immensely towards improving the operational potential of the IAF. As DASR at Air HQ, he most creditably performed the job of laying down air staff requirements for acquisition of various assets by the IAF, He was member of the Price Negotiation Committees (PNC) for the Advanced Jet Trainer (Hawk) and proved his acumen as an able negotiator during these negotiations. As AD Cdr, he was responsible for the Air Defence of the South Western Sector during Op Parakram and performed his role exceedingly well with limited resources and constraints of ageing equipment. He was ACAS (Int) at Air HQ at a time when the International defence cooperation between the IAF and friendly foreign countries was on a major upswing. His efforts were contributory towards successful conduct of bilateral visits with the other Air Forces including visits by the Chiefs of Air Staff. He also provided necessary support to the nascent Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) from Air HQ, especially towards implementation of recommendations of Group of Ministers (GoM) post Kargil War. As SASO, HQ CAC, he was responsible for all the operational activities of the most well endowed Command of the IAF which has almost all types of aircraft and equipment in Air Force inventory. During this tenure he was instrumental in increasing the operational potential by introducing a series of Intra Command exercises, greater stress on enhanced training and standardizing new concepts in operations like Aerial Refueling and Combat Search & Rescue. His tenure saw meticulous planning & successful conduct of International Air Force exercises in which Squadrons based in CAC participated in joint exercises between 1AF and foreign countries like US, Singapore, South Africa, and France. These exercises earned IAF a place of pride due to its professionalism and propelled it towards being recognized as a global force with strategic reach.

As AOC-in-C SWAC, he has given a fresh impetus to the Command in its surge forward by his focused vision and a clear foresight. Successful conduct of Air Force Exercise, Gagan Shakti recently has refined the operational readiness of the IAF and has once again shown the able leadership provided by Air Marshal Mehra from SWAC. Many new concepts and systems were tried and validated during this exercise. Be it in the field of Information Technology or the infrastructure development in the Stations, SWAC is making big strides under his stewardship. The area of responsibility of SWAC recently saw unprecedented rains and floods which caused widespread damage and loss of life in these States. Rescue and relief operations launched under his guidance were prompt and well coordinated despite limited resources when compared to the magnitude of devastation. The timely succour provided by the Air Force was widely appreciated by the State Govts and was a result of his innovative idea of providing training to the district officials by air force personnel before the onset of monsoon.

Air Marshal Pramod Kumar Mehra AVSM VM has thus rendered distinguished service of most exceptional order.

Air Marshal Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale AVSM VM (11630) Flying (Pilot) was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the IAF on 02 June 1968. In a distinguished career spanning four decades, the Air Marshal has flown more than 3700 hrs on various fighter and trainer aircraft. He has had a rich and varied experience covering a gamut of operational, staff and instructional tenures. He is a Cat A2 Qualified Flying Instructor and a Fighter Combat Leader. The Air Officer has commanded a frontline fighter squadron and a prestigious Air Base operating Jaguars and Mi-8 aircraft. Besides instructional tenures at Air Force Academy and Flying Instructors' School, the he has served as a qualified flying instructor on deputation to the Iraqi Air Force. The Air Marshal is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, an alumnus of Air War College, USA and a Fellow of the Aeronautical Society of India. He has been a Directing Staff at the Staff College and an Inspector at Directorate of Air Staff Inspection (DASI). He has served as Defence Attaché in the Embassy of India Cairo, Egypt. He has also been Air Advisor to Chief of the Air Staff. During the Indo-Pak war of 1971 he flew several operational air-to-ground attack missions. For his professionalism and distinguished service, the Air Marshal has been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 1990 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2000.

As Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Operations, the Air Marshal had played an important role in planning and execution of air operations, including Op Parakram. He had coordinated the induction of the SU 30 MKI, Embraer aircraft and the Air-to-Air Refueller aircraft. His meticulous planning facilitated the enhancement of UAV capabilities of the IAF and formulation of tactics for Beyond Visual Range combat. He was the architect of a large number of international exercises conducted during this period. He was instrumental in conceptualization, planning and operationalising the strategic component of lAF's weapon inventory.

As Senior Air Staff Officer and subsequently Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Training command, the Air Marshal's vision of a futuristic Training Command has led to establishment of dedicated Aerospace and IT faculties. Besides ensuring smooth implementation of a novel concept of the Just in Time Training for officers and airmen and Distance Education Scheme for in-service courses, he was the guiding force in streamlining the pilots' training.

Air Marshal Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale AVSM VM has thus rendered distinguished service of the most exceptional order.

Air Marshal Padamjit Singh Ahluwalia AVSM & Bar VM VSM (11631 Flying (Pilot) was commissioned as a fighter pilot on 02 June 1968. The Air Officer has held numerous Staff and Command appointments during the course of his long and distinguished career. Amongst the important assignments held by him in the past are Commanding Officer of a frontline Mirage-2000 Squadron, Air Officer Commanding of two premier fighter bases, Diplomatic and foreign assignments, Inter-Service assignment, Director General (Inspection & Safety) at Air HQ. He is presently the Air Officer Commanding-inChief, Southern Air Command. Throughout his long and distinguished service the Air Officer has been an exceptional achiever at all levels of career progression, which is borne out by fact that the Air Officer has been decorated with VSM in 1984, VM in 1987, AVSM in 1992 and Bar to AVSM in 1997. In addition, he has also been commended by the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Naval Staff in the course of his distinguished career.

As a Fighter Squadron Commander and Base Commander the officer has displayed exceptional managerial skills and leadership qualities to ensure optimal operational status of his charge. He was commanding the premier Mirage Air Base during the Kargil conflict and modifications, innovations and tactics that were necessary to induct the Mirage-2000 into the Kargil Air Operations were prominently attributable to his leadership, foresight and exceptional professional knowledge. Undoubtedly, the individual contribution of Air Officer during the Kargil conflict was instrumental in the Mirage-2000 aircraft ach-ieving high success rates. For his tour of duty during his diplomatic assignment in Japan and Republic of Korea and as an instructor pilot in a foreign country, his outstanding professional capabilities, skills and achievements were well appreciated by those countries.

As Director General (Inspection & Safety), Air Marshal PS Ahluwalia was instrumental in crafting and executing a flight safety strategy for the Indian Air Force. The officer's perseverance and determination has indeed contributed significantly in reducing the Indian Air Force's accident rate to an all time low, thereby saving precious lives and assets.

Air Marshal Padamjit Singh Ahluwalia AVSM & Bar VM VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of the most exceptional order.

Air Marshal Arvind Kumar Nagalia AVSM VM VSM (11633) Flying (Pilot) was commissioned in the Flying Branch of the IAF on 02 June 1968. He has over 4400 hours of accident free flying to his credit. During his 38 years of service career, he has held important and challenging staff and field appointments, which include Commanding Officer of maritime Jaguar Squadron, Air Attaché at Kiev, Director of Projects and Director of Air Staff Requirements at Air HQ, Commandant Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), Director National Flight Test Centre, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans) and Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel at Air HQ. He is a qualified Flying Instructor and Experimental Test Pilot. He has undergone Advance Staff Course at UK. He is also an alumnus of National Defence College (NDC). He was awarded VSM in 1985, VM in 1993 and AVSM in 2004. Presently he is holding the appointment of Deputy Chief of Air Staff at Air HQ since 24 August 2005.

Throughout his service career and especially so when holding criteria appointments, he has been the epitome of professionalism, probity and personal integrity. As Air Attaché, he resolved vexatious issues of product support, settlement of warranty claims and on site training of personnel not only of the IAF, but also of the Army, DRDO and Defence PSUs, through forethought, effective intervention and persistent efforts. This had a significant impact on the maintenance of the operational preparedness. During his tenure as Commandant ASTE, a record number of difficult trials involving complex systems were carried out safely and effectively. Whilst being the Project Director NFTC, he was instrumental in formulating overall Flight Test Plan for the TEJAS (Light Combat Aircraft).

Appointed ACAS (Plans) at Air HQ in September 2002, he was responsible in breaking the deadlock between the Russians and Israelis in the integration of a major weapon system for the Su-30 MKI project and progressing major projects like AWACS and Hawk AJT to their logical conclusion.

During his tenure as AOP, he had been instrumental in formulation of revised abinitio and in-service training policies. He implemented AVSC Phase I report in the IAF in a record time and formulated proposals for Assured Career Progression for Airmen and AVSC Phase II for officers.

During his tenure as DCAS, he revamped the procurement process for fructification of the Annual Acquisition Plan. As a result of his effective planning, guidance and close monitoring, 100% of the allocated funds for capital acquisition were spent from the capital budget during the FY 2004 05 and 2005-06. With his close interaction with officials of Ministry of Defence, DRDO and Defence PSUs, he was instrumental in hastening important policy decisions like obtaining the warranty clause for HAL supplies, delegation of financial powers etc. Under his stewardship, 11th IAF Plan was prepared and approval obtained from MoD.

Air Marshal Arvind Kumar Nagalia AVSM VM VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of most exceptional .order.

Air Marshal Kirti Shekhar Chaturvedl VSM (12100) AE (L) was commissioned on 1969 in the AE Branch of IAF. In his distinguished 37 years of service, he has served in fighter squadrons, overhaul lines of fighter and transport aircraft, commanded Base Repair Depot of front line transport aircraft and also Radar/Communication Repair Depot. He has successfully and effectively held challenging appointments of Senior Maintenance Staff Officer and also Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance. For his distinguished service he was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal in 1986 while serving in a front line fighter squadron.

He took over as AOC-in-C Maintenance Command on 16 May 2005 Immediately after taking over the command, he reviewed the availability of operational assets at operating units vis-à-vis maintenance support being provided by Base Repair Depots, Equipment Depots and also HAL. While performance of support units within its specified task appeared to be normal, results were not commensurate to achieve desired status of operational units. With his in-depth knowledge of production at BRDs, HAL and provisioning procedure at various levels, he applied conceived measure towards formulation of production task of BRDs and provisioning norms. These measures have started showing results as the production in one of the BRD, has surpassed unit demands and no demand is outstanding. The similar status is expected to be achieved by other BRDs and HAL due to reorientation of tasks.

Indigenisation of spares was another area where additional thrust was given by the officer, including new inductions In the Air Force. These measures will assure supply of critical spares to operations units in keeping high serviceability. The task of modernisation of BRDs, which was pending for a long, has been reviewed by him with more practicable and implementable scheme, which has gained momentum. Modernisation of warehousing in Air Force has been lacking. The officer with his dynamic leadership has initiated various corrective measures in this direction too. All Equipment Depots have been provided with modern packaging equipment, which is capable of packing sophisticated Air Craft spares at much lower cost, both to packaging and transportation. For better utilisation of warehousing space, a computer based “Carousel System" has been introduced in one of the Depot on experimental basis which will lead to saving of precious space as well as man power required to handle large inventories.

Air Marshal Kirti Shekhar Chaturvedl VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of most exception order.

Air Marshal Balatikalandra Uthaiah Chengappa AVSM VSM (12112) AE(L) was commissioned on 05 January 1970 in the Engineering Branch of IAF. He is one of the lAF's most experienced engineering officer trained both on aircraft (ac) and systems. During 36 years of distinguished service, he has held several important Command and Staff appointments, and is presently Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance at Air Headquarters,

The Air officer is Russian-trained on Mi-25 gunship and was a pioneer for its induction in the IAF, for which he was commended by the CAS. He has the rare distinction of commanding a Guided Weapon Training Institute as a Wg Cdr, a Fighter Aircraft TETTRA School as a Gp Capt and a premier Systems Base Repair Depot as an Air Cmde, all with outstanding contributions. Also, as Chief Engineering Officer at a Flying Training Establishment, he sustained the serviceability of the ageing Iskra Fleet over 90%, thus ensuring timely completion of all flying training courses during his tenure. For this distinguished service, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 96 by the President,

Air Marshal Chengappa, as Senior Maintenance Staff Officer of Central Air Co-mmand, reinforced engineering discipline and material management in the field units to increase serviceability of combat assets and support infrastructure. He ensured highest fuel and hydraulic discipline for improved flight and maintenance safety, and instilled concept of self-reliance to survive the resource crunch. For distinguished service of high order, he was aptly awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 04. Thereafter, as Senior Maintenance Staff Officer at Maintenance Command, he ensured improvement in production at Base Repair Depots, in terms of both quantity and quality, thus enhancing lAF's operational capability.

The Air Officer during his current appoint ment as Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance at Air HQ, has brought about radical changes In the work culture. He has revitalized his techno-logistics team of officers and men to work more effectively and efficiently. His thrust on faster processing of cases for procurement of aviation stores, and for repair and overhaul of aircraft assets, particularly ex-abroad, has resulted in better availability of combat assets. He has used his high professional knowledge and vast experience to revise the existing maintenance practices across all ac and system fleets, resulting in less manpower and lesser time for higher serviceability. His art of negotiation has saved phenomenal money to the exchequer. His special interest has led to fructification of the much required IMMOLS project, the e-environment for material management in IAF, which was commissioned by the Honorable Raksha Mantri 01 09 October 2006. His personal liaison with all Govt. agencies, Defence PSUs, private sector and foreign vendors has resulted in all round synergism for making IAF a more potent force. In addition to all this, his fetish for a modern industrial environment has always generated clean, systematic and ergonomic work places - both in field units and in offices.

Air Marshal Balatikalandra Uthaiah Chengappa AVSM VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of the most exceptional order.