Wing Commander Chintaman Sadashiv Sohoni (15472) AE (M) was commissioned in the IAF on 06 Jun 1978. During his initial tenures as Squadron Engineering Officer of MiG-21 and MiG-23 Sqns, he was commended by the CAS in Aug 1981 and by AOC-in-C, South Western Air Command (SWAC) in Jan 1986. After training abroad on overhaul of MiG-23 aircraft (ac), he was instrumental in establishing the overhaul facilities. He was also involved in successful overhaul of over 100 MiG-23 ac. Using his expertise and innovative approach, he established a rejuvenation technology to increase the life of MiG-23 undercarriage, which enabled a net saving of over 15 crores in foreign exchange. He was actively involved in projects to increase the Total Technical Life of MiG-23, MiG-27 and MiG-29 ac. In his next tenure as CO of Air Force Liaison Establishment (Koraput), his unit was adjudged as the best Maintenance Command unit. Later as Senior Engineer (Aircraft) of a forward base operating MiG23 ac, his contributions enabled the base to successfully drop more than 30% of the total bomb load during Kargil operations.

Now, as the Commanding Officer of a Repair & Salvage Unit, he has developed a process for in-house repair of doors of Chetak Helicopters, thus enhancing fleet availability and saving more than Rs. 10 lakhs. During May 2001, Iskra ac fitted with newly inducted NR-23 guns were observed to be unsuitable for utilisation. An in-house modification of the gun link collector was undertaken by the officer to enable successful conduct of the armament training. During a recent critical shortage of friction brake pads of Iskra ac, he established a process for the replacement of the brake pads resulting in immense FE savings and averting large number of ac AOGs. Above noteworthy contributions have enabled this station to successfully accomplish the training of ab initio pilots as per schedule. He recently designed and fabricated crates for packing Kiran ac to enable immediate dispatch of an ac involved in accident. This has resulted in saving of over Rs. three lakhs, besides averting hold up on an important investigation.

For distinguished service of high order, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Wing Commander Chintaman Sadashiv Sohoni.