Air Marshal JS Rai VM & Bar was commissioned in the Flying Branch of the Indian Air Force on 26 May 1962 as a transport pilot. He has over 10,800 hours of flying on various types of aircraft and helicopters on the inventory of the Indian Air Force.

Air Marshal JS Rai, as a young officer, served for long in the valleys of NEFA, flying Otters and Dakotas. Thereafter, he became a Qualified Flying Instructor and has since then trained numerous trainees to graduate as aviators in the Indian Air Force. During his last stint on Instructional assignments, he has also held appointments of Flight Commander and Chief Instructor of Training Establishments. His staff appointments include Inspector at Directorate of Air Staff Inspections and Director of Operations (Transport and Helicopters) at Air Headquarters. He has also served as Senior Air Staff Officer at HQs Southern Air Command and Training Command. For his long and intimate association with operational flying, he has been appointed Commodore Commandant of No. 59 Squadron, Air Force in Nov 1991. He is an alumni of National Defence College.

For Command appointments, the Air Marshal has commanded 2209 Missile Squadron, Air Force Station, Suryalanka, No. 49 Squadron and Air Force Station, Yelahanka. Prior to his appointment as Senior Air Staff Officer at Training Command, he held the appointment of Commandant of National Defence Academy. He took over as Air Officer Commanding-inChief of Training Command, IAF on 01 Jan 1998. Air Marshal JS Rai has introduced new flying pattern for more efficient and cost-effective training of pilots. He has been instrumental in analysing critical problems connected with maintenance of HPT-32 aircraft and in initiating remedial measures in consultation with various DRDO organizations to restore confidence of the Instructors and trainees in the aircraft. Under his able and dynamic leadership, the Commanders and Supervisors in the field have displayed a greater sense of commitment and dedication resulting in better flying environment and highest standard of training. His imaginative management of resources has caused the infrastructure at the training institutions as also living conditions for personnel to greatly improve.

Air Marshal JS Rai VM & Bar has thus rendered distinguished service of most exceptional order.

Air Marshal Darshan Singh Basra AVSM VM was commissioned as a fighter pilot in May 1962. In 36 years of distinguished service he has held several important Command and Staff appointments. That his service was of exceptional order was recognised by the award of Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vayu Sena Medal to him. He is a graduate of Military College, Paris, a Pilot Armament Instructor and a Fighter Combat Leader. He was one of the founder members of the prestigious TACDE. In the Indo-Pak war of 1971 he successfully undertook night strike operations deep inside enemy territory. His accurate night attacks at Sargodha airfield, famous for its fortress like defences, are still quoted in aviation circle for fearlessness and cool professionalism.

He has the distinction of commanding fighter Squadron twice (Gnat and MiG-21). Both his tenures recorded Nil accident rate. Air Force Station, Bareilly - a major fighter base not only peaked operationally under his command but also saw introduction of local purchase procedures which led to huge saving and better utilisation of funds. His vast experience and knowledge resulted in a much better Inter Service Co-operation when he was Air Officer Commanding Advance HQ WAC.

As SASO Eastern Air Command, his acute analysis and sound recommendations led the Air Force to introduce Type Training Instructors for MOFT Units and an improved syllabus for training. These measures have resulted in a qualify improvement of pilot training.

It is extremely difficult to detect an aircraft in mountainous region due to limitations of radars. When Intelligence Reports indicated that insurgent groups in East would resort to air drop of weapons, he successfully evolved procedures to detect and thwart such schemes within the existing resources. His wide field experience, broad knowledge base and outstanding resolve to use resources efficiently led to an optimum utilization of the transport fleet in EAC.

He took over as SASO, Western Air Command in Mar 98. In a short span he has set into motion a variety of measures aimed at sharpening the fighting edge of the most important command of the IAF. These are all expected to fructify shortly.

Air Marshal Darshan Singh Basra AVSM VM (6519) Flying (Pilot) has thus rendered distinguished service of most exceptional order.

Air Marshal Vinod Kumar Verma AVSM VM was commissioned in Indian Air Force as a Fighter Pilot on 26 May 1962. In 36 years of his distinguished service career he has had the distinction of Commanding a premier Fighter Squadron and subsequently an Operational Fighter Base. He has flown various types of front line fighter aircraft, which include Jaguar, MiG-29 and Mirage-2000. The Air officer is a Graduate of the National Defence College and has held a number of Command and Staff Appointments. He was one of the founder members of the prestigious Tactical Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) where he has served as Commandant. He was Air Advisor at the Indian High Commission in UK. He was awarded Vayu Sena Medal in 1965 Indo-Pak conflict and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 1989 for his distinguished services.

His vast reservoir of knowledge and professionalism were amply displayed during his staff tenures as Director Offensive Ops and Director Personnel Officers as well as during the diplomatic assignment at UK.

Air Mshl VK Verma was appointed Air Officer In Charge Personnel in Apr 96. He is responsible for all aspects of Personnel Planning, Induction, Training and Education. He has discharged all these functions with distinction. He took over as chairman of the Principal Personnel Officers Committee (PPOC) in Mar 98 and has been responsible for coordinating action on all Inter Service/ Tri Service issues.

Air Mshl VK Verma AVSM VM has thus rendered distinguished service of the most exceptional order.

Air Marshal DC Dhyanl AVSM VSM was commissioned in the Administrative Branch of the 1AF on 23 Jun 62. In a career spanning over 36 years, he has distinguished himself and brought laurels to the organisation through his professionalism, sincerity and unimpeachable integrity.

He has held a large number of prestigious field and staff appointments in his rise to the highest post in Administrative Branch. In every appointment he has left an indelible stamp of excellence through his thorough appreciation of the nuances of the tasks at hand and his vision towards qualitative upgradation of the areas under his control. The Air Officer was the recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal in 1985 for professional excellence and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 1997 for the distinguished services of a very high order. As Air Officer in charge Administration for nearly three years, he has brought in work ethos that has seen various aspects of Administration to come through with timely and effective actions. His tenure has seen significant impetus to genuine and long term welfare measures that have won the accolades of the recipients across the entire strata of personnel and families. Recognising the serious situation with regard to married accommodation, the Air Officer was instrumental in shifting the emphasis of new works to Married Accommodation. Considerable progress has already been achieved. The new Group Insurance Scheme, the Medical Insurance Scheme, enhancement in Housing and Vehicle loans, introduction of loans to purchase Computers and many other innovative welfare measures have fructified under his tutelage. In the field of Adventure sports, his encouragement and involvement saw the IAF winning a place in the International arena and today our contribution to Adventure sports is acknowledged not only in India but also in the world. In every facet of Administration, whether in support of operations, welfare, discipline, security or financial management his wholesome involvement and guidance are distinctly visible.

Air Marshal DC Dhyanl AVSM VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of the most exceptional order.

Air Marshal Velayudhan Girish Kumar AVSM VM is on the posted strength of the Directorate General of Defence Planning Staff, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Ministry of Defence since 02 Jun 97.

He has over 8000 hours of flying to his credit. He has held many key Command, Staff and Instructional appointments in the IAF. In his present appointment as Director General of the Defence Planning Staff he heads the highest level inter-services organisation in the country providing forecasts and analysis on issues of utmost importance to the nation and the armed forces. In this regard, he has carried out several incisive studies, including forecast of the future Indo-US security concerns and a prognosis of the economic and military trends in a neighbouring country. These analyses have proved to be extraordinarily accurate in the light of events that have unfolded over the past year.

He has formulated policy imperatives governing strategic weapons and their command and control. He has also examined indepth the higher defence organisation of the country which has been well received at the highest quarters.

While dealing with international relations, he has been projecting an excellent image of the armed force and the Government of India. He also hosted several foreign delegations on their visit to India and put across the rationale for India's foreign policy and military posture very effectively.

As regards inter-services issues, Air Marshal Kumar has played an extremely effective role in promoting jointness in the Services with respect to operational, fiscal, equipment and personnel policies. In this context, he was instrumental in formulating the Ninth Defence Plan in a manner acceptable to the three Services and the Government. As an Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff Committee, he has provided valuable insights and recommendations to resolve major issues affecting the three Services, including measures to optimize scarce resources available to the armed forces.

Air Marshal Velayudhan Girish Kumar AVSM VM has thus rendered distinguished service of the highest order.

Air Marshal Shanti Swaroop Gupta AVSM VSM took over as the Air Officer Commandingin-Chief of Maintenance Command on 01 Aug 97. Within a short span of time after taking over, with his dynamism and vision, he transformed the entire work culture of Maintenance Command. All the BRDs and Equipment Depots have been connected to Command HQ through modems. Exchange of information about the inventory, which runs into several lakhs, is now being done on computers. Similarly, the information on items which have been indigenised was compiled from various agencies and the Command now has records of more than 1.7 lakhs such items. Establishment of a huge data base and quick transfer of information has been of immense help in executive decision making. This resulted in reduction of inventory levels and a large inventory which was non-moving started moving. Effective utilisation of procurement powers in respect of decentralised ranges consisting of HPT32, Kiran, Dornier aircraft, Cheetah/Chetak helicopters, Clothing and MT, has resulted in reduction of stock holdings and cash out flows annually, besides ensuring high level of availability of items.

A cell was formed at HQ Maintenance Command for monitoring and reducing the outstanding AOGs. This Cell has made very significant achievements, as the complete procedures for meeting the AOG demands were revised and streamlined. A regular feed back is now given to operational commands on the status of their outstanding demands. Concept of Base Repair Depot acting as Mother Depot has been implemented in letter and spirit.

A number of studies were carried out under the guidance of Air Mshl Gupta which have resulted in savings amounting to millions of dollars which otherwise would have had to be paid to the foreign vendors. These include studies on life extension of AN-32 and MiG-29 aircraft indigenously.

Since import of spares from abroad is becoming costlier and also in some cases these items were not available, he launched a major drive for indigenization of spares. This programme included holding of seminars and exhibitions with the help of Confederation of Indian Industries to encourage the entrepreneurs to meet the requirements of the Indian Air Force indigenously. He also undertook programmes for modernization of infrastructure at the BRDs, so that many of the sample spares required could be manufactured at the Depots. As a result of these measures more than one thousand items our of approximately 2000 required for overhaul of bare airframe of MiG-29 aircraft have been indigenized.

Air Marshal Shanti Swaroop Gupta AVSM VSM has thus rendered distinguished service of the most exceptional order.