Air Commodore A.A. Narayanan was commissioned in the General Duties Branch of the Air Force in 1940. He held several important appointments in various Air Force units including an assignment in Indonesia.

He was in command of our Air Force formation in Jammu & Kashmir Area from 1959 to 1962. By correct planning, with a limited number of aircraft and aircrew, he ensured the timely delivery of vital supplies to the forward areas, when air support had to be increased in magnitude with great speed to meet the Chinese attack in Ladakh. He set an example to the officers and men under his command by leading a number of difficult operational missions.

Up to June, 1960 airlift into Ladakh to enable our Army to safeguard our frontiers was sustained by a squadron of Dakotas and a few Packets operating on Detachment basis. It was appreciated that to meet the Chinese aggression, we would have to induct a very large number of troops and such induction would automatically result in enormous increase in tonnage to be airlifted. The above resources could not meet the tonnages planned to be airlifted. Therefore, it was decided to commit the whole of No.12 Packet Squadron in support of airlift operations. Wing Commander Lal Singh Grewal was given command of this Squadron in July, 1960. Prior to his arrival the Packet Squadron detachment was operating on a very limited basis i.e. carrying out a few drops and only landing at Leh Advance Landing Ground.

Soon after his arrival, Wing Commander Lal Singh Grewal appreciated that carrying out these limited drops and landings only at Leh would in no way suffice in airlifting the increased tonnage required by our Army. Wing Commander Lal Singh Grewal, an exceptional pilot and an outstanding officer, knowing fully that the Packet aircraft was ordinarily designed to operate at altitudes less than 12,000 ft. calculated the risks involved in extending the use of Packet aircraft over a higher altitude and on diverse tasks which would result in considerable increase in the airlift capacity of the Packet aircraft. For this purpose, he had to consider the use of high blowers fitted in the Packet aircraft engine. These high blowers had been used to a very limited extent since the manufacture of these engines many years ago. He was of the opinion that bringing these high blowers into use would put enormous stress and strain on the other parts of the engine thereby causing engine failures. He was also aware that such engine failures over the Himalayan terrain meant serious risks of loss of life and in any case definite injury to the all crew and any passengers that may be carried in the even of a forced landing or bailing out. To safeguard the crew's life and to minimize the extent of injury that may result in case of engine failure which may lead to forced landing of the aircraft was the primary concern of Wing Commander Lal Singh Grewal. He studied many methods and came to the conclusion that safety heights must be introduced and new Emergency Landing Grounds constructed en route.

In carrying out these trials Wing Commander Lal Singh Grewal was always the first to experiment on any new method or procedure. Thereby he set an example to all others and in these trials he experienced quite a few engine failures and in every case brought his aircraft safely to either an Advance Landing Ground or back to the base. Such an effort of his increased the capacity of the Packet aircraft to carry increased load as also permitting it to go on diverse tasks. Most Dropping Zones were served in the past by Dakota aircraft, and Dakota aircraft due to many limitations could only deliver at the most one ton of load on ground per sortie. Wing Commander Lal Singh Grewal's experimentation resulted in the Packets taking over practically every known Dropping Zone. Such an effort increased our capacity to build up over a wide region.

Throughout Wing Commander Lal Singh Grewal has rendered service of an exceptional order.