Wing Commander Sanjiv Sahay was commissioned on the 31st May, 1961. Since then he has been in various fighter Squadrons. On assuming command of a supersonic squadron in July 1979, Wing Commander Sanjiv Sahay took stock of his resources and with single mindedness, meticulous planning and optimum utilization of each resource, he was able to complete 200 hours of inspection on almost all his new aircraft which had fallen due for inspection at the same period. Due to this faultless planning, the serviceability has gradually picked up and for the last year it was at an all time high figure of 70.13% average. His unit has also achieved 100% serviceability five times during this period. During this period, the Squadron achieved a flying output of 2943 hours. This entire flying has been achieved without a single accident and the Squadron has maintained accident­free record for the last three years. The Squadron won the Arjuna 1979 trophy for being the best fighter Squadron in the Western Air Command in interSquadron Gunnery Meet and was adjudged the fighter Squadron for 1979 of WAC. In 1980, this Squadron also had an accident-free year and won two trophies the first for being the best Fighter Squadron in WAC and another for being best in Maintenance.

On 9th February, 1981, Wing Commander Sanjiv Sahay was leading a medium level strike mission in front guns for ex­Arjuna. After pulling out of the dive, after a front gun attack on SK Range he heard a thud on his aircraft. He experienced a high frequency vibrations setting in and he decided to turn to base giving a call that he suspected a hit by bullet ricochet. He climbed up and decided to carry out an immediate landing by doing a descending circuit. He lowered his undercarriage in line with the landing dumb­bell. He commenced his turn on to finals and throttled back to 85% RPM at 1.3 Km with the intention of lowering full flaps after having turned and aligned with the runway. As soon as he throttled back, he heard a cracking sound from the rear. At this stage, his engine flamed out. At the time of flame out, the height was 1.3 Km. He immediately put the relight switch "ON" observing his height, distance out and speed that the relight would at least take 15 to 20 seconds, he decided to eject. The aircraft was pointing towards the domestic area of HALWARA airfield. He turned right, pulled the aircraft up gently and when the aircraft was facing the green fields, he ejected. Wing Commander Sahay avoided a catastrophe by turning away from populated area. By this courageous act, in such a critical stage, Wing Commander Sahay has set a brilliant example of this presence of mind, bravery and professional acumen.

Wing Commander Sahay has thus displayed high professional competence, leadership, courage and exceptional devotion to duty.

Wing Commander Srinivasapuram Krishna swamy was in Command of one the fighter Squadrons since January, 1978. He has a total flying of 3300 hours on 29 different type of aircraft. He is a test pilot and a Fighter Combat Leader of very high caliber.

As the Commanding Officer of a Squadron, he converted both flights equipped with different type of aircraft on the specialized role in a very short time of just seven months. All Squadron aircrew were also made fully operational during the same period. Also under his able leadership the Squadron trained large number of the pilots on Fighter Combat Leader course in specialized role, which has resulted in great improvements in Fighter tactics in the Indian Air Force.

Wing Commander Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy has thus displayed professional competence, leadership and devotion to duty of an exceptional order.

Wing Commander Bapu Raghavendra Rao Madhava Rao was commissioned in the Technical Branch of the Indian Air Force on 21st June, 1960. During the two decades of his dedicated service, he has held various important and challenging appointments with distinction. For this outstanding contribution in the raising of a modern base repair dept, he was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal in 1977. As Deputy Director incharge of maintenance of MiG-21 fleet since July 1978, his whole hearted involvement, intelligent planning and effective management of the weapon system have yielded remarkable results.

Wing Commander Madhava Rao found that a large number of aircraft were falling due for replacement of nose and main undercarriages on life expiry. He arranged for fatigue tests to be carried out within the country, as a result of which it was possible to safely increase the life of the undercarriages to coincide with the life expiry of aircraft. Thus, grounding of a large number of aircraft was avoided and savings of several lakhs of rupees in foreign exchange was affected.

A large number of costly components of MiG-21 aircraft were nearing completion of calendar life specified by the manufacturers. Wing Commander Madhava Rao initiated an extensive programme of scientific tests and trials for ascertaining the safe calendar life of these components. As a result of this extraordinary measure, it was possible to fix the calendar life to 15 years and thereby improve the availability of rotoables for smooth sustenance of the fleet.

A very serious problem, which had almost defied solution, was that of corrosion of MiG engines in the saline atmosphere of the Air Force Stations. Wing Commander Madhava Rao arranged close monitoring of various preventive methods on the engine. Finally, with the help of the specialists of HAL, a long term solution has been evolved. Implementation of this preventive measure has shown very encouraging results. Having carried out a detailed study of the various causes of engine flame out, Wing Commander Madhava Rao has initiated a number of pre ventive and corrective measures in conjunc tion with the manufacturers, overhaul agency and the operating units. During the past nine months, there has not been a single case of engine flame out in the air or on the ground. He has served the cause of MiG-21 fleet in exemplary manner.

Wing Commander Bapu Raghavendra Rao Madhava Rao has thus displayed professional competence, leadership capabilities and devotion to duty of exceptional order.

Group Captain Om Kumar Chhabra was commissioned in the Indian Air Force on 7th February, 1959. He has to his credit over 7300 Hours of accident-free flying, out of which over 2500 hours have been in maritime role and over 3000 hours on instructional flying. He had the distinction of being awarded Master Green rating as a young pilot in less than six years of service on super constellation aircraft. He has, today, the distinction of being one of the few A­1 instructors in the Air Force. In addition, he holds 'A' Master Green on Dakotas, Super Constellations and HS-748 which, in the Air Force, is the highest achievement, a pilot can aspire for.

Group Captain Chhabra has been commanding one of the transport squadrons since July, 1979. Since October, 1979, shortage of aviation gas of 100/130 octane began to have an adverse effect. It was therefore decided to induct HS-748 for air maintenance role. Though the serial trials on this aircraft have been carrying out since 1972, no conclusive data was available to find out the fitness of this aircraft for this purpose. The challenging task of finding out its feasibility for operations in the Eastern Sector was entrusted to Group Captain Chhabra. He carried out the trials flying in narrow valleys and difficult terrain, even in turbulent conditions. It was because of the dedication to duty and flying acumen of the officer that the worthiness of this aircraft is now being effectively utilized for air maintenance operations/role.

Group Captain Om Kumar Chhabra has thus displayed high professional competence and exceptional devotion to duty.

Wing Commander Manmohan Singh Vasudeva was commissioned in May, 1961. During the past twenty years he has achieved fully operational status on three different fighter aircraft, namely Hunter, Gnat and MiG-21. The officer has more than 800 accident-free flying hours on MiG-21 aircraft. He has served in four MiG squadrons as senior pilot, Flight Commander and subsequently as Squadron Commander. Also, he has spent over a year and half on production testing flying five types of aircraft, including transport type. He has, in addition, successfully completed the Defence Services Staff College and Surface to Air Guided Weapon courses and is a Fighter Combat Leader of recognized repute.

In January, 1978, the officer was posted to a forward base as Chief Operations Officer. Undaunted by the handicap of being the only officer posted to Ops wing he undertook with drive and determination, the reorgisation of the entire Ops Wing to gear it to undertake fighter operations, continuing the air maintenance operations from the base amounting to the total task of the entire Air Command. Initially single-handed and later aided by another officer posted in as Station Flight Safety Officer, he set up the Base Ops Complex, including Strike Cell, Intelligence Room and Ground Liaison Section, initiated provisioning of arrester barriers and laying of soft ground arresters, and forced the pace for completion of the Airfield Lighting. The fact that the newly arrived fighter squadron won the Inter Unit Gunnery and Air Force Instrument Flying Trophy in that first year of its stay at the base speaks volumes for Wing Commander Vasudevas's exceptional Organisational ability, leadership and managerial skills.

Subsequently in November, 1979, he was appointed Squadron Commander of the same squadron. During his tenure in 1980 the Squadron with only half the strength of a fighter aircraft achieved the same amount of annual flying as in the previous three years. This noteworthy achievement was possible due to Wing Commander Vasudeva's personal example, great enthusiasm for flying his unlimited capacity for hard work and his outstanding leadership in the air and on the ground. In addition, there has been no aircraft accident on the Station during his tenure as COO, and in the squadron during his tenure as officer commanding. Considering the fact that nine different types of aircrafts operate daily from this base, this is an achievement worthy of special mention. Also, he has been responsible for the activation of the nearby Air to Ground Firing Range for night armament firing and has successfully trained many pilots in the difficult and specialized night strike role.

Wing Commander Manmohan Singh Vasudeva has thus displayed high professional competence and exceptional devotion to duty.

Wing Commander Dinesh Chandra Kaushik has been on the posted strength of the Helicopter Unit, Air Force, since 28th August, 1978. During a crisis due to shortage of fuel for Dakota and Caribou aircraft, the unit under his command was called upon to undertake the task of air maintenance in the entire Eastern region. He rose to the occasion and did a commendable job in keeping all the air maintained posts in the Sector supplied with essential commodities, equipment, in addition to other multifarious commitments like VVIP helilifts, flood relief operation and communication flights.

Wing Commander Kaushik was also instrumental in suggesting and eventually accomplishing the task of carrying out air maintenance operations from focal points closer to the air maintained posts, thereby reducing the flying time by 35 per cent to 50 per cent. He had also undertaken the task of training the pilots of a Helicopter Unit on Mi-8 Helicopters. He has been a pioneer on Mi-8 Helicopters ever since their evaluation and induction into the service. He has made a very valuable contribution into the firm establishment of standard operating procedures on the Mi-8 Helicopters.

Wing Commander Dinesh Chandra Kaushik has thus displayed professional competence, leadership capabilities and devotion to duty of an exceptional order.

Wing Commander Krishnaswamy Sridharan has been in Command of a Helicopter Unit since March, 1979. He has to his credit a total of 5300 hours of flying, out of which 4611 hours were flown without a single accident. He is a Flight Inspector and qualified Flying Instructor holding 'A' Category.

On the 20th September, 1980, one of the helicopters from his unit had met with an accident and had turned outside down in Nanak Sagar Lake. He was flying in the area and was aware of the fact that the four aircrew were marooned and one of them did not know swimming. He therefore, landing his helicopter in the shortest possible time next to the ill fated helicopter and directed his copilot to throw his turban to rescue the marooned aircrew. When this action failed, with great presence of mind, he manoeuvred his helicopter very close to the other helicopter and picked up all the four aircrew, two at a time. By this courageous action and total disregard for his personal safety, he saved the lives of four valuable aircrew.

Wing Commander Krishnaswamy Sridharan has thus displayed high professional competence, leadership and exceptional devotion to duty.

Wing Commander Ajit Singh Mann was on the posted strength of one of the transport Squadrons in the Eastern Sector for over four years. During his flying career he has flown over 5125 hours out of which 2805 were flown on operational commitments in the most hazardous and difficult mountainous terrain of Ladakh, Nagaland, NEFA, and Mizo Hills. This entire flying has been accident­free. He has carried out numerous trials of initial reconnaissance and acceptance of new dropping zones. Professionally he has achieved exceptional standard in instrument flying and upgraded his rating to Master Green. He is a Right Hand Seat Check Pilot who has been instrumental in training young Squadron Pilots and upgrading the operational qualifications of a large number of Pilots. He brought up the Pilot categorization state to 97.5% and has been maintaining it.

The Squadron has an accident­free record for the last three years with maximum flying hours to its credit. During this period the Squadron carried out 24,515 hours of flying and there was no other transport Squadron in the Air Force with such flying record. Squadron has won the flight safety trophy for the three consecutive years. This remarkable achievement has been primarily due to untiring efforts by him as senior most flight commander of the Squadron.

Wing Commander Ajit Singh Mann has thus displayed professional competence, leadership capabilities and devotion to duty of an exceptional order.

Wing Commander Shyam Sundar Singh Chauhan was commissioned in the Indian Air Force on 2nd August, 1964. A keen and dedicated flier, he has flown over 2700 accident­free hours as Captain. During the period November, 1980 to January, 1981, he played a keen role in planning and execution of sensitive border survey tasks. Flying with tenacity and precision over rugged mountainous terrain, he brought back outstanding results. The information has been of great strategic value in updating our maps and has increased our knowledge of these inaccessible regions.

Squadron Leader Bharat Bhushan Soni has been on the posted strength of a frontline supersonic squadron since 15th May, 1980. Assuming the responsibilities of a Senior Flight Commander he has constantly strived to improve the operational potential of the Squadron. He ensured that the equipment of the squadron to an advanced variant of MiG21 was expeditiously executed. Further, he organized and planned the squadron flying training in a systematic manner. As a tangible result of his carefully drafted training programme, 10 pilots were progressively to fully operational day and night status in the shortest possible time span possible. He was chiefly instrumental in achieving a record output of over 1700 hours of Squadron flying in little over eight months.

Squadron Leader Bharat Bhushan Soni was commissioned in May, 1965, and he stood first in his course for which he was awarded the Chief of Staff Medal. In subsequent professional courses such as Junior Commander's Course and Fighter Combat Leader's Course, he continued to maintain his top rank. For his flying skill of high order and excellent marksmanship in air to ground weaponry, he was awarded 'Jam Sataj Trophy' and 'Moolgavkar Trophy' respectively during the FCL Course. For professional competence, he was selected to instruct on the staff of the prestigious institution, Tactics and Combat Development Establishment. In recognition of his professional skill and Service, he was awarded commendation by Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief 1 (Operational) Group, Indian Air Force, in February, 1976 and by the Chief of the Air Staff in August, 1976. His combat skill was amply demonstrated in Indo-Pak war of 1971 when he shot down a supersonic F­104 Star Fighter aircraft of Pakistan Air Force. For this act of conspicuous gallantry he was awarded Vir Chakra by the President.

Squadron Leader Bharat Bhushan Soni has thus displayed high professional competence and exceptional devotion to duty.

Squadron Leader Prabhakar Vasudeo Ghotge has been on the posted strength of one of the Base Repair Depots (BRD) since January 1978 as Officer i/c Test Flight. He is one of the few test Pilots qualified for production test flying on both Rotary Wing (Chetak and Cheetah) and Fixed Wing (Krishak, HT-2 and Otter) aircraft and probably the only test pilot currently employed in these multi type production testing duties. During the production year 1979-80, he test flew 31 aircraft and during 1980-81 36 aircraft single handed. During these two years, he has also test flown and cleared 77 storage aircraft which were ferried out from this depot to various units. During this period, he has test flown 1005 hours and has cleared a total of 105 production aircraft and 112 storage aircraft. This entire performance has been without a single incident or accident which speaks very highly of his superlative professional competence and exceptional airmanship.

During last two years this depot has not received a single complaint about produced aircraft from operators, which speaks volumes about the standard of flight testing for each aircraft. His exceptional devotion to duty, his dynamic and objective approach to problems, his personal involvement during rectification and human touch in dealing with technicians have been a constant source of inspiration to the technical personnel of this depot and have been in the highest traditions of the Indian Air Force.

Squadron Leader Prabhakar Vasudeo Ghotge has thus displayed high professional competence and exceptional devotion to duty.

Squadron Leader Pravez Khokar underwent No. 2 Experimental Test Pilots Course at Aircraft and System Testing Establishment in 1997-78. From October, 1978 to January, 1981, he was employed on active testing duties in the Flight Test Squadron at Aircraft System Testing Establishment. Being an A-2 category qualified flying instructor with considerable experience he was detailed as the project Pilot for HPT32 Piston engine basic trainer aircraft under development at HAL (Bangalore Complex). He took extremely active part in prototype Testing of this aircraft including high risk tests such as stalling, spinning, engine air starts with the propeller stopped and aerobatics. He used his experience to great advantage to offer very constructive suggestions and remedial measures to the designers at HAL. He also worked extremely hard with rare dedication to monitor the progress on the two prototype aircraft under testing. This often entailed working well beyond the normal working hours and flying at all hours of the day. In addition to the onerous responsibility of being the project pilot on HPT-32 aircraft, he carried out a number of service trials on Marut, Ajeet, Iskra and MiG aircraft. He was always eager to undertake new testing assignments without any regard to personal comfort or safety. He has accumulated 2277 hours of accident-free flying on 18 different types of aircraft and holds the highest instrument rating of Master Green.

Squadron Leader Pravez Khokar has thus displayed professional competence, leadership capabilities and devotion to duty of an exceptional order.

On 13th October, 1980, Squadron Leader Anup Kumar Shyam was authorized to fly an instructional sortie with Flight Lieutenant DS Karnik in a Kiran aircraft. The sortie was to consist of Air Instruction exercises, general handling aerobatics and PFL. After getting airborne at 0700 hours the sortie proceeded uneventfully until the roller take off following a Practice Force Landing (PFL). After the roller take off, the aircraft turned onto downwind for an engine assisted approach and a full stop landing. With this in mind, the undercarriage had been left down. After rolling out on downwind, the pupil officer who had the control commenced vital actions. Just then a small thud was heard and this was followed by engine rumbling noise. The speed was seen to be decreasing. The pupil instinctively opened throttle to maintain speed but found no response to throttle movement. Realising the gravity of situation Squadron Leader Shyam immediately took over the controls. By this time they had flown just past the cross runway. Taking stock of serious situation, Squadron Leader Shyam immediately turned right to assess the possibility of forced landing on runway 30 failing which he decided that they would have to eject. At this time he realized that the engine had not flamed out and that a little partial power was still available. He skillfully maneuvered the aircraft on to approach and executed a safe landing on the cross runway.

Squadron Leader Anup Kumar Shyam has thus displayed high professional competence, leadership and exceptional devotion to duty.

Flight Lieutenant Vikas Shridhar Krandikar is undergoing Test Pilot's Course (Rotary Wing) at Istres in France. On the 28th November, 1980, he took off in a helicopter, Alouette III, for a training sortie. The purpose of the training sortie was measurement of forces of flying controls when serves are switched off. The Crew of the helicopter included one test engineer Mr. Mouilleron (French National) and an experimentor Mr. Meyer (French National).

For exercise, the Pilot stablised at 2500' AGL with serves off. Flight Lieutenant Krandikar asked the test engineer to reduce the fuel flow to verify the effect of rotor RPM on the flying controls. The test engineer Mr. Mouillern erroneously pulled back the fuel flow lever (both these levers are situated side by side). This action of the engineer resulted in unforeseen and complete loss of power.

Flight Lieutenant Krandikar reacted correctly in the emergency. He put on the serves and commenced an auto rotation descent. During the descent, the engineer attempted a relight the engine but it was not successful. Flight Lieutenant Krandikar asked the engineer to switch of all electrics and made a successful autorotation landing on a nearby field. The helicopter was not damaged and was flown back to base after some checks. The crew were not hurt.

Flight Lieutenant Krandikar, test Pilot under training in France reacted coolely to an emergency situation in the air and executed a very successful emergency landing of the helicopter. By this action, this pilot displayed exceptional qualities of airmanship. The successful emergency landing carried out by the pilot has enhanced the reputation of Indian Air Force in a foreign country like France.

Flight Lieutenant Vikas Shridhar Krandikar has thus displayed high professional competence, leadership and exceptional devotion to duty.

Warrant Officer Ajit Singh, Flight Engineer, is on the posted strength of one of the Transport Squadrons of the Indian Air Force.

He has a total of 4793 flying hours to his credit out of which 1884 hours are on AN-12 aircraft. Warrant Officer Ajit Singh has done total of 1907 hours of operational flying, out of which 1121 hours have been over the hazardous terrain of Ladakh Area. On various occasions he has averted serious accidents/incidents by his keen observations and call and professional handling of emergencies. To cite one, on 25th February, 1979, while starting No. 3 engine of an AN-12 aircraft, he noted the fire warning light coming on. His actions were so prompt and correct that even before the ground crew noted the fire, he had rejected the start and taken necessary action. Under his guidance, the fire was put out, thus saving a very valuable aircraft. He has won the 'GOOD SHOW' award from the Directorate of Flight Safety and has been adjudged 'Best in Trade Proficiency' at this wing.

Warrant Officer Ajit Singh has thus displayed high professional competence and exceptional devotion to duty.

Master Warrant Officer Korampeth Narayanan Nair has been a Flight Engineer since 1961 and has a total of 5650 flying hours to his credit. Out of this more than 1000 hours were done on operational areas. He has flown AN-12, Super Constellation and Packet aircraft and is holding Category 'A' since 1980.

Master Warrant Officer Nair is one of the officers who initially set up the infrastructure for training Flight Engineers at Paratroopers Training School. He is an experienced flight engineer of exceptional tact and ability for which he was entrusted the important task of training flight engineers for the Indian Navy. He completed the training in record time thereby further strengthening inter-service bonds and brotherhood.

Master Warrant Officer Korampeth Narayanan Nair has thus displayed professional competence, leadership capabilities and devotion to duty of an exceptional order.