Flight Lieutenant MS Sran was commissioned in the Engineering Branch, after 25 years of service as an airman, on 18 Jul 87. Since then he has been responsible for the maintenance of the Hunter, an aircraft that has completed almost four decades of operations. With rapidly dwindling overhaul facilities and almost no product support this aged fleet was besieged with serious and chronic ailments. At the same time, this oldest aircraft in the Air Force inventory was being flown by the youngest and the most inexperienced newly commissioned pilots. It is with this background that Flt Lt Sran has been discharging his responsibility in various capacities for the last nine years.

An officer with a true service-before-self attitude and a great motivator of men, he infused into them a high degree of inspiration and sense of commitment that led to vast improvement in the Mean Time Between Failure enabling the unit in achieving monthly flying tasks amounting at times up to 600 sorties per month and a quantum improvement in the quality of production in the CR&SS ensuring high inflight reliability. With a 'never say die' attitude, the officer produced 100% serviceability at the dying stage of the fleet for six days in Mar 96. The sum total of the officer's professionalism, sincerity and dedication enabled the fleet to produce an impressive flying record. All this was achieved without any maintenance lapse. Truly, he has been the man behind the 'Hunter' for nearly a decade.

For distinguished services of a high order, the President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Flt Lt MS Sran.