Air Commodore Maheshwar Das Khanna was commissioned in the Indian Air Force in 1943. During most of his Service career he has been employed on fighter pilot duties and has carried out approximately 3500 hours of accident free fighter flying. He took part in the operations in Burma during World War II and also participated in Jammu and Kashmir Operations, 1947-48, Goa Operations in 1961, and the India-Pakistan conflict of 1965. He has held important flying and staff appointments directly connected with the operations. After taking over the Command of a Wing, he built up the operational capabilities and flying qualities of all Units based at this Wing within a remarkably short period. In addition to his normal duties, he was instrumental in training 60 extra pilots, both in Mystere and Gnat aircraft, to fully operational status. Throughout, Air Commodore Maheshwar Das Khanna displayed professional skill and organising ability.

Squadron Leader Narayanan Sivaramakrishnan was commissioned in the Administrative Branch of the Indian Air Force in June, 1967. Trained in UK on the Jaguar Recce Pod and Photo Interpretation Technique specific to the system, he is presently serving as the Photo Interpretation Officer at an Operational base of the Air Force. The introduction of new sophisticated equipment at this base called for a complete reorganisation of the Photo Section and for reorientation in training of Photo Tradesmen. His first achievement was re-commissioning of an automatic film processing unit from local resources. Earlier this machine had been lying unserviceable for over 2 years. Following this successful rectification work, he trained a large number of Photo Tradesmen in handling this machine and by constant drilling, achieved a very high degree of operational capability. Squadron Leader Sivaramakrishnan has also been instrumental in identifying initial flaws in some films and initiating corrective steps to be taken by the manufacturers. He has been involved in number of trials wherein he not only efficiently carried out his part but also gave valuable suggestions which were incorporated. In the process he has earned high praise from all the agencies involved in the trials. For the Fire Power Demonstration held at Tilpat Range and the IAF Golden Jubilee Celebrations, his contribution has been unique. Having moved a detachment of AF Stn Hindon and geared the resources there, he successfully met the task of dropping the Jaguar Reconnaissance Picture of the VIP enclosure, within 45 minutes from the time the aircraft was overhead the target.

For having rendered devoted service of an exceptional order, the President is pleased to award Vayu Sena Medal to Squadron Leader Narayanan Sivaramakrishnan.

The Gnat aircraft of the Indian Air Force, most of which were based at one of our forward Wings, were prone to unserviceability of serious as well as petty nature. Even petty unserviceability in most cases involved thorough examination of the entire system in the aircraft. The result - very low serviceability.

To ensure a reasonable serviceability state and better utilization of the Gnats, Squadron Leader Indrakanty Gopala Krishna was attached to the Gnat Wing immediately prior to the commencement of recent hostilities. He was entrusted with the day to day servicing and rectification of not only the Gnats but also a few Hunter aircraft based there. There was heavy demand of the Gnat aircraft for use in the front line airfield like Pathankot, Adampur and Halwara. Quite often detachments had to be sent out with a nucleus of ground equipment and technical personnel to the new bases of operation which meant a reduction in the number of trained personnel at the home base. Added to this difficulty was the constant threat of Pakistani aircraft and paratroopers. Throughout the period of operations Squadron Leader Krishna worked hard himself and achieved a very high state of serviceability. His own professional knowledge, skill and organizing ability were such that they enthused the technical personnel on the station to better effort. Krishna did not spare any effort himself wherever his services were required during the day or night and maintained close liaison with the pilots of Gnat squadrons in order to learn of the problems of un-serviceability that were arising frequently and finding solutions for them. He created thereby a sense of confidence in the pilots about the reliability of this aircraft in combat.

Wing Commander Nayel Devarao Mohan was commissioned in the Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical) Branch of Indian Air Force in April, 1955. During the hostilities in December, 1971 he was employed as Chief Technical Officer of a forward Wing in the Western Sector.

With his vast professional knowledge and experience he was able to plan and execute all maintenance tasks that were posed to him during the hostilities. No task was impossible or beyond solution for him. Though a number detachments of the squadrons of the Wing were operating from various advance bases, he ensured that the technical requirements of these detachments were fully met. He personally directed and supervised the turn around of the aircraft during day as well as night within twenty five minutes and there was not a single instance when any aircraft was delayed on its mission. On many occasions he himself carried out the job guiding and marshalling the aircraft.

On 3rd December, 1971, a few minutes after the arrival of our strike force, the airfield was littered with bombs dropped by the enemy. One of our aircraft, by mistake, taxied to a wrong taxy track where there two unexploded bombs. He immediately, collected a few airmen and under personal supervision and direction, got the aircraft removed away and thus saved the valuable aircraft.

On another occasion when he was given only forty five minutes to receive a fleet of a large number of aircraft from another base, he quickly planned and organised the requirement in such a way that all the aircraft were taxied to the selected pens in a smooth manner and within two hours all of them were ready for operational missions.

On 5th December, 1971 he was made incharge of a project for preparation of a large number of special bombs which required clear planning and proper co-ordination. Despite three air raid warnings during the night, he, in complete disregard to his personal safety, accomplished the task within the stipulated period.

Wing Commander Nayel Devarao Mohan displayed high initiative, organising ability, devotion to duty and exceptional professional skill in the best traditions of the Indian Air Force. For his distinguished service of a high order he is awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal.

Squadron Leader Samarendra Nath Dasgupta joined an operational base on 11 Nov 79, on completion of his long-term specialised training in the UK on the advanced avionic weapon system of the Jaguar aircraft.

The Jaguar avionics and its testing equipment were introduced as an entirely new generation of technology in the Air Force. The new airborne equipment technology required commensurate sophistication in the servicing and testing facilities to be set up at the station. This task was entrusted to Sqn Ldr Dasgupta who accepted this challenge willingly and planned the installation of the facilities, gathered the required resources in a systematic fashion and executed the entire task with great determination and professional competence. It is through his professional competence, sense of involvement and good leadership that an Electronic Servicing Centre, Reconnaissance Servicing Centre, a Electrical Instrument Servicing Section and a Liquid Oxygen Bay were all set up to handle the servicing requirements of a modern combat aircraft. Apart from setting up these various bays, he even designed and fabricated all the test circuits to meet the local requirements. This he did purely voluntarily to save not only time but also valuable foreign exchange. Simultaneously, Sqn Ldr Dasgupta also ensured that our technical tradesmen were trained to handle the test equipment, since the aircraft were already operating at the base. For his extraordinary professional competence, dedication to duty and commendable leadership, the President is pleased to grant Vishisht Seva Medal to Squadron Leader Samarendra Nath Dasgupta.

Wing Commander Satya Pal Daulay was commissioned in the Air Force on 27 Jun 64. He has been on the posted strength of operational as Wing as Senior Meteorological Officer Since Oct 83.

Wg Cdr Daulay has always excelled in his professional field right from the beginning of his career. In the Professional courses for Junior and Senior Forecasters the obtained A-2 level grading.

With his excellent knowledge he has evolved new procedures and skills in weather forecasting and prognosis of weather systems which has enhanced accuracy of weather predictions manifold. He has also written a paper of the subject which was published in 'VATAVARAN' the Air Force meteorological magazine. Throughout his tenure his timely and accurate weather warnings have time and again prevented diversion of aircraft and prevented any incident due to weather and has thus contributed substantially towards flight safety.

In recognition of his exceptional achievements, professional competence, dedication and devotion to duty of a high order, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wing Commander Satya Pal Daulay.

Air Commodore Avdesh Kumar Singh, VM (11005) F (P) was commissioned on 04 Jun 67. He has held the appointments of Flight Commander, Squadron Commander and Chief Operations Officer of fighter squadrons and stations, Station Commander 503 SU, AF and Air Officer Commanding, AF Station Ambala, a premier fighter base.

Air Commodore AK Singh is the only transport pilot who has successfully converted and flown fighter aircraft which is recorded in the Limca Book of Records. During 1971 operations, he took part in "Tangail Operation". He was "Task Force Commander" of Jaguar forces during the operation "PAWAN". He flew as many as 30 photo reconnaissance missions by day and by night and was awarded Vayu Sena Medal.

In the period 1990 to 1992, he was Chief Operations Officer at Air Force Station Gorakhpur. His planning and acumen was once again appreciated by AOC-in-C, WAC during his tenure as Stn Cdr, 503 SU wherein he connected all non-essential load of 503 SU to commercial power thus shutting down one Generator which gave a saving of Rs. 24 lacs per year.

Air Commodore AK Singh took over as AOC, 7 Wing, AF on 24 Jun 96. He has effected tremendous improvements in quality of life, living conditions and most importantly operations and Flight Safety. The flight safety and stringent bird control measures have paid dividends, as there has been no case of bird strike during last 12 months at the airbase.

Air Commodore A K Singh has displayed maturity, dynamism, bold initiative and a sharp analytical mind throughout his service career. He has been working single mindedly towards improving efficiency, operational preparedness and economy in expenditure in IAF. For distinguished services of Exceptional Order, the President is pleased to award "Vishisht Seva Medal" to Air Commodore Avdesh Kumar Singh.

Group Captain Prakul Kumar (14093) Flying (Pilot) was commissioned in flying branch on 11 July 75. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor, Pilot Armament Instructor and has over 2700 hrs of flying on fighter aircraft. He has commanded a premier strike squadron and has also been a DS at Staff College. Presently he is the Chief Operations Officer (COO) at a fighter Base in the Western Sector.

During his tenure as COO he ensured that operations continue unhindered from the Base without any compromise on standards. Due to his personal involvement to provide a conducive flying environment, during the last year and a half, the squadrons flew a total of 10544:00 hrs. During March 1999 alone, squadrons operating at the base carried out a record flying of 1170:10 hrs. His operational commitment was amply demonstrated when he ensured that all the forces were inducted smoothly for "Op Safed Sagar" and were ready to launch missions in the shortest possible frame. In a flawless manner a total of 303 sorties comprising FR, ELINT & AD Escort Missions were launched from the Base towards this operation. As Chief of Operations, not only did he co-ordinate the missions with other launch bases but also ensured mission effectiveness. He demonstrated fine judgment and decisiveness in launch and recovery of missions in marginal weather conditions, with total safety.

For his exceptional dedication to service, professionalism and distinguished service, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Group Captain Prakul Kumar.

Group Captain Sandeep Puri (16574) Flying (Pilot) was commissioned in the Flying Branch of the IAF on 11 Dec 1981. He has held many important Command and Staff appointments including Commanding Officer of a frontline Jaguar Squadron and Joint Director and Director Offensive Operations at Air HQ (VB). The officer is a Qualified Flying Instructor and alumnus of prestigious Defence Services Staff College. Presently he is on the posted strength of a major fighter Base as the Chief Operations Officer.

During his tenure as Commanding Officer of a fighter strike Squadron, the officer ensured a high operational and training status of the Squadron at all times. This required coordination and planning with the various agencies to ensure high serviceability of available assets. In the staff appointment at Air HQ, the officer performed creditably and conceptualised various operational tactics. Thereafter, the Officer was appointed as the Chief Operations Officer of a vital and important fighter Base in Northern Sector, which is a prime airbase and undertakes maximum fighter flying in Western Air Command. The task of Chief Operations Officer at Ambala entails close control and supervision of the three fighter squadrons, two Surface to Air Guided Weapon Squadrons and two Transportable Radar Units, besides numerous detachment, Exercises and Trials. Gp Capt Puri, with his past experience, professional ability and far-sightedness has been able to harmoniously amalgamate all the facets of operations and maintain these at peak efficiency. With his penchant for perfection, eye for detail and personal involvement in every activity of operations, he has been able to demand and achieve high standards. The sterling performance put up by the Ops Branch under his leadership during the Dte of Air Staff Inspection of the Station and the Squadrons, was appreciated and commended. With his concerted efforts and proactive approach, the huge airfield zone has been leveled and cleared of undergrowth reducing the bird menace to negligible levels, and creating a safe flying environment.

Air Force Station Ambala was entrusted an additional responsibility to conduct centralised training for exercise Cope Thunder04 to be held at Alaska. Gp Capt Puri involved himself fully and exercised close supervision of flying training spread over six months, ensuring operationalisation of new disciplines viz. AAR, ILS/VOR and TACAN training. The success and high professional standards displayed by the team at Alaska stand testimony to the professionalism and dedication of the officer. Gp Capt Puri led by example and displayed exceptional flying skills during Inter Squadron Gunnery meet held in Oct 2004, and bagged the trophy for 'Best in Bombing' individual event, by scoring two direct hits on the target, which is a record in itself.

For sustained professionalism and distinguished service of a high order, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Group Captain Sandeep Puri,