Wing Commander Satyendra Pal Singh was posted in Jul 82 to a forward airbase, after his training in Russia for maintenance of Rakshak aircraft. Since then he has been at the helm in building up the maintenance and utilization of the aircraft.

Wg Cdr SP Singh spearheaded the buildup of the infrastructure and facilities, training and expertise of the personnel by a system involving regular checks and monitoring, interaction among trades and sections. The results were remarkable and enterprise in the retrieval of a large number of communication blocks, armament relays and radar assemblies by repair and cannibalization.

The crowning moment in the officer's tenure came in Nov 85, when Rakshak squadrons were fully activated and an average of 75% of aircraft were available for flying.

In recognition of his devotion to duty, professional competence and outstanding achievements, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wing Commander Satyendra Pal Singh.

Wing Commander Har Prakash Singh Sidhu was commissioned in the IAF as a fighter pilot in Jun 67. He served in a frontline operational squadron in the Western Sector in 1971 Indo-Pak War and was commended by the CAS. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor holding Category A-2 and a graduate of Defence Services Staff College. He was appointed Flight Commander of an operational squadron, where he accomplished his task with utmost professional competence. He has 2400 hours of accident-free fighter flying to his credit.

In May 82, he was selected for appointment as Assistant Director Personnel (Officers) at Air Headquarters. His duties encompassed manning of all fighter Bomber Units, Fighter Training Establishments and planning the career profile of all aircrew of the fighter stream. During his tenure, he displayed an excellent aptitude for staff work and profound understanding of the tasks assigned to him. This period saw a rapid expansion of the IAF with new units being raised and others reequipped with most modern aircraft and weapon systems. With his untiring zeal and diligence, he meticulously planned the utilization of limited manpower to attain high efficiency.

Wg Cdr HPS Sidhu was occasionally required to officiate as Deputy Director in addition to his own duties. He displayed a high level of maturity during his contact with senior Air Officers and exhibited great skill in handling complicated manning problems. He was deeply involved in working out long term plans to streamline aircrew manning in the IAF.

In recognition of his high level of professional ability, exceptional personal qualities and sustained hard work in the best traditions of the service, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wing Commander Har Prakash Singh Sidhu.

Wing Commander Lalit Kumar Kochhar was commissioned on 29 Jul 67. Having served as a General Duty Medical Officer of a flying squadron as a Senior Medical Officer of operational Wings/Units for seven years, the officer specialized as an Eye Specialist from Agra University and later as an ENT Specialist from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune and obtained the Master Degree in Surgery. He is presently serving as the Head of the ENT Department of the Air Force Central Medical Establishment.

Wing Commander Kochhar has distinguished and well proven record of two decades of dedicated service. During the IndoPak Conflict in 1971, he was posted to an operational squadron located at a forward base in the western theatre. The officer was wounded during an air raid and though in plaster, he refused hospitalization and continued to remain on duty to provided medical cover to his squadron. During his tenure as Medical Officer an Operational Wing, he made singular contribution to promote aircrew care and flight safety by personally attending to their problems at odd hours.

Wg Cdr Kochhar has served in various service hospitals and has performed large number of complicated surgical operations in an extremely efficient manner. As an ENT specialist at the Air Force Central Medical Establishment, the officer has carried out his duties with great devotion and dedication. He has consistently displayed tremendous capacity for sustained hard work of high caliber.

In recognition of his outstanding services, devotion to duty, exceptional clinical service to the patients and aircrew community and singular contribution to the cause of flight safety, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wing Commander Lalit Kumar Kochhar.

Wing Commander Yadvinder Singh Walia was commissioned in the Administrative Branch in Dec 67. He has held a variety of appointments which include Station Adjutant, Station Security Officer at Flying Stations, Assistant Provost Marshal and Staff Officer.

As Assistant Provost Marshal, he ensured smooth and efficient movement of a large number of convoys. He also played a leading role in handling movement and flawless piloting of a number of foreign dignitaries and VVIPs. By excellent planning and limited resources, he reduced the number of outstanding cases of apprehensions and absence without leave. His tact, sense of involvement and mature judgment helped him establish cordial relations between the Air Force and the civil police and the local population.

At Adampur, he with his cordial relations with local civil population and the civil police, succeeded in unearthing a gang of thieves which had been operating from outside the AF Station for a very long time.

At Nagpur, again, he established a cordial working link between the Air Force and the civil authorities. He laid the net and succeeded in catching red-handed a civilian MTD who was involved in stealing petrol and diesel from service vehicles for a couple of years. He with his superior provost skill and contacts succeeded in apprehending six cases of desertion and AWOL of a serious nature.

In Mar 85, he was appointed Staff Officer to Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command in recognition of his professional competence.

For his extraordinary achievements, integrity, dedication and exceptional leadership qualities, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wing Commander Yadvinder Singh Walia.

Squadron Leader Thakur Singh Datta was commissioned on 28 Jun 69 and has since then held various important field and staff appointments. The officer has a distinguished record of professionalism in the field of Air Defence.

The officer achieved category 'A' as a fighter controller and was posted as an instructor in Air Defence College. During the period of four years in the college, he was actively involved in the training of a large number of fighter controllers from friendly foreign countries. With his total devotion to duty and exceptional professional skill he was instrumental in enhancing the prestige of our air Force in the eyes of foreign student officers. For his exceptional devotion, he was commended by AOC-in-C No. 1 (Opl) Group in Jun 74 and by the Chief of the Air Staff in Aug 77.

He was posted to the Air Defence Section of an operational Command in Mar 83. In October 1983, he headed a team of fighter controllers to carry out low level interception trials catering to the specific needs of fighter controllers. He was involved in a number of other evaluation trials in operational fields where his contribution was substantial and praiseworthy. In December, 1983, he prepared the Command Air Defence Compendium which was appreciated at all levels. In Jan 85, he was given the task of revising the old Command Air Staff Instruction on Air Defence Ground Environment System, which he accomplished with great personal involvement and extreme devotion.

In recognition of his exceptional devotion to duty, commendable professional competence, initiative and drive, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Squadron Leader Thakur Singh Datta.

Squadron Leader Nirdosh Vatsyayan Tyagi has been on the posted strength of Operational Conversion Unit since October, 1982. A highly qualified officer, he is a Production Test Pilot, a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College and a Cat A-2 Qualified Flying Instructor.

During his tenure in the unit, he has served for eight months as Adjutant, in addition to his normal flying instructional duties. During this period, his diligence and meticulous attention to minute detail, have resulted in an outstanding administrative performance of the unit. His efforts characterized by honesty of purpose and a helpful attitude, resulted in the unit obtaining above average reports from Air Headquarters teams in 1984 and 1985.

As Officer-in-Charge Academics, the officer has displayed patience, knowledge, understanding and diligence to motivate trainees into utmost participation and perfect learning. Under his guidance they scored an average of 81% in a standardization check carried out by the Aircrew Examining Board.

For his hard work, selfless devotion to duty and outstanding contribution to the operational efficiency to the Air Force, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Squadron Leader Nirdosh Vatsyayan Tyagi.

Squadron Leader Ashok Kumar Singh was commissioned in the IAF in Jan 74. He became a Flight Gunner in Jun 80 and was posted to an AN-12 Squadron as Gunnery Leader. In a short span of time, he achieved CAT 'A' standard and displayed great dedication to duty and loyalty to service in conducting four ab-initio Flight Gunners' Courses for which no separate establishment existed at the Station. He also conducted gunnery training and supervised several gunnery exercises in which gunners achieved very good results in firing.

While undergoing Gajraj conversion abroad along with his five SNCOs gunners, it became imperative that all the six gunners undergo training in both the independent streams of Flight Gunner and Aerial Delivery System Operations in the same allotted time.

With his characteristic devotion, zeal and enthusiasm, he put in dedicated effort in conducting extra coaching of his team of gunners in addition to his already extremely busy schedule of training. His diligence beyond the call of duty ensured timely completion of training of Flight Gunners in the dual role with exceptional results. Back in India, once again, he inspired his team of three sets of crew with personal example and leadership to accomplish the task requiring six sets of crew. At no stage a commitment was delayed due to shortage of gunners/ADSOs. In meeting commitments of heavy specialized loading/off loading for which no practical training and experience was available, he led his team with commendable competence to achieve a high degree of proficiency.

For his exceptional ability, professional competence, commendable qualities and devotion to duty, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Squadron Leader Ashok Kumar Singh.

Flight Lieutenant Ellykkal Vijayan was commissioned in the Meteorological Branch of the IAF on 10 Jan 77 and is presently posted at an airbase as Senior Met Officer. He was involved in installation of the first Automatic Picture Transmission (ATP) system at the base. He took keen interest to understand the functioning of the system by studying microelectronics and solid state digital technology. He was also involved in the successful commissioning of all modern Met equipments viz. Skopograph, Ceilograph, Facsimile and INSAT MONEX-79 Experiment. He attended the National Seminar on Satellite meteorology organized by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Banglore in Jul 83 and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) symposium in Jodhpur held in Dec 84 and presented research papers.

He was selected to participate in the 4th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica, 1984-85. There he was instrumental in establishing all modern Met equipments at the Dakshin Gangotri Research Station. The most significant achievements were the installation of an APT and Data Collection Platform (DPC) for hourly transmission of weather through INSAT-1B.

Apart from providing routine forecasts for airborne logistic operations, he collected invaluable weather data staying at Maitree Hill Camp, our new location in Antarctica braving inhospitable weather and difficult living conditions. He also helped establish the radar transponder beacon on the highest hill feature near the camp.

For his significant contribution to the success of the 4th Antarctica Expedition, laudable professional competence and deter mination to achieve targets, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Flight Lieutenant Ellykkal Vijayan.

Master Warrant Officer Ajit Singh was held on the posted strength of a Signals Unit.

During his short tenure of less than a year he serviced all the six channels of the Radar and displayed excellent innovative skill by modifying, with an ordinary scooter bulb, the height measuring indicator, which had been lying unserviceable due to nonavailability of projection lamps for more than a year. He thus saved the exchequer valuable foreign exchange.

He also modified certain systems, lying unserviceable for a considerable period, with indigenous items and was able to extract the best performance out of this Radar.

MWO Ajit Singh has been commended five times by the Air Officers Commanding-in Chief and once by the Chief of the Air Staff for his devotion to duty and high technical skill. His personal example, both as a teacher and a leader, has been a source of inspiration not only to his tradesmen but also the entire unit.

For the valuable services rendered by him during his long career, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Master Warrant Officer Ajit Singh.

Master Warrant Officer Omprakash Lamba had been on the posted strength of a frontline supersonic squadron since 01 Feb 84 and has been performing the duties of MWO i/c Daily Servicing Section. During his tenure, the Squadron was ordered to move from its previous to its present location. He, in coordination with the Officer-in-Charge Central Repair and Servicing Section, planned and executed staggering of aircraft hours and aircraft held on the squadron's strength. On arrival at the new base, he set himself the task of organizing the DSS so as to help the Squadron become operational within a week of its arrival.

Master Warrant Officer Omprakash Lamba, endowed with a high degree of initiative and impeccable professional knowledge, led the section in such a manner as to meet fully the demands of flying operations despite a critical manning level. During the six-month period from Aug 85 to Jan 86, when the technical manning was low, the Squadron flew record number of hours and sorties by day and night.

As a leader, Master Warrant Officer Omprakash Lamba possesses in ample measure such qualities as cheerfulness, dynamism and ability to inspire his colleagues. He shoulders responsibilities cheerfully and accomplishes tasks to the entire satisfaction of all his superiors.

For his imaginative leadership, devotion to duty and dedicated hard work, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Master Warrant Officer Omprakash Lamba.

Master Warrant Officer Madhukar Bharurao Deore has been on the posted strength of a Helicopter Squadron since January, 1984.

He is one of the pioneers of the Squadron who was trained in the USSR. He has an enviable flying experience of 4929 hours. He has contributed a great deal of efficiency of the Squadron by applying his thorough professional knowledge in formulation of checklists, standard operating procedures, snag rectification and weapon firing procedures. This enabled the Squadron to undertake performance and armament trials to the newly inducted Akbar helicopters successfully and on schedule. Due to his personal involvement and dedication to duty, newly inducted Flight Engineers have been trained and made operational in record time.

MWO Deore is a constant source of inspiration and motivation to all the personnel of the Squadron. He not only excelled in his profession on the ground an din the air, but has also proved his indispensability to the Squadron in many other ways.

For his professional competence and remarkable contribution to the newly formed Squadron and his deep devotion to duty, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Master Warrant Officer Madhukar Bharurao Deore.

Junior Warrant Officer Velaudhan Pillai Gopinathan Nair is on the posted strength of a fighter squadron. He has been able to rectify several cases of complex snags and has thus prevented at least six premature withdrawals of R-25 engines. This has resulted in considerable savings in foreign exchange. His professional skill is so comprehensive that he is capable of carrying out an engine change without assistance of tradesmen of other trades.

He has been equally involved in modification of ground and test equipment. For checking the engine parameter, a pressure checking device was fabricated by using only the indicators supplied by the manufacturers. The engine oil changing rig was modified by his to be used as inhibition rig. He also modified a superstructure of Type 75 aircraft for use on Type 69 aircraft.

JWO Nair has written a booklet titled 'Experience to Share of Badal Engines', copies of which have been sent to all Badal operating establishments. He has also presented technical papers on some aspect of Badal engines. One of these studies on the 'Alarming Rate of Afterburner Failures', discusses remedial actions for rectifying after-burner snags. This study was based on nine rectifications carried out by him and resulted in considerable saving of manpower and improved serviceability.

He cheerfully puts in long hours of work beyond the call of duty. His professional excellence is a source of inspiration to his fellow tradesmen and subordinates.

For his tireless efforts, dedication, zeal and professional competence, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Junior Warrant Officer Velaudhan Pillai Gopinathan Nair.

291286 Sergeant Joseph Mathew Thomeryiel was selected for the Fourth Indian Antarctica

Expedition in recognition of his professional competence and dedication to service coupled with his rich experience gained during the Third Indian Antarctica Expedition. During the Expedition, he functioned as SNCO i/c of the technical team. In the extreme climatic conditions prevailing in Antarctica, the success of the expedition depended to a large extent upon the logistic support to be provided by Pratap helicopters. This necessitated an uninterrupted availa bility of helicopter for flying operations. Sgt Mathews, besides shouldering the task of his own trade, worked with other fellow tradesmen to ensure timely availability of the helicopter. Working much beyond the normal working hours under severe climatic conditions in Antarctica, he ensured the serviceability and availability of the helicopter for all scheduled and unscheduled tasks. His contribution included refueling hundreds of barrels of fuel into containers under sub-zero conditions and at the same time maintaining quality control of fuel. This was a vital task which he carried out in a planned and meticulous manner.

On 24 Feb 85, when one Indian Naval Chetak foreclanded on an iceberg, Sgt Mathews along with his technical team prepared the Pratap helicopter for flying in a short time and made the rescue of the pilots and recovery of the Chetak possible, just before the iceberg broke into fragments.

For his extraordinary devotion to duty, willingness to accept responsibilities and exemplary leadership, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Sergeant Joseph Mathew Thomeryiel.

62412 Sergeant Kanshi Nath Mandal was specially selected for the second time as the only Airframe technician in the Fourth Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica. His duties included removal and fitment of main rotor and tail-rotor blades, winterization and antisaline treatment of helicopter and covering of helicopters in sub zero conditions and high winds: a difficult but essential task.

Besides his routine duties, Sgt Mandal was assigned the task of repairing on Mi-8 helicopter which had force landed at the Base Camp with its nose-oleo considerably damaged. He accepted this challenging task with courage, though it involved studying maintenance manuals till late at night after completing the day's long routine. He carried out the repairs with hardly any resources available in Antarctica thus displaying initiative, professional competence and devotion to duty. He also improvised the means and carried out heavy landing checks on the helicopter in sub-zero conditions. It was by dint of his devotion to duty, professional competence and indomitable courage in the face of the most inclement weather conditions that the helicopter was recovered from Antarctica even in snow blizzards. The imitative and devotion to duty of this SNCO were once again put to test when on 21 Feb 85 a snow blizzard hit the ship suddenly. At that time one of the Mi-8 helicopters was parked in the open on the deck. Sgt Mandal led his other tradesmen to the deck, braving a heavy snow blizzard with the wind exceeding 90 KMPH, and lashed the helicopter.

For his professional competence, high sense of responsibility, unflinching courage and timely initiative, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to 62412 Sergeant Kanshi Nath Mandal.