As with the PVSM and the SYSM, the awards for distinguished service in wartime at a secondary level was fulfilled by the Ati Vishist Seva Medal (AVSM) and from 1980 onwards, by the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM).
Till date only four UYSMs have been awarded to the IAF including three for the recent Kargil Conflict.
Most of the AVSMs for wartime service were during the 1971 War. Staff Officers, Base Commanders and some Squadron Commanders were given this Medal for distinguished leadership and service during the war.
- One Awardee, Wg Cdr D M Conquest received two awards. He was given an AVSM as well as a VrC, a unique achievement.
- Only two Air Force Officers, Air Chief Marshal LM Katre and Air Marshal PS Ahluwalia, have ever been given ‘Bar’ to their AVSMs.
- Only one Non-Commissioned Officer was ever awarded an AVSM – Sgt V R Kantheti, an Air Force Safety Operator.
- Atleast six Sqn Ldr rank officers were also awarded the AVSM. No Awards were made to ranks lower than Sqn Ldr.
| List of AVSM Awardees Award details for the year 1992 are not available in the database |
| List of UVSM Awardees |
The War time AVSM and UYSMs are listed below
| AVSM | ||||
| 1965 | ||||
| Wg Cdr | Krishna Dandapani | CO 230 Signal Unit, Amritsar | ||
| Sqn Ldr | Lakhmir Singh | 230 Signal Unit, Amritsar | ||
| 1971 | ||||
| Air Cmde | Gian Dev Sharma | 1742 | F(P) | |
| Air Cmde | Bawa Sampuram Singh Bedi | 1795 | AE(M) | |
| Air Cmde | Solomon Purushottam | 1928 | F(P) | AOC, Adv HQ EAC |
| Air Cmde | Harcharan Singh Bakshi | 2083 | ADM | |
| Air Cmde | G K Singha | 2361 | AE(M) | |
| Air Cmde | Kanwar Singh | 2781 | F(P) | AOC, Rajasthan Area. |
| Air Cmde | Trilochan Singh Brar | 2884 | F(P) | Air I, Air Ops, WAC HQ |
| Air Cmde | Surinder Singh | 3009 | F(P) | |
| Air Cmde | Krishna Mohan Ram AVSM | 3101 | F(P) | Air I, Air Ops, EAC HQ |
| Air Cmde | Jafar Zaheer | 3173 | F(P) | Stn Cdr, Agra |
| Air Cmde | C S Naik VSM | 3499 | AE(M) | |
| Air Cmde | Amrit Lal Saigal | 3608 | AE(M) | |
| Gp Capt | Gurdial Singh Punia | 2134 | ADM | |
| Gp Capt | Audrey Leslie Michael | 3416 | F(P) | Dte of Offensive Ops, Adv HQ |
| Gp Capt | Ramesh Chandra Jain | 3546 | AE(L) | |
| Gp Capt | Emmaneul Fernandes | 3577 | F(P) | |
| Gp Capt | Amrit Dev Datt | 3789 | AE(M) | |
| Gp Capt | S K Nair | 3803 | AE(M) | |
| Gp Capt | Kanwar Iqbal Singh Chabbra | 3831 | F(P) | CO, 4 TAC , 15 Corps, J & K |
| Gp Capt | Prem Pal Singh, MVC | 3871 | F(P) | Air I, Air Ops, CAC HQ |
| Gp Capt | Mohan Badami | 3888 | F(P) | |
| Wg Cdr | V Krishnamurthy, VM | 4022 | F(P) | Stn Cdr, Uttarlai |
| Wg Cdr | Mohinder Singh Bawa , VM | 4494 | F(P) | Stn Cdr, Jaisalmer |
| Wg Cdr | Ranjit Dhawan VM | 4572 | F(P) | CO, No. 220 HF-24 Marut Sqn. |
| Wg Cdr | V B Sawardekar , KC | 4593 | F(P) | CO, No. 29 MiG-21 Sqn. |
| Wg Cdr | Upkar Singh | 4658 | F(P) | CO, No. 1 MiG-21 Sqn. |
| Wg Cdr | S P Sabharwal | 4413 | F(P) | |
| Wg Cdr | Krishan Kumar Badhwar | 4669 | F(P) | CO, No. 35 Canberra Sqn. |
| Wg Cdr | Donald Melvyn Conquest | 4692 | F(P) | CO, No.122 Hunters (OCU) |
| Wg Cdr | K C Khanna VM | 4722 | F(P) | CO, No. 101 Sukhoi Sqn. |
| Wg Cdr | K G Radhakrishnan | 4956 | AE(M) | |
| UYSM | ||||
| 1989 I P K F | ||||
| Air Cmde | Manmohan Singh Vasudeva | |||
| 1999 Kargil | ||||
| A V M | Satinder Singh Dhillon | 7980 | AE(M) | |
| A V M | Jagnandan Kumar Pathania | 8053 | ADM | |
| A V M | Narayan Menon | 9005 | F(P) | AOC, J&K |