The Param Vishist Seva Medal was constituted in 1960 and since then till 1980, it was awarded in recognition to wartime service in all the three conflicts in the 60s. Most of the awards were to Base Commanders and a few to senior staff officers of the Commands.
The highest number of awards being made in the 1971 conflict for ten Officers including five Station Commanders.
After the conflict and the constitution of the SYSM, only one IAF Officer received it, Air Marshal Vinod Patney , the AOC-in-C, Western Air Command for his command during the Kargil Conflict.
No Bar to PVSMs have been awarded in the Indian Air Force.
The lowest ranking officers to be awarded the PVSM are six Group Captains in the 60s and the early 70s.
As most of the awards are for continous, sustained service in the capacity mentioned and not for specific incidents, the citations are not published in the Gazette of India and thus are not reproduced here.
A Complete list of PVSM Awardees
Wartime PVSM and SYSM awardee list | ||||
1962 | ||||
A V M | Kanwar Jaswant Singh * | 1587 | GD(P) | AOC-in-C, EAC HQ |
A V M | Eric W Pinto * | 1593 | GD(P) | AOC-in-C, WAC HQ |
1965 | ||||
Gp Capt | George Kanisht Kumar John | 2132 | GD(P) | Stn Cdr Halwara |
Gp Capt | Walter Vernon Alexander Lloyd | 2623 | GD(P) | Stn Cdr Adampur |
1971 | ||||
Air Marshal | H N Chatterjee DFC | 1620 | F(P) | Dy CAS,Air HQ |
A V M | Maurice Barker | 1691 | F(P) | AOC-in-C, CAC HQ |
A V M | Satya Pal Sahi | 1601 | ADM | |
A V M | Charan Das Guru Devasher | 1867 | F(P) | SASO, EAC HQ |
A V M | Deviah Subia Vr.C | 1866 | F(P) | SASO, WAC HQ |
Air Cmde | Randhir Singh AVSM VrC | 2135 | F(P) | Stn Cdr Adampur |
Air Cmde | John Francis Lazaro, VM | 2944 | F(P) | AOC, Advance HQ, WAC |
Gp Capt | Malcolm Shirley Dundas Wollen VM | 3641 | F(P) | Stn Cdr Gauhati |
Gp Capt | Peter Maynard Wilson VrC | 3590 | F(P) | Stn Cdr Jamnagar |
Gp Capt | Chandra Kant Vishwanath Gole AVSM | 3652 | F(P) | Stn Cdr Halwara |
SYSM | ||||
1999 | ||||
Air Marshal | Vinod Patney PVSM, AVSM VrC | 6125 | F(P) | AOC-in-C , WAC HQ |
* Posthumous Awards