



Marshal of the IAF Arjan Singh DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) reviewed the Combined Graduation Parade (CGP) and awarded President’s Commission to the graduating cadets that included 22 women Flight Cadets.
Among the senior IAF officials present at the CGP included Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, Air Marshal D Kukreja and AFA Commandant, Air Marshal PR Sharma. Civil dignitaries, retired and serving defence officers, parents and relatives of the newly commissioned officers were among others who witnessed the parade.
Addressing the newly commissioned IAF officers, the Marshal of the IAF impressed upon building intrinsic qualities of leadership by placing the highest value on honour, integrity and selflessness before one’s own, always and every time.
Stating Aerospace Power has revolutionised all other forms of warfare and expecting more dramatic changes in Weapon Technology in this decade, the Marshal of the IAF exhorted the young officers to acquire full understanding and knowledge of application of new technologies to exploit the true potential of Aerospace Power.
The Marshal of the IAF also welcomed the new officers to the Indian armed forces fraternity and advised them to meet any challenge with determination and bring glory to the service and to the motherland.
Flying Officer Tejas Subhas Kawale, who commanded the parade, was awarded the President’s Plaque and the Chief of the Air Staff ‘Sword of Honour’ for standing first in overall order of merit in Pilot Course.
President’s Plaque for standing first in the overall order of merit in the Ground duties branch was awarded to Flying Officer CS Pandey, and for Navigation branch to Flying Officer Rahul Singh Rajawat.
The parade marked the successful culmination of training of the Flight Cadets at various IAF Training Establishments including AFA, Air Force Administrative College, Coimbatore, Air Force Stations - Hakimpet, Yelahanka and Begumpet.
Of the 142 commissioned, 78 are pilots and 13 navigators. The remaining 51 are from the ground duties branches of administration, logistics, accounts, education and meteorology.
The newly commissioned officers received their first salute from their immediate juniors as they slow-marched out of the parade to the tune of ‘auld lang syne’.
The IAF Air Warrior Drill Team later displayed thrilling synchronized movements with their rifles with bayonets at the parade square.
Fly past by Chetak helicopters, Kiran Mk-II trainer aircraft, AN-32, Dornier and Hawk aircraft heralded the occasion. There was also a scintillating aerial ballad by Sarang – IAF’s helicopter display team and a spectrum formation by Avro and Dornier aircraft.
The three days long Joint Coastal Security Exercise conducted in the Andaman Sea concluded on 01 Jun 11. The central and state maritime stakeholders ie A&N Administration, Marine Police, State Police, Fisheries department, Forest department, Port Management Board (PMB), Directorate of Shipping Services (DSS), Light House authorities, Customs alongwith Navy and Coast Guard Components of Andaman and Nicobar Command participated in the exercise.
The exercise was controlled and coordinated from Joint Operations Centre (Coastal Security) - JOC (CS) at HQANC and conducted from Regional Coastal Security Operation Centre (A&N) – RCSOC (A&N) at Port Blair.
This exercise was conducted in two phases. In the first phase officials from all agencies participated in simulated drills - ‘Table Top Exercises’ in board room to fine tune their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Coastal Security.
The second phase was ‘Tactical Phase’ conducted from 30 May to 01 Jun 11. During this phase live situations were simulated in which stakeholders reactions were assessed for future improvement. The exercise was also utilized to create awareness about the usage of toll free telephone number 1093 dedicated for reporting coastal security issues. The highlight of the exercise was cross deployment of PMF, Navy, and Coast Guard personnel in order to understand the working environment of each service.
A detailed de-brief of the exercise was held in Secretariat Conference Hall on 03 Jun 11 with Chief Secretary in charge Smt Archana Arora in chair and all senior officials from participating agencies were in attendance. The interactive de-brief session witnessed a host of constructive feedbacks and suggestions from the participants.
It may be noted that this was the third such Exercise conducted in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Such exercises greatly help in formalizing and fine tuning the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Coastal Security involving many agencies and synergizing the efforts thereby upholding the credo – ‘UNITED WE RESPOND’.
DPR
The Luftwaffe Jagdgeschwader 74 celebrated on the 9th of June its jubilee with a great variety of attractions. An impressive total of 11 Eurofighter from three Luftwaffe Wings and from the Austrian Air Force put on a display during a dedicated airshow at Neuburg AB.
The base also hosted visiting aircraft and helicopters from the Czech Rep. Air Force, France, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria. A Eurofighter full scale replica offered the crowd the possibilities to sit in the Typhoons cockpit, and the visitors were not deterred by the long queues and longer waiting periods, for their chance to see the Typhoon up close.
The main attraction was undoubtedly the flight displays. During the first display, an air force exercise with four Eurofighter Typhoons, two Phantoms, a Transall, two helicopters, several Tornadoes from Luftwaffe and even an E-3A AWACS demonstrated a complex scenario involving a combat search and rescue of a friendly pilot. Along the second display, an Austrian pilot from Zeltweg showed the impressive strength and agility of the Typhoon. And finally a special colour JG 74 Eurofighter, accompanied by three other aircraft of the Wing, made a formation display over the base.
Not missing an aviation historical exhibition to mark the anniversary a F-86K, Phantom F-4F, a fresh restored F-104 Starfighter and the famous, flying Messerschmitt Me 109 and Me 262 of EADS were also part of the show.
Cassidian
PASSING OUT PARADE : INS RAJALI
An impressive passing out parade was held today to mark the graduation of the 76th Helicopter Conversion Course at Naval Air Station Rajali, Arrakkonam wherein 09 Navy Pilots and 06 Coast Guard Pilots were awarded “Wings” by Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, AVSM, Chief of Staff, Headquarters Eastern Naval Command. The Pilots underwent rigorous training for 21 weeks in flying and aviation subjects at the Helicopter Training School INAS 561 (HTS). The School has passed out over 500 pilots for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard till date and is commanded by Commander Divesh Khorana. The school was based at Kochi till 1992 and thereafter shifted to INS Rajali at Arakkonam which is the largest operational air base of the Navy. The base is commanded by Captain Raghunath K Nair.
The Governor of Kerala Rolling Trophy for the best all round trainee pilot was awarded to Lt Vaibhav Gupta. The flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command Rolling Trophy for the trainee pilot standing first in order of merit in flying was awarded to Lt Vaibhav Gupta. A book prize for standing first in ground subjects was awarded to Lt A Kulkarni.
OFFICER CADETS COMPLETE TRAINING
95 Officer Cadets of the 81st Integrated Course of the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard successfully completed their afloat training onboard the First Training Squadron today, at Naval Base, Kochi. The Passing Out Parade was reviewed by Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan, Chief of Personnel of the Indian Navy. The 24 weeks ship phase of the Officer training saw the future Officers of the Navy and Coast Guard being exposed to various facets of sea faring and life onboard a warship. In addition to port calls at various Indian ports on either coast, the ships of the Training Squadron also visited the Ports of Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Al Jubail as part of the their training curriculum. During these visits to the Ports of friendly foreign countries, the cadets interacted with their counterparts in these countries and also visited their training facilities. The First Training Squadron comprising of Indian Naval Ships, Tir, Krishna, Tarangini and Indian Coast Guard Ship Veera is commanded by Captain Sanjiv Issar.
Vice Admiral Muralidharan, who incidentally is the first Commandant of Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, began his address to the Parade by complimenting the cadets for choosing the Profession of Arms, considered a noble calling since times immemorial. He also dwelt upon the rigours of sea training pointing out that such baptism by fire is imperative as; the sea is an unforgiving task master.
Cadet Tapesh Singh was awarded the Chief of Naval Staff Trophy and Binoculars for standing first in overall order of merit. Cadet Sandeep Kumar Khuntia received the Telescope for the Best All Round Cadet. Assistant Commandant Rahul Lodhi was awarded the trophy for standing first in the order of merit from Indian Coast Guard. The cadets would now join the frontline ships of the Western and Easter Fleet and Coast Guard Ships for the next stage of training. The Passing Out Parade was witnessed by a large number of senior officers including Rear Admiral Sudarshan Shrikhande and proud parents of the successful cadets.
DPR