AFVOA Newsletter May 2020

Section 1-Messages Newsletter No. 1 / 2020 P a g e 10 | 101 Message from Former VCOAS Lt Gen S Pattabhiraman PVSM AVSM SM VSM Revival of the Newsletter signifies yet another positive act of the AFVOA Committee headed by Air Marshal Varthaman. To me and my wife, members of the Association since Jan 2007, the AFVOA that has been run by a chosen band of passionate committee members has come to mean a significant value addition to our life after retirement. The members of the AFVOA are a Family having likeminded attitudes for a well-rounded comfortable social life in the company of a positive band of gracefully aging veterans. There are no doubt similar organizations across several military stations and we can take pride in our history since inception of harnessing a friendly and helpful attitude towards each other which has over the years been reinforced time and again by members reaching out in times of crisis such as the floods in the year 2017 and also periodically to assist the next of kin of our departed in resettling with least turbulence. The AFVOA has been anchored to the Dakshin Bharat Area by painstaking efforts of our committee members staying in close rapport with the principal staff at its HQ and this has been our strength. With these remarks, I would like to wish the Newsletter a welcome relaunch and we look forward to savoring news and articles with relish in days to come. The General did his schooling in Delhi and joined the NDA (29 th Course /Charlie). He was commissioned into the Indian Army as a Combat Engineer and Paratrooper. He is a veteran of the 1971 Indo Pak War as young Captain. After having commanded an Infantry Brigade in J&K, his career progressed into many crucial appointments. He then took over as the Western Army Commander before being appointed as the Vice Chief of Army Staff. The General retired in 2006. Soon thereafter he was appointed as the founder member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Chennai Bench. The General is a wide reader and an active participant in defence and geopolitics, geostrategic seminars. In 2013 the General and Mrs Pattabhiraman chose to move to Coonoor where they enjoy the salubrious climate of the Nilgiris.