AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 248 of 332 There were some who were unfortunate, their life prematurely cut short May their souls rest in peace and the families get support Now the boots are hung and the anchor dropped, Sixty years and life seems suddenly cropped The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak We plod along from ‘creak’ to ‘creak’ But the bonhomie and brotherhood remain sound and strong As “BORN TO BATTLE” remains our theme song! About the Author The Officer did his schooling at Sherwood Nainital before joining the NDA (38 Course) in 1967. Commissioned as fighter pilot in 1971 he went on to have a glorious flying career flying 3800 hours. He has the distinction of having commanded 2 fighter squadrons, a MiG29 Sqn and the trisonic MiG25 Sqn. He then went to command the one and only premier TACDE, a Tactics & Combat Establishment. He was awarded a Shaurya Chakra for having safely recovered and landed an aircraft which had an engine seizure. His diplomatic assignment included a 3 year appointment at Washington as the Air Attaché. On attaining his 3 star he went onto head the operations at Central Air Command followed by Air Officer in Charge Personnel at Air HQ. He was then promoted and appointed as the Air Officer Commanding in Chief of Southern Air Command. Post retirement the Air Marshal and his wife live in Gurugram.