AFVOA Newletters of Year 2007

Page 24 of 68 Veterans – 2004” to Ms Leela Samson. Tambola Game No.2. The second house was the bumper house with a snowball of Rs.2,000/- in 57 counts. The game was conducted by Brig VA Subramanyam, Mrs. Kala Karthikeyan and Mrs. Sulochana Krishnaswami assisted by Col A Krishnaswami. The prize winners were, Mrs. Kala Balraj, Brig Namasivayam, Mrs. Jayarajan, Mrs. Mangalam Raman, Mrs. Usha Subramanian, Mrs. Saraswathy Sathyamurthy, Mrs. Raaswamy, Mrs. Bhuvana Narayanan, Mrs. Chitkala Govindaswamy, Mr. Ashok Kumar, Mrs. N Viswanathan and Lt Col R Venkataramanan. The snowball was carried over to the next meeting as it remained unclaimed. It was by then 1.30 pm when lunch was taken. As usual our caterer, Shri Naresh Maharaj provided us tasty items which was appreciated by every one. Matters Military Day at Sea. The much awaited “Day at Sea” event took place on 15 Mar 2007. The members and their families, fifty in all, assembled at the Palm Grove Ecological Park & Sports Complex at 0800 hrs. The specially detailed Army Bus ex-25 MADRAS transported the members and their families to the Jetty at 0830 hrs. Cdr SR Prasad, the popular Naval member gave a running commentary en route about the various institutes, establishments, berths, ships, etc., which was informative and educative to everyone in the bus especially to those who were entering the Port of Chennai for the first time. On reaching the Jetty he guided the group to the Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) SARANG. As the group started boarding ICGS SARANG, the Captain, DIG Gurupdesh Singh and his team welcomed everyone with smart and traditional salute. The Ship cast at 0900 hrs sharp for a sojourn in the Bay of Bengal. After a sumptuous breakfast on board, the veterans and their families, were given a visual treat by the Coast Guard Air Sqn with their aircrafts carrying out demonstrations of aerial patrol, strafing floating targets, etc and their powered rescue boat in action. Cdr SR Prasad, provided the running commentary for almost the entire duration of the trip making the event all the more interesting. Tea was served at about 1100 hrs after which the Captain of the Ship displayed his magnanimity by throwing open the canteen items to the veterans. Following this the customary presentation of Souvenir took place with Maj Gen C Govindaswamy, Past President of AFVOA handing over a Tanjore Plate for the Ward Room of the Ship. The Ship berthed at the Jetty by 1230 hrs and the group returned to the Palm Grove Ecological Park & Sports Complex by 1300 hrs. It was a unique experience for the veterans and their families who enjoyed every bit of the event especially having sailed on board ICGS SARANG which had the unique privilege of recovering the Space Capsule after it dropped from the skies. Visit to AF Stn Tambaram. Air Cmde MS Ahluwalia, AVSM, Stn Cdr, AF Stn Tambaram and his team of Officers extended an invitation to members of AFVOA for a visit to their Stn on 21 Mar 2007. Accepting their kind invitation with all humility, veterans and their families numbering about 80 visited the Stn at 1000 hrs where a very warm reception awaited them with the Stn Cdr & his wife being present. With most of us if not all entering the AF Stn Tambaram for the first time it was a conducted tour all the way. The group was first taken to the well equipped briefing room where, after the welcome address by the Stn Cdr, Gp Capt HKJS Sokhey and Gp Capt Srivastava briefed the veterans and families about the organization of the Stn in general and the Flying Instructors’ School (FIS) and Ground Training Units respectively, in particular. The Group later visited the FIS and Mechanical Training Wing of the Stn for lecture demonstrations which were presented effectively and enjoyed by one and all. Some of the veterans also had a feel of the cockpit of an aircraft. Too keen enthusiasts were however prevented from taking the ejection seats.The Instructors and trainee Officers gave a nice