They 'blue' everyone's mind away!

A glittering graduation parade was held on Saturday at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal, by the young officers who passed out from the academy. The highlight of the event was that in 1972, the alumni of this prestigious academy, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, came to review the passing out parade.

Congratulating the passing out course, the Air Chief said, “It is a matter of great honour to welcome these fine men & women into the Indian Air Force and the military aviation fraternity. My sincere congratulations to the officers who have been awarded the President’s Commission this morning.

The honour bestowed upon you is richly deserved, since you have successfully achieved the exacting standards of a tough, strenuous and demanding training curriculum. My felicitations to the officers of the Indian Navy & Coast Guard for earning their coveted ‘wings’.” There was an exciting display of manoeuvres by the newly inducted Pilatus PC 7 Mk-II and ‘Sarang’ Aerobatics Team followed by the traditional fly past by Kiran, Hawk Aircraft and Chetak Helicopters.

A breathtaking performance by Akash Ganga Para Jump Team & Air Warrior Drill Team was appreciated by one and all. A large number of retired and serving defence officers, civilian dignitaries, service personnel and families witnessed the grand parade.

The President’s Plaque and the Chief of the Air Staff's Sword of Honour for standing first in overall order of merit in Pilot’s Course was awarded to Flying Officer Praveen Kumar while Flying Officer Firdous Ahmed Dar and Flying Officer Vipin Kumar were awarded the President’s Plaque for standing first in overall order of merit in Ground Duties Branches and Navigation Branch respectively.

The Air Force Academy (AFA), as a cradle of military aviation, provides a unique environment for officer trainees of all branches to train together and forge lifelong bonds of camaraderie, cohesiveness and esprit-de-corps. With a distinguished training record to its credit, AFA is at the vanguard of a comprehensive upgrade in IAF’s training pattern and infrastructure.

This academy has successfully inducted and operationalised the PC-7 Mk II as IAF’s Basic Trainer Aircraft and ushered in an era of modern flying training with high standards of safety and reliability. AFA forms an important component of IAF’s training road map and will witness an increased intake of trainees from the present 480 to 750 trainees in the coming years.