From the Archives: Jun 2004 to Sep 2004

The month of June began as a ‘damp squib’. The reasons this time were none other than the AEB. The dates of the visit clashed with that of the FNL exams in the last week of May. Thanx to some superlative planning, the young Flying Officers’ from Yellahanka came to appear for their maiden AEB to NTS in the first week of June. The visit concluded on 04th Jun. The results were quite a letdown with none of the Navigators upgrading - the AEB behaving like a dithering mechanism- performance good but appear after three months for up-gradation! This is part of life as an aviator of the IAF – take the AEB in your stride. Wingco was quick to call each of those who appeared and counsel them to keep up their spirits. As for the standardization, both the ANC and the Ab-Initio did perform fairly well. The staff pilots too faired well with Sqn Ldr Puneet Pareek upgrading to BG on type, Sqn Ldr Sameer Dhagat upgrading to CG, Sqn Ldr V Ganesh awarded initial category DW; Flt Lt’s OH Kumar and Rajesh Sharma getting their initial Cat CW.

The ‘Terns’ hosted the traditional breakfast for the AEB. This time the breakfast was an occasion to inaugurate the new aircrew cafeteria in the Unit Hqs complex. The new cafeteria with an adjoining aircrew rest room is a welcome change. For one, it would bring the Pilots closer to the training wing and also promote more interaction and communication required in a flying unit.

With the AEB visit over, it was the course presentation and valedictory function of the 66 ANC as also the farewell to the 97 Ab-Initio Nav Course the next day. The 66 ANC presentation on “Military Application of GPS” stirred up quite an interaction in the Q&A session. It sure did get the SMO and the C Eng O all charged up on the application and affiliations to the Russians rather than the Americans as brought out in the presentations. This did show that the presentation was well received by the audience. The Station Commander commended the course for the good presentation.

The valedictory ceremony of the 66 ANC and farewell to 97 Ab-Initio course was held at the FCM. The formal function in Dress No. 10 was held in traditional pomp and splendor, the occasion deserved. This time a special ‘Book Prize’ for Best in lecturing techniques was introduced. This is one function every lady of the unit looks forward to attend. The ceremony began with the Air Force Song followed by the TCO giving the course report and the award ceremony. Sqn Ldr Sanjeev Kumar was adjudged first in overall order of Merit, Flt Lt AA Kelkar – best in flying, and Lt Harkesh Yadav (Indian Navy) – Book prize for best in lecturing techniques. Apart from the awardees the newly crowned QNI’s were Sqn Ldr AK Sharma, Sqn Ldr V Awasthy, Flt Lt Varun Gupta and Lt V Kalia.

The occasion was two fold – the valedictory function and the release of the ‘Tern’ magazine. The Tern magazine published after over five years was the maiden colour issue. The credit for the entire effort goes to its editor Sqn Ldr Bart D’Souza. The magazine was well appreciated and received by the audience. Mrs Radha Nair did the honours for the ‘release’ of the magazine. The traditional mock prizes to the instructors by the passing out Ab-Initio course had the audience in splits of laughter. The evening ended on a very somber note – bidding adieu to the dear ‘Ternlings’ who left the following day for Air Force Academy for the Combined Graduation Parade scheduled on 19 Jun 2004.

UN PLUGGED
On 14 Jun, the much awaited signal – Posting out of Wg Cdr Unnikrishnan Nair as JD (Nav) at Air Hqs. It obviously was a sigh of relief for Unni who was keenly awaiting his posting out and put all speculations to rest. However, with time running out, he wanted to ensure that all was in place for a proper handing over to new incumbent. A detailed briefing by each section head, a unit rum punch and the officers’ mess party had to be planned and executed in the next two weeks. In addition, the routine work of an instructor normally peaks during this month. The new courses to be planned, flow charts with revision of classes and syllabus with faculty distribution. As a typical well oiled machinery, things went on meticulously and all necessary arrangements made to gear up to welcome the new courses and the new Boss – Wg Cdr Uday Singh, DS at CDM, Secunderabad.

At the Navigation Training School, nothing really changes. The final week with flying training catching up, the graduation parade of the passing out course and this time in addition – the second Flight Dispatcher’s Course in progress. For the record, the first Flight Dispatcher’s course was held in 1999-2000. Sqn Ldr LN Kumar was given the mantle of the Chief Instructor of the No. 2 Flight Dispatcher’s Course conducted for the SNCO’s. His experience and expertise was all too evident in the smooth conduct of the course as per schedule. Meanwhile, Kunal Kala was more than happy to see himself detailed for the Air Force Day Parade at New Delhi. For him, it was a long cherished dream of a paid holiday at home comes true. He lost no time in flying down wife Kamini and son Kratin to join him at Delhi. Meanwhile, Nitin Shankar (Shanx) returned to the unit as the newly crowned RHSCP on type. It was some relief for the Flight Commander to give the youngsters some Con- training.

The unit rum punch to bid farewell to Wg Cdr Unnikrishnan was well conducted with the Station Commander and all Station PSO’s in attendance. There were a few touching moments with few sentimental speeches. The following weekend saw the Officers’ mess party with a spirited ‘Tern’ show to bid farewell to their ‘boss’. A somber evening with lively entertainment, games, music and dance to fare-the-well Unni along with wife Shubadha with kids Anirudh and Anjali marked the culmination of a grand innings at Navigation School. It was a sincere feeling of Adios & Happy Landings to the Unnikrishnans.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
It was indeed a sharp contrast at the hollow square on 5th July 2004 – the handing / taking over ceremony at the Squadron dispersal. The tall, dark and handsome Unni handed over the baton to the young, flamboyant and dashing Uday Singh. The difference between Mallu-tribe and Lalu-tribe seemed to be more evident than ever before. The new Commanding Officer, Wg Cdr Uday Singh is perhaps the ‘Last of the Mohicans’ – the last course before the break of six years in the Ab-Initio Navigation courses. Apart from his dashing looks, he is an A2 instructor with vast instructional experience at Navigation School. He has been an instructor in the Advance Navigation Course faculty. He also has vast operational experience spanning tenures in all most all parts of the country – having flown AN-32s & IL-76s. He is an alumnus of the DSSC and an instructor at CDM. His interests too are varied from music to games and he is an expert in computers!! He is sure going to give the young Turks at Nav School a run for their money- watch out guys.


MOCK-TALE
A cocktail was held in the evening to welcome another teetotaler CO, Wg Cdr Uday Singh, wife Amrita, daughter Chani and son Bhaskar. The suspense in the air at the cocktail was something similar to that of a bridegroom awaiting the arrival of the bride. The new CO, other than those whom he had served with earlier in Squadrons, did generate speculation when compared to the previous one, as is natural. The Chief Guest, Wg Cdr Uday Singh arrived with family and in grand style did put everyone at ease with his charm. He charmed the ladies by presenting a rose to each of them. He surely does know the way to a married man’s heart!! The occasion was coupled with the welcoming of the officers of the 67 ANC. The 67 ANC – a ‘full-house’ comprises Cmdt (JG) T Sashi Kumar of the Indian Coast Guard, Sqn Ldr’s P Tripathi, S Sethi, ASK Sharma, PSR Krishna, RK Kashyap and Lt Sandeep Rai (Indian Navy). It is encouraging to see more G-Boys become QNI’s – the latest amongst them Flt Lt RK Kashyap with a SU-30 background. Today also saw the 99 Ab-initio cadets begin their course. This course comprises eight Flight Cadets – Ashok Kumar, Nitin Sharma, VK Nehra, Atul Sinha, DP Singh, SS Rath, Vipul and Animesh Bhargava.

WET START
The heavy rains in the month of July- a normally peaceful month saw the Wingco get a hang of things. The new list of Secondary duties was in place. Amongst the notable ones was Sqn Ldr Bart D’Souza taking over as the Mess Secy. The Stage II cadets began their flying training in all earnest even in the absence of their CNI – Imendra Malik, undergoing a six weeks course at DRDO in ‘Applications of the GPS’. Once again, LN Kumar, pitched in with his experience to ensure that the Stage II training schedule went as per plans. Sqn Ldr Sanjeev Kumar, fresh out of ANC along with Varun Gupta chipped in to ease out the situation.

MAHA YOGI CHAKRA (MYC)
It is the insatiable and inherent desire to conquer that sets a Navigator apart from the other branches in the Indian Air Force. With no operations or war on the horizon – no ‘chakras’ (Vir or Mahavir) to be lost, it was time to conquer the seven chakras of the Body. This time it was none other than the Station Commander, Gp Capt Anil Nair and the list of his faithful disciples had to begin from the top – Uday’s, Shetty’s, Rajkumar’s and Sachan’s. The Guru-dakshina too was in the reverse style – a dinner hosted at the Begumpet house to mark the end of the two weeks Yoga course. The hidden talent of their Guru more than floored the shishya’s. One wonders as to what the Guru had to opine about his shishya’s!

Meanwhile, this month saw the posting out of Sqn Ldr VG Narayanan (Ganesh) to AFSB, Varanasi and also Sqn Ldr Manish Rastogi to 59 Sqn, AF at Guwahati. The unit got together to see-off Rusty with wife Disha and daughter Komal leave for Mumabai enroute to Guwahati. Next in line to leave were the newly weds Harjeet & Prabjyot for Kanpur and Sailesh Amrujkar with biwi for MC CF, Nagpur. The Station Adjt., Flt Lt Mamata Dharwal too stands posted out to join her beau, Pawan at Agra. The stork at its charming best this time descended on Aditya and Gayatri Kelkar – baby due in Feb next year. Also, Bankim and Jesal were blessed with a daughter, Mehak at Mumbai. With the aviation industry booming in the civil, a lot of new airlines beginning operations – new career avenues for pilots of the IAF seem attractive. The policy of release from the IAF saw Sqn Ldr’s Puneet Pareek and Bankim Mehta (both armed with ATPL) put in their papers for pre-mature retirement. This also gave impetus to the other staff pilots – Ashok Shetty, Rahul Sekhri, Samir Dhagat, AK Yadav and the youngsters to complete their civil flying license exams before the policy gets reverted.

FIVE IN ONE STROKE!!
The Navigation Training School must most certainly be declared a ‘Quake prone Zone’ (QPZ) of the IAF. Just when things stabilize, the Pee staff strikes with devastating effect – five in one stroke. The posting out signal of Dileep, Arunachalam, Kannan, LN Kumar and Baggy did throw all planning out of gear. For the record, Dileep posted to PTS, Agra; Arun for a Post-Graduate course in BARC, Mumbai; Kannan –back to where he came from at 33 Sqn, AF in Sulur; LN Kumar to Yellahanka and Baggy to Jorhat. The same rigmarole of making out letters for cancellation/deferment that in the end would not be agreed to followed. For the planners, it seemed earth shattering to have all the experienced lot out in one go. At the same time, it also brought out the best for the strategist – Uday Singh to look ahead and take the bull by its horn. It meant a re-shuffle, a bit of re-organisation and of course experience at its best. No compromise on the quality and standards of training was to be accepted.

Five instructors posted out, couple on Ty duty, another bombshell – two QNI’s i.e. Krishnan & AK Singh detailed to undergo the Instrument Procedure Design Course (IPDC) to be held in the Station for six weeks. The IPDC saw the stalwarts of the yesteryears at NTS, Wg Cdr’s Ravi Menon & RK Plakkot descend down in the corridors from where they began their career two decades plus ago. The IPDC comprised six officers including four navigators – JP Yadav and Pawan Dharwal came from other units.


INDEPENDENCE EVE BALL
With Bart at the helm of affairs at the Officers’ Mess, things couldn’t be as quiet on the entertainment front for sure. A movie show followed by an Independence Eve Ball kept the terns on their toes. It was a great evening at Trimulgherry with in-house DJ’s Rajesh Sharma and LN Kumar. The music and arrangements were simply great. The party went on to the wee hours with kids and adults alike not sparing any opportunity to unwind. The hangover was evident on the Racecourse road the following day. This month saw an overdose of parties and get-togethers- next to follow was the grand farewell to the five alumni’s of the Nav School who gave their best as instructors here.

The farewell party to Dileep, Arunachalam, Kannan, LN Kumar and Baggy was another spirited occasion where the Terns let their hair down to have an evening full of entertainment, fun and frolic much to chagrin of the Station – who otherwise have a very quiet and stiff-necked party. The animated fashion show as part of the game had all the posted out officers’ in their skimpy best – with the pieces of paper afforded to them to cover all that they could. The hairy breasts and legs did appeal to the elderly ladies in the first row as they had the artists do the catwalk to tickle their fancy with splits of laughter (more of giddy headed giggles!). It was a lively and enjoyable party after a long time. The evening was a memorable one- thanx to the Srivastava’s- Sachi & Ravi. The positive aspect of the postings was house’s falling vacant at Race Course. JagbirSingh (STO) Sanjeev Kumar, Arvind Sharma, Awasty & Adnan Tauqueer (Technical officer) moved into Racecourse accommodations.

TERNS PLAY BALL
This month also saw the commencement of the Station Sports Meet. Uday Singh with his passion for sports activity saw the josh get infectious within the Tern family. The topic of discussion amongst the officers’ and airmen alike was the next match and the players. The basketball matches followed by the football and volleyball matches generated unprecedented enthusiasm within the players and also the spectators. The NTS football team began as dark horses and went on to lift the trophy thrashing the Station team 3-2 (excluding one goal score by Hemant Kumar that was not conceded). The star strikers of NTS in the finals were Sushant Biswas, Sachi and Dileep. In the other events, we managed to make it to the finals in Volleyball – due in the first week of October.

On the professional front, the Stage II cadets completed their consolidation phase. Sqn Ldr SN Prasad conducted a phase brief for the entire unit for the Low Level phase. The posting outs saw the induction of Sachi into the Advanced Navigation Faculty to join SN Prasad and Dileep. Meanwhile, SN Prasad took over the reigns of the CNI- Stage I in place of Arunachalam. The work on the Nav simulator was in its completion stage. SN Prasad was put in charge of the work to relieve the overworked Rajkumar. The 67th ANC meanwhile commenced its flying training.

IN – SPECS - TION
The last week of the month of August saw the station gear up for the inspection visit by the AOC-in-C, Air Marshal Subhash Bhojwani expected in the first week of September. All works services were at war footing. The FCM with its renovated kitchen – amongst the most modern of its kind in the IAF also was into its final phase with the granite tiling of the entire corridor. In the unit, all interactive programs for training were nearing completion and a facelift (superficial though) was in place.

The combined merit list at the graduation parade for all officers’ getting commission is in place for the last two courses. To have a fair examination, from this course (98 Ab-Initio) onwards, for the first time, the papers for subjects would be set by another FTE –as detailed by Command Hqs with an external invigilator to oversee conduct of exams. This month saw the conduct of Air Navigation and Astro Navigation papers conducted by external examiners from AF Station Yellahanka and GSK by S Edn O, Tambaram. This is a welcome move and more so for the A2 QNI’s – Dileep and Rajkumar who otherwise had to set papers and were simply running out of steam with the scores of other responsibilities.

This month ended with heavy rains. This compounded with the trucker’s strike did give rise to some tense periods pending the inspection visit of the AOC-in-C. The tiles for the FCM corridor were held up because of the strike and the old tiles were removed. A tile-less corridor, in the mess, to host a dinner for the AOC-in-C, is sure not the dream of any Commander. The date for the inspection was scheduled for 6th Sep. The minute to minute program down to the last minutest details were being chalked out.

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX
The clock ticking and hours passing by- the countdown to the inspection marked the beginning of Autumn. Rehearsals of the Guard of Honour, presentations and bara-khana ensured that every little detail was looked into. Instructions by the hour and towards the end- by the minute were being passed down. The inspection visit by the AOC-in-C, Air Mshl Subhash Bhojwani accompanied with wife, Mrs Mira Bhojwani went off very well. The AFWWA functions too were well conducted with active participation of the ladies of NTS. Mrs Amrita Singh took charge and garnered support of all airmen wives of the unit to make the event a success. Dr (Mrs) Deepti Pareek gave a talk on HIV- AIDS and means of prevention, which was well received. The granite tiles for the FCM corridor did arrive a couple of days earlier and Bart was there all through the night to ensure the place was ready for the dinner to be hosted for the AOC-in-C.

GOONDA GHAR DI
The spurt in socializing came to the fore in the past month or so. The trend setter – none other than the first couple of the unit, Wingco with his charming half, Amrita bouncing for coffee, within the first fortnight, at Pareek’s, in the wee hours with Shetty’s and Rajkumar’s in accompaniment. For the ‘terns’ it was just something waiting to happen, cause it did trigger a series of social events. Impromptu get-togethers for birthdays and anniversaries were the order of the day. Amongst the Leo’s who celebrated their birthdays were Kanchana Rajkumar, Sadhvi Krishnan, Sanjeev Kumar and amongst the kids were Melissa Srivastava and Isha Pareek. The Party absconders – Bart scooted off for a quiet evening. The terns also got together to wish Srinath and Jayalatha Pillai on their anniversary. Taking the lead was our dearly beloved hardcore ‘Rajesh Sharma’ bachelor celebrating his birthday in grand style in the mess. Also came to the fore were some of the hidden talents of Flt Lt Ravi Srivastava and Aditya Kelkar.

Infusing new dimensions to the party boppers- Uday and Amrita hit upon the Novel idea of a theme weekend party at the ‘Tern House’. Amongst the select few invited were Gp Capt Anil Nair & Radha Nair accompanied by daughter Athira, Shetty, Rajkumar, Sachan, Bart, Dileep and Samir Dhagat with families. The dress code specified was ‘Robber’s Nite’. The novelty of the evening was evident for all those present and the climax was the performance of each of the couples to the theme that each had dressed too. From Sholay ki Basanti to Phoolan Devi made the Goonda Ghar Di an off beat and entertaining evening.


RAJSING- A - PORE
This week saw hotrod Navigators of the IAF descend down to appear for interview for job vacancies at the adjoining CTE (Indian Airlines). Prominent amongst them were Gp Capt AK Mohan & Unnikrishnan, Wg Cdr’s Sqtyanarayan BS Jadhav, AK Singh, Kalamkar and Bose in addition to Wg Cdrs RK Plakkot and Ravi Menon who were already here conducting the ongoing IPDC. Amidst this entire din – came the signal detailing Sqn Ldr Rajkumar for the IPDC at Singapore. This break sure would do Raj all the good he very rightly and richly deserves. However, for Wingco, this would obviously mean loosing Raj and his valued services with all likelihood of his posting out after the course. This meant another reshuffle in the faculties. SN Prasad was now to replace Raj as the TCO and Bart D’Souza to be pulled out of the Mess Secy job to be made the CNI – Stage I. Meanwhile, Wingco did manage a breather by convincing Pee staff to defer Dileep’s posting by a couple of months. Wg Cdr EK Prasad, Nav Leader, 11 Sqn, AF arrived on a six weeks attachment (03 Sep to 22 Oct) to consolidate his instructional flying hours to enable him to qualify for A2 examination. His requirement of 120 hours is a tall order indeed! The Terns wish him luck.

The release of Sqn Ldr Puneet Pareek was through as on 30 Sep 2004. Ashok Shetty, the Flight Commander, was now having a tough time with an acute shortage of pilots to meet flying commitments. Kalra, recently posted in was on Ty duty to 11 Sqn,AF at Baroda also decided to put in his papers for Pre mature Release from service. Sachan was still medically unfit. To worsen matters, the weather too was playing spoilsport- sorties coming back DNCO. The backlog of flying and the equation of crew- aircraft seemed to only tighten rather than lighten.

On the brighter side, young Venugopal tied the Knot in his village in Kerala. The quiet and coy Venu quietly slipped off with an invite on the crew room board to get married. In the true spirit of the terns – from one course to another- he is being planned for a honeymooners’ delite course at the J&SS. Meanwhile, Sachan left for a short – one week course in NBC at Delhi and Sushant Biswas, another Delhite was delighted to be detailed for a month long NBC course at Delhi to culminate with Dusshera at home with parents and wife, Bharti. Arvind Sharma, taking on the mantle of teaching Air Navigation to the cadets of Stage I, after FT and debrief, will chill out at the THAIC at Bangalore, end of next month.

BABE IN ARM DOES PARENTS PROUD
The latter part of the month of September saw the preparations for the Air Force Day picking up steam. Healthy Baby competition, Painting & Drawing competition, Inter School Quiz competition, SNCO’s at-home, Dining-in-nite for the Flight Cadet’s and the grand finale at the Officers’ Mess function. The Inter school quiz competition is to be organized by NTS. Sqn Ldr Bankim Mehta and Flt Lt Tushar Agarwal detailed to be the Chief organizers with Mrs Kavita D’Souza and Mrs Sunita Agarwal nominated as the Quiz Mistresses! At the Healthy baby contest, Sqn Ldr & Mrs Awasthy were the proud parents of the winner – their daughter, Ananya in the 6 – 18 months category. Melissa, daughter of Sachi & Christine Srivastava won in the 18 months and above category. Melissa also did her parents proud by wining the Drawing and Painting competition. For the parents, SN Prasad and Thankam were winners of the Health Quiz.

RAMP ART FOR AIR FORCE ANNIVERSARY
The entertainment at the Officers’ Mess function to celebrate the 72nd Air Force anniversary this year has been taken on by none other than the first lady of the Station, Mrs Radha Nair. An invitation to tea at Begumpet house for all those nominated from all units with spouses in tow. In the preliminary reports emanating from the not so hush-hush affair – a fashion show is in the offing!! The chief choreographer for the event would be Lady Tahira Nair, the elder daughter of Gp Capt & Mrs Anil Nair. The categories for the show had the couples blushing – from chick to chick of course! The categories being planned are Ancient – the Adam & Eve in leopard skin; Medieval – traditional costumes and the Modern – Tank Tops and Bermuda shorts is anyone’s guess. Amongst the added attraction planned for the evening is a duet by Krishnan & Sadhvi.

The last week of September was as eventful with the action for the Air Force anniversary picking up steam. Bankim, Tushar along with Kavita D’Souza and Sunita Agarwal have their hands full as to the level at which the questions need to be pitched for the Quiz competition. The ‘lala’ of the unit Samir Bhai came back with big time sponsors for the Quiz competition. Wingco wanted a full rehearsal of the Quiz in his office by the weekend. Meanwhile, Bankim’s premature release application has been accepted and he will retire from the IAF on 04 Dec 2004. So Long Bankim & Jesal!!

On the operational front, in the last week of September, with just two aircraft -one classroom and one freighter version available, the flying training too had Shetty (Flt Cdr) and SN Prasad (TCO) tug at each others hair. With SNP planning very operational flying program – little could he do when Samir Bhai on the final approach got his Pee Vee (nose oleo) hit by a bird. The Station Commander too evinced keen interest in inspecting the injured PEE VEE!! Bart, waiting in the dispersal to get airborne for B5D with his army of the ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ had to beat a hasty retreat to the barracks for normal classes. Thankfully, the low level phase will end as per schedule, both for the ANC and the Stage II cadets. It was also heartening to hear from Yellahanka that all the seven Flying Officers’ of 97 Ab-Initio Nav course cleared their solos on AN-32 without a hitch.