Commissioned into the Airforce by Gen J ChoudhuriDetails: Circa 13th March 1966,
Dad got his commission on the 13th of March 1966. The person giving him the commission (I'm not sure if that is the right term to be used.) was the then Army Chief General J Choudhuri. I was a bit confused as to why an army officer was commissioning Airforce pilots, but apparently it is a common occurance to invite the Chief Guests from the other wings of the Armed Forces.
If you notice the picture, the Peak-cap of the cadet on the further side of Dad has a white strip on it. What is not visible out there is the fact that even his stripes are covered with a white cloth. As the General goes down the line of Pertified boys ( assumption!) the job of the person behind dad (I think a Sqn Ldr by his stripes) was to remove the cloth over the stripes and the Peak Cap. Then the General would pin on your Wings and Walla! You were an officer!
The person on dad's right is Pilot Officer Sawminathan. After commissioning, in March 1966 both dad and Swaminathan were posted in Tejpur. Dad was on Vampires and Swaminathan on Hunters. Swaminathan died in Jan 1967 when the Hunter he was taking off with had a flameout. A "Flameout" is the phenomenon when the jet engine that is propelling the plane gets extinguished, thereby handing over the plane to the forces of gravity. I asked dad why he didn't eject? Dad was reticient. "They found that something was wrong with the hydraulics and a lot of other things... You know, I was on vacation when it happened..."
I let it drop. I guess somethings don't need to be put in words.
4 comments:
Hey , your doubt is well founded . The Commission is given by the President of India , who is also the Supreme Commander of the Indian Defence Forces .At the end of the course and when cadets are passing out , The service Headquarters inform Ministry Of Defence recommending grant of commission to the successful cadets . MOD then forwards the particulars to the President requesting him to grant the commission to the recommended names . On the approval/ pleasure ( President is always pleased ) of the President , Government of India , MOD takes out a Gazette notification in relevent section of the gazette . After this notification cadet becomes commissioned officer. By virtue of this notification he also becomes Class one gezetted officer .Later the President personally also signs the Parchment granting commission !!
Gen Choudhary was only pinning Pilots Flying Badge ( wings to you and me )!!
At the enterance of Air Force Flying College , Jodhpur there was one hoarding which proclaimed "" NOT ALL THE GOLD IN THE WORLD CAN GET YOU WINGS , BUT ONCE HAVING GOT THEM ,
NO POWER ON EARTH CAN TAKE THEM AWAY ""
No flight cadet who ever passed through the portals of the Flying College is ever likely to forgrt that board and those wording !!
P
Hey , your doubt is well founded . The Commission is given by the President of India , who is also the Supreme Commander of the Indian Defence Forces .At the end of the course and when cadets are passing out , The service Headquarters inform Ministry Of Defence recommending grant of commission to the successful cadets . MOD then forwards the particulars to the President requesting him to grant the commission to the recommended names . On the approval/ pleasure ( President is always pleased ) of the President , Government of India , MOD takes out a Gazette notification in relevent section of the gazette . After this notification cadet becomes commissioned officer. By virtue of this notification he also becomes Class one gezetted officer .Later the President personally also signs the Parchment granting commission !!
Gen Choudhary was only pinning Pilots Flying Badge ( wings to you and me )!!
At the enterance of Air Force Flying College , Jodhpur there was one hoarding which proclaimed "" NOT ALL THE GOLD IN THE WORLD CAN GET YOU WINGS , BUT ONCE HAVING GOT THEM ,
NO POWER ON EARTH CAN TAKE THEM AWAY ""
No flight cadet who ever passed through the portals of the Flying College is ever likely to forgrt that board and those wording !!
P
Hey , your doubt is well founded . The Commission is given by the President of India , who is also the Supreme Commander of the Indian Defence Forces .At the end of the course and when cadets are passing out , The service Headquarters inform Ministry Of Defence recommending grant of commission to the successful cadets . MOD then forwards the particulars to the President requesting him to grant the commission to the recommended names . On the approval/ pleasure ( President is always pleased ) of the President , Government of India , MOD takes out a Gazette notification in relevent section of the gazette . After this notification cadet becomes commissioned officer. By virtue of this notification he also becomes Class one gezetted officer .Later the President personally also signs the Parchment granting commission !!
Gen Choudhary was only pinning Pilots Flying Badge ( wings to you and me )!!
At the enterance of Air Force Flying College , Jodhpur there was one hoarding which proclaimed "" NOT ALL THE GOLD IN THE WORLD CAN GET YOU WINGS , BUT ONCE HAVING GOT THEM ,
NO POWER ON EARTH CAN TAKE THEM AWAY ""
No flight cadet who ever passed through the portals of the Flying College is ever likely to forgrt that board and those wording !!
P
SORRY , SORRY , SORRY
FOR THE errors on posting the comment . Twice it went as "velu said" and once as "anonymous" . But be it known to all that the person posting the comments is none other than " P "
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