IAF men do Vadodara proud

VADODARA, June 22: Even as the rest of the world was trying to recover from the news of the devastating cyclone that had hit the Kutch-Saura...

VADODARA, June 22: Even as the rest of the world was trying to recover from the news of the devastating cyclone that had hit the Kutch-Saurashtra coast, a group of 100 intrepid youths of the Indian Air Force had swung into action in the Vadodara base.

Stationed here for the past two months, the personnel of the Communication Flight, the most important wing of the South-Western Air Command, were assigned the job of providing logistical and transportation support to relief steps undertaken from the air, including movement of food, equipment and manpower.

Their priority was to create a communication and transportation network and ensure the passage of vital personnel from the nearest air bases to the affected areas. In the first days after the cyclone, the sorties lasted between 12 and 15 hours.

The SWAC Com Flight, which will soon be upgraded into a squadron, boasts of the cream of pilots, navigators and technicians, almost of whom are bachelors with an average age of less than 26. 8220;Probably that is why we could fly for hours together 8212; probably upto 50 hours each 8212; in the first two or three days after the crisis8221;, remarked one of them in a lighter vein.

Interestingly enough, their chief, Air Commodore P P Rajkumar and Wing Commander N G Sahu prefer not to see anything remarkable in the wing8217;s deeds. While Rajkumar said, 8220;It is our duty8221;, Sahu pointed out that the 8220;IAF chaps8221; were trained for such emergencies.

SWAC chief Air Marshal S Krishnaswamy, who is always in charge of all emergency activities, supervised this operation as well.

The boys who did the Vadodara wing proud included Squadron Leaders O J S Das, Sunil Kumar, S K Patel, Flight Lieutenants R K Murti, Y M Nadkarni, S S Virdi, M K Singhal and V N Singh, Flying Officers H S Boparai, S Mehta, A Pant and P J Singh under the supervision of Squadron Leaders J S Yadav, S R Ghaspure and M A S Vishnu and a team of technicians under the supervision of warrant officers B Singh and N Singh. They were supported by seven Avros HS-748 and state-of-the-art communication equipment.