'One of the bullets grazed General Sagat's hand and one injured Flying Officer Sidhu in the leg.' 'The helicopter was quickly flown back to Agartala and after landing they found that the aircraft had been peppered with 38 bullet holes!'
'Overnight, the Chetak had new markings and thereafter flew on the call sign, Echo-Bravo-Romeo.' 'By all accounts, this was the first aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force.'
'We airlifted army personnel wearing lungis to generally unused landing grounds.' 'We were told to keep quiet about what we did or saw.'
The retreating Pakistani troops were heading towards Dacca and they had to be stopped at all costs. The Eastern Army Commander, in his orders to General Sagat Singh, had reiterated that he did not want the troops of 4 Corps to cross the Meghna river. But General Sagat had other plans to threaten Dacca and ensure that the pressure would make the Pakistani commanders capitulate. This is where the IAF helicopters came in.
'Air Superiority that we held from the Second Day of Operation 'Cactus Lily' helped our Armed Forces to speed up operation 'Jackpot' to seize East Pakistan and force Gen Niazi and the Pakistani Army to lay down their arms on 16 December.'
'My adrenalin kicked in and the happiness returned! It was time to go in for the kill again.' IAF Veterans Group Captain Dilip Kumar Dass tells Air Commodore Nitin Sathe about how the IAF decimated tanks in the famous Battle of Longewala.
After five months of a rigorous training, the Agniveervayus passed out of the Airmen Training School, impressing the audience with the skills they had acquired in just 22 weeks of training at the IAF base.
'You are to train three Bangladeshi pilots to fly this Chetak helicopter. Your task begins now.'
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrives to visit the United States Indo-Pacific Command headquarters and the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii.
'I was a young pilot in the IAF and Tom Cruise (with his genuine Ray-Bans) was now an icon with his sensational performance in Top Gun.' 'The IAF, maybe influenced by the movie, decided to 'issue' pilots Ray-Bans as part of their flying kit,' remembers IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
'We flew all missions in the first part of the war at low levels; that is at 300 to 500 feet above the ground.' 'These sorties were no doubt stressful since the pilots and crew had to look out for birds and obstructions as well as enemy gunfire.'
'My relationship with the Pataudi family was to help me to survive in 1971.'
'With butterflies in our stomachs, but confident of our mission, we took off for Jaffna on the morning of 24 July 1987.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe recalls a conversation with Air Vice Marshal Harpal Singh Ahluwalia (retd), then a wing commander and mission leader for the clandestine operation.
This is not a train for the regular commuter, evident from the number of large sized bags in the overhead bin, observes IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
Valhalla is undoubtedly enriched by the presence of Unnikrishnan Gangadharan Kartha. He would have already convened the 'fall in' and regaled his friends with tales of the distant land that they once inhabited.
Flight Lieutenant Adivitya Bal, who died along with Wing Commander Mohit Rana when their twin-seater MiG-21 trainer aircraft met with an accident near Barmer in Rajasthan, was laid to rest in Jammu on Saturday.
'There was plenty of pushing, pulling and jostling going on as everyone wanted to see what was going on at the table.'
Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava recalls how he ejected from his failing aircraft in Pakistan during the 1971 War.
'Since the rotors of a helicopter rotate at very high RPMs, if they hit an obstacle -- for example a tree, wire or pole, the result is catastrophic.'
'Our men had suffered so much pain for the independence of other people in a foreign land.'
'They asked me if I was a devout Muslim and if I could recite the Kalma.' Flying Officer Jawahar Lal Bhargava knew his game was up. 'They threatened me with dire consequences if I didn't tell the truth.'
'As I set course for the Helicopter Training School this morning,' notes IAF Helicopter Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, 'I bow my head in respect for the institution which made me the man I am.' 'I also salute the Chetak which taught me much more than flying.' 'Both these institutions, in their own right, justify the crest and motto of the School: Achievement through Knowledge.'
When the IAF veterans' bail petition came up for hearing, in an unprecedented move, senior serving and retired Air Marshals and Air Vice Marshals rallied behind the accused officers and appeared before the court to give sureties for each, something that has never happened ever before.
'I propose to finish it soon, but till then you all will ensure that we strike hard at our enemy.' 'I will not accept any shortcomings or cowardice.'
Last week, two BSF troopers from Rajasthan, members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Congo, were killed by protestors. Do we need to lose lives fighting in a country not ours, in a war that is not ours and for a cause that is not ours, asks Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), who served in the UNPKF in Congo.
The charter of affiliation was signed by General Naravane and Air Commodore Tarun Chaudhry of 17 Squadron.
On World Disability Day, in the presence of 150 differently abled soldiers, Lieutenant General P M Hariz, the Southern Army Commander, honoured the late Rediff.com columnist Flying Officer M P Anil Kumar.
According to the IAF official, 41 aircraft would participate in the flight display on the inaugural day while there would be 63 aircraft on static display.
Slogans for his long afterlife rented the air, as coffin of Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal arrived at his home in Jinder Mehlu hamlet of border belt of R S Pura, where thousands of people gathered to pay their last respects to the fighter pilot.
'... To ensure that the vast Indian Ocean Region remain peaceful.'
'...and then get scaled down somewhat.' 'It will be difficult for any side to occupy meaningful territories, maybe just a bit here and there, and the destruction may vary on either side.'
On the parade ground are sons of jawans, farmers, LIC agents, daily wage farm labourers, shopkeepers... all living their moment of triumph; their faces bright with the possibilities that lie ahead.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a supplementary charge sheet in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland scam against former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and four Indian Air Force personnel, officials said Wednesday.
The structure and the level at which the hotline would be set up is likely to come up for discussion in future meetings between the two countries at the military level, they said.
In a record time of 13 years, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant is now ready for formal induction into the Indian Navy.
What does a fighter pilot feel as he takes off and lands his battle-ready aircraft? Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd) takes you through those emotions.
India and China held a special round of military talks on Tuesday at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in Eastern Ladakh to discuss air space violations and provocations by the Chinese side in that area in the last 45 days.
Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, who will head the IAF from October 1, will keep our fighting capabilities sharpened and operationally ready for conflict at all times, notes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
'Wanting to see the bright side of things, we always told ourselves, 'It could have been worse!', when the situation got tough.' Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), who helped rebuild the IAF's Car Nicobar air base after the 2004 tsunami, recalls the devastation on United Nations World Tsunami Awareness Day.
The village in Maharashtra has continuously sent soldiers to the Army since World War I. Every other person you meet is a soldier or a retired soldier or is aspiring to be a soldier.
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