KOCHI: A total of 20 officers of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard graduated as 'Pilots' and 'Observers' at a passing-out parade held at Naval Air Station INS Garuda here on Friday.
INS Garuda Commanding Officer Commodore R R Ayyar reviewed the parade and awarded 'Wings' to 15 officers of the Indian Navy and five officers of the Indian Coast Guard.
Speaking on the occasion, Ayyar said naval aviation was a prized asset of the forces, providing constant surveillance across the country's waters and issuing invaluable forewarning to forces at sea.
The graduated Observers include officers of the 83rd Permanent Commission (PC) course and the 14th Short Service Commission (SSC) course, who were trained in the tactics employed in air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and exploitation of airborne electronic support systems. In addition, they have been imparted basic training in air navigation and flying procedures. The officers will function as Airborne Tacticians onboard Maritime Reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft of the Navy.
The pilots, on the other hand, have been trained in flying Dornier aircraft in various mission profiles, by day as well as by night, and were introduced to the basics of Naval Aviation. The flying syllabi included various phases including general handling by day and night and route flying by day and night. The award of 'Wings' marks the transformation of the fledgling aviators into pilots. The officers will graduate to operational flying in the next phase.
Amongst the PC 'Observers,' Lieutenant Anurag Singh was awarded the 'Sub Lieutenant RV Kunte Memorial' book prize for being the best in Ground Subjects. The Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command Trophy and the Uttar Pradesh Trophy have been awarded to Assistant Commandant Anup Kumar for being the best in Flying and the the 'Best All-Round Pupil Observer,' respectively.
Sub Lieutenant Pawan Rawat was awarded the book prize of 'Best in Flying.' Sub Lieutenant Soni Chaubey was awarded the Book prizes for the ‘Best in Ground Subjects' and the 'Best All-round Trainee.' Sub Lieutenant Srinivasa Prasad was awarded the book prize for the ‘Best in Overall Order of Merit' amongst the passing out ‘Pilots.'