HYDERABAD: A perfectly synchronised parade combined with drill movements that demonstrated conviction and commitment, on Saturday, marked the passing out of 110 flight cadets, including 14 women cadets, as flying officers of the Indian Air Force. Holding heads high and dressed in their light-blue half-sleeved shirts and blue-grey trousers, cadets marched on to join the elite cadre of Indian Air Force.
Air Marshal KVB Jayampathy, Commander, Sri Lanka Air Force reviewed the combined graduation parade and also conferred the ‘President’s Commission’ to the graduating flight cadets who successfully completed their basic and professional training.
Flying Officer Ankit Agarwal from the Flying Branch was awarded the President’s Plaque and the Chief of the Air Staff Sword of Honour for standing first in overall merit in the pilots’ course. Flying Officer Chayan Agarwal and Flying Officer A Varadharajan were awarded President’s Plaque for being first in overall merit in Navigation and Ground Duty branches respectively.
While complimenting the exceptional standard of parade, the reviewing officer also had a word of caution for the graduation cadets: "At times one may have to take hard decisions which may not be popular or it may even hurt a few, but we should be guided by the larger interest of the Force and the Nation."
He advised the young officers to balance the sense of idealism with realistic ground situation.
Earlier, the reviewing officer was received at the venue by Air Marshal SRK Nair, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Training Command and Air Marshal Amit Tiwari, Commandant, Air Force Academy.
The combined graduation parade marks the culmination of rigorous training schedule of one year of professional and advanced training at various institutions besides Air Force Academy, viz., Air Force Stations Hakimpet, Begumpet, Yelahanka, and Air Force Administrative College (Coimbatore) as per their specialization i.e Flying, Navigation, Engineering and other Ground duty branches.
Adding delight to the occasion was the astounding display by the IAF Sky Diving team ‘Akash Ganga’ dotting the skyline with colourful parachutes. Joining them, PC-7 MK II (the aircraft currently used in Air Force Academy to train greenhorn pilots), the Suryakiran formation aerobatic team, Hawk formation team, Sarang Helicopter team and the Su-30 MK-I aircraft enthralled the audience with fiery display of aerobatics.