KOCHI: A total of 22 Naval officers, including three from the Coast Guard, passed out at a parade held at the Naval Base here on Thursday.
The officers who have completed the Air Engineering and Air Electrical Officers Specialisation Course at the Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology (NIAT), will be joining the ‘aviation arm’ of the Navy. Southern Naval Command Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air Material) Rear Admiral Srinivas Kanugo reviewed the passing out parade. On the occasion, Sub-Lieutenant Rohan S Bhuskute and Lieutenant Eby P Henry were awarded trophies for standing first in overall order of merit amongst air electrical and air engineering officers, respectively. The Director General Coast Guard Trophy for the best all-round officer of the course was awarded to Lieutenant Ranjit George. The Venduruthy Shield for the Best Air Technical Project was awarded to Lieutenant Commander A Nazarudeen and Lieutenant Anshul Goel. Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Kanugo said Naval Aviation had evolved over the past six decades into a major force to reckon with, due to induction of state-of-the-art flying machines like MiG 29K, Boeing P8I and Hawk AJT; operationalisation of INS Vikramaditya; and the proposed induction of LCA (Navy) and MRH.
The officers have been appointed to frontline squadrons at air stations. On completion of On-Job Training (OJT), they will be awarded MTech Degree by the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cudst). Commodore Sanjeev Dureja, director of NIAT, conducted the passing out parade.