Air Marshal S R K Nair, who belongs to Sasthamangalam in Thiruvananthapuram, has taken over as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at Headquarters Training Command of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Bangalore.
The Air Marshal had made news last year by coordinating ‘Operation Rahat,’ the biggest rescue operation undertaken by the IAF which saved 2,500 lives in Uttarakhand. As SASO, he will be training officers, airmen and non-combatants of the entire Air Force.
S R K Nair is a veteran of several important military operations including Op Pawan (Sri Lanka), Op Cactus (Maldives), Op Parakram and Op Safed Sagar (Kargil). During an exercise in the US, he flew to the North Pole and back, the only Indian aircraft to do so. He also circumnavigated the globe during the exercise. He was instrumental in commencing flying operations to ‘Daulat - Beg - Oldie,’ the highest airstrip in the world and has himself landed in the AN-32, the IAF said.
During a career spanning 34 years, he has held several posts including Chief Operations Officer of a transport base, Commanding Officer of a strategic airlift squadron and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Personnel Airmen and civilians) and Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Transport and Helicopter) at Air HQ.
S R K Nair was commissioned in the transport stream of IAF in June 1980. He has over 7,000 hours of flying experience on various types of aircraft and is a qualified flying instructor. He is a recipient of the Vayu Sena Medal in 2005 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2010.