Two air force squadrons earn presidential standard
The 220 and 32 Squadrons of the air force will receive the presidential standard from Pranab Mukherjee on November 20 during a ceremonial parade at Halwara station.
The 220 and 32 Squadrons of the air force will receive the presidential standard from Pranab Mukherjee on November 20 during a ceremonial parade at Halwara station.
Group captain Sharad Aneja, commanding officer of the 220 Squadron and group captain GVNK Varma, his counterpart from the 32 Squadron, will collect the standards from the President. Known as Desert Tigers, the 220, which is first Sukhoi SU-30 mki squadron of the Western Air Command, flies the frontline all-weather air dominance multi-role fighter capable of undertaking varied air-combat and ground-attack missions.
The 32 Squadron was formed in Adampur in October 1963 with Mystere aircraft. It participated in the wars of 1965 and 1971 with Pakistan. The squadron operates Mig-21 BISON fighter jets.
At a press conference on Saturday at the Halwara air force station, air marshal SS Soman, air officer commanding-in-chief of Western Air Command, said the President's standard was a symbol of excellence earned by the squadrons of worthy contribution in both peace and war. "It stands for hard work, valour and sacrifice of all the personnel posted to the squadrons and is a befitting recognition of their selfless dedication and devotion," he said. During the curtain-raiser of the event, senior officers of 9 Wing AOC were present.
The defence minister, minister of state for defence, defence secretary, governor and chief minister of Punjab are expected to be present at the presentation ceremony on November 20. Chief of air staff NAK Browne and retired air warriors of both squadrons are also invited.