Two AFPI Mohali cadets commissioned as flying officers

The parade was reviewed by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria; a total of 152 cadets, including 24 women, graduated as flying officers during the parade

Two cadets from the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI), Mohali, were commissioned as Flying Officers in the Indian Air Force during the Combined Graduation Parade (CGP) at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal, Hyderabad, on Saturday.

Cadets march during a combined graduation parade at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal, Hyderabad, on Saturday. (AP)

The parade was reviewed by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria. A total of 152 cadets, including 24 women, graduated as flying officers during the parade. However, their parents were not invited amid Covid restrictions.

Sehaj Sharma had joined the AFPI in 2014 has been commissioned into the helicopter stream. He had joined the National Defence Academy as an Air Force cadet. His father, Dharvinder Sharma, is a senior assistant at the Indian Red Cross Society in Amritsar. His mother, Geeta Sharma, is a housewife.

Cadet Preetinder Pal Singh Bath of Pathankot joined AFPI in 2015 and went to NDA in 2017. His father, Rajinder Singh Bath, is a lecturer and mother, Amanpreet Kaur, a teacher. He has joined the fighter stream of the IAF.

Since 2013, AFPI has sent 162 cadets to NDA and other military training academies. Of these, 85 have already become officers in the armed forces. As many as 68 have joined the army; eight the navy and nine the air force.

Currently, 92 cadets of the 10th and 11th AFPI courses are under training in Mohali. Amid the pandemic, all training has been held online.