Wing Commander Deepika Misra awarded IAF gallantry medal

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Aug
15:
Wing
Commander
Deepika
Misra,
a
pilot
of
the
Indian
Air
Force,
was
on
Sunday
conferred
with
the
Vayu
Sena
medal,
becoming
perhaps
the
first
woman
to
bag
the
prestigious
award.

The
government
also
conferred
the
Vayu
Sena
medal
to
Group
Captain
Rahul
Singh
and
Group
Captain
Ravi
Nanda
for
their
respective
roles
during
India’s
Operation
Devi
Shakti,
the
evacuation
mission
launched
to
bring
back
Indians
from
Kabul
after
its
takeover
by
the
Taliban
On
Wing
Commander
Misra’s
award,
the
IAF
said
she
has
been
chosen
for
her
role
during
a
sortie
under
a
disaster
relief
operation
following
flash
floods
in
northern
Madhya
Pradesh.

Best
of
Bharat
People:
Important
milestones
in
the
Indian
sports

“Despite
the
odds
of
deteriorating
weather,
strong
winds
and
the
nearing
sunset
time,
Wing
Commander
Deepika
negotiated
the
challenging
weather
and
was
the
first
and
only
respondent
to
reach
the
affected
area,”
the
IAF
said.

It
said
her
initial
aerial
recce
and
inputs
thereof
proved
to
be
instrumental
in
planning
of
the
entire
rescue
operation
by
the
IAF,
NDRF
and
civil
authorities.
About
Group
captain
Singh’s
award,
the
IAF
said
he
was
part
of
the
C-17
transport
squadron.
“The
flight
landed
at
Kabul
airport
at
night
and
taxied
to
the
spot
vacated
by
the
preceding
C-17
aircraft.
After
holding
on
ground
for
nearly
four
hours
the
possibility
of
the
remaining
evacuees
reaching
the
airport
still
remained
bleak,”
the
IAF
said.

At
this
point
the
situation
turned
hostile
with
sporadic
gunfire
and
swarms
of
civilians
having
broken
through
the
southern
perimeter
wall
rushing
towards
aircraft
parked
in
the
northern
part
of
the
airfield.
“The
officer
displaying
superior
judgement
and
dynamic
decision
making,
executed
an
expeditious
departure
for
Dushanbe
to
obviate
any
harm
to
the
aircraft,”
the
IAF
said.
At
Dushanbe,
he
remained
in
constant
contact
with
Air
headquarters
operation
room.
“Close
to
midnight,
sensing
an
opportunity
the
officer
took
off
for
Kabul
for
a
possible
blind
landing
using
NVGs
(Night
Vision
Goggles),”
the
IAF
said.

“Short
of
Kabul
Airport,
the
flight
had
to
hold
for
close
to
an
hour
(burning
precious
fuel)
near
Durand
line
as
communications
could
not
be
established
with
the
now
evacuated
ATC
tower
and
Radar
Approach
services,”
it
added.

The
officer,
displaying
sharp
situational
awareness
and
swift
decision-making,
contacted
US
Air
Force
Airborne
Control
and
obtained
an
accurate
update
of
the
ground
situation.
“At
the
same
time
he
was
also
coordinating
via
SATCOM
with
the
Air
Attache
on
the
ground.
After
frantic
negotiations
the
aircraft
was
finally
cleared
for
landing
at
own
risk,”
the
IAF
said.

“The
Post
parking,
the
officer
established
contact
with
the
US
Ground
Force
commander
and
directed
the
GARUD
forces
to
establish
a
defensive
perimeter
around
the
aircraft,”
it
said.
“Post
a
four-hour
delayed
arrival
of
the
153
evacuees;
the
officer
promptly
taxied
out
and
executed
a
flawless
tactical
departure
in
order
to
avoid
ground
fire
in
the
absence
of
any
ground
navigation
aids,”
it
said.

“For
this
act
of
exceptional
courage,
Group
Captain
Rahul
Singh
is
awarded
Vayu
Sena
Medal
(Gallantry),”
it
added.
Group
Captain
Ravi
Nanda
also
showed
similar
courage
in
the
operation.