Central Air Command Turns Fifty

Year long celebrations on the occasion of Golden jubilee of Central Air Command came to a close here on Monday, 10 Jun 13. In a mega ceremony specially arranged at Air Force Station Bamrauli to mark the completion of fifty glorious years, His Excellency Shri BL Joshi, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Guest of the function graciously released the ‘FIRST DAY COVER’ of Central Air Command. The events were very keenly witnessed by a huge crowd of over 3000 people which included Justice Tarun Agarwala, High Court of UP, Shri Alok Johri, General Manager Northern Central Railways, Prof AK Singh Vice-Chancellor Allahabad University, Maj Gen Bishamber Dayal VSM, GOC HQ Purv UP & MP Sub Area, Dr Nandlal Jotwani, Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority affairs Govt of India, Commissioner Allahabad Region, Dist Magistrate Allahabad, besides senior officers from civil administration as well as armed forces.

Earlier in the day, Air Marshal J Chauhan AVSM VSM Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command laid the wreath at CAC War Memorial to pay tributes to air warriors of CAC who laid down their lives for the nation. While the buglers played the tune ‘Last Post’ and the guards stood with reverse arms, all personnel present there solemnly observed two minutes silence.

The mega ceremony included a fly past by front line fighter aircraft, breath-taking performance by ‘Air Warrior Drill Team’, slithering demo by ‘Garud’ commandoes of Air Force Special Forces from Medium lift Heptrs and ‘Akash Ganga’ sky diving team, which kept the audience enthralled.

In their first ever air display in Allahabad, Air Warrior Drill Team performed synchronized rifle drill movements with superb agility. In the scintillating and hair-raising display of rifle handling skills the team demonstrated various formations like ‘PLUS’,‘V’, ‘SQUARE’, ‘ZIG ZAG’ etc which evidently conveyed their motto ‘Drill to Thrill’. Equally mesmerizing were the manoeuvres, twists, twirls and rolls by the sky divers while descending at a great speed before opening the chutes and making a perfect landing right in front of the audience. The spectators looked in awe and admiration when country’s best multi role combat aircraft Su-30 MKI, Mirage 2000 and Jaguar flew across the skies of Allahabad. Amidst the thunderous applause by the audience, ‘Garud’ commandoes demonstrated grit and courage while slithering down from MI-17 helicopters. The musical performance by the Air Force Band had filled the audience with the feeling of patriotism. 

While departing, the Governor complimented Air Marshal J Chauhan for the meticulously conducted ceremony. He lauded the contribution of Central Air Command in ensuring overall safety of region’s air space, and wished the Indian Air Force and Central Air command for attaining greater heights.

On this occasion Air Marshal J Chauhan AVSM VSM Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command also addressed a press conference. Later in the evening a special gathering of Air Veterans of Central Air Command was organized in the sprawling lawns of Headquarters building.