Air force academy hosts graduation ceremony in Dundigal

Hyderabad: The sprawling grounds of Air Force Academy at Dundigal came alive on Saturday with a radiant graduation parade of 165 cadets triumphantly marching onto the field to be commissioned as officers in the Indian Air Force (IAF). The march-past on the ground, a synchronised drill, and thrilling aerobatics in the air by the IAF […]

Hyderabad: The sprawling grounds of Air Force Academy at Dundigal came alive on Saturday with a radiant graduation parade of 165 cadets triumphantly marching onto the field to be commissioned as officers in the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The march-past on the ground, a synchronised drill, and thrilling aerobatics in the air by the IAF left everyone gathered at the venue including senior serving and retired officers, in awe. The graduating cadets embraced each other and shouted in jubilation as family and friends charged at them to celebrate the moment.

General Manoj Pande, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), who was the reviewing officer of the Combined Graduation Parade, inducted the graduating fight cadets with the ‘Wings’ and ‘Brevets’ and also conferred the President’s Commission on them. Flying Officer Raghav Arora from the flying branch was awarded the President’s Plaque and the Chief of the Air Staff Sword of Honour for standing first in overall merit in the pilots’ course.

Addressing the parade, General Manoj Pande said emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing robotics, and hypersonics were no longer confined to theories but were physically manifesting on battlefields.

Throughout her training period of a year, Flying Officer Smriti Bidhan said, she learned how to be patient enough. “We did not have access to mobile phones. We had to go to phone booths to make a call to our families once a week. And for that reason, most of us relied on writing letters. Eagerly waiting for the response from the other side made us even-tempered,” she said.

Flying Officer Astha said: “Women and men were given the same combat training throughout the year. We were not treated any differently from men.” The parade highlights include the ‘Pipping Ceremony’ in which the graduating flight cadets donned their ‘Stripes’ awarded by the reviewing officer. The event started with Akasha Ganga, the skydiving team of the IAF, performing along with flag-bearing skydivers while painting the blue skies with tricolour.

The graduation parade also saw a spectacular aerobatic display by Pilatus PC-7 trainer, the indigenous Light combat aircraft (Tejas), the Suryakiran, Sarang team, and a fly past by formations of PC-7, Kiran, Hawk aircraft, and Chetak helicopters.