Vishisht Seva Medal for Hyderabad Air Vice-Marshal

Hyderabad: Air Vice-Marshal B. Chandra Sekhar was conferred with the Vishisht Seva Medal by the President of India on the occasion of the 71^st Republic Day on Sunday.

Air Vice-Marshal Sekhar, a resident of Hyderabad’s BHEL Colony, is currently posted as Senior Officer of Administration at the Eastern Air Command, Shillong. He studied at Hyderabad’s Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited Higher Secondary school. He joined the National Defence Academy and was commissioned as a helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 21 December,1984. The Air Vice-Marshal is also an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College and College of Defence Management. He has held key posts and was stationed all over the country, including Secunderbad, Hindan, Thoise, Calcutta and Trivandrum. He was promoted to the post of Air Vice-Marshal in 2017. He was the Chief Operational Officer of a forward base during Operation Parakram and was the Flight Commander of the first Mi 171V unit.

In his 35-year long career, the Air Vice-Marshal has over 5,400 hours of flying to his credit and has flown various helicopters in the IAF inventory. He is also a qualified flying instructor and has done instructional appointments at the Air Force academy, Helicopter Training School, College of Air Warfare and College of Defence Management.

Vishisht Seva Medal is awarded to recognize “distinguished service of a high order”. Officer of all ranks in Navy, Airforce and Army are eligible to receive this award.