Nashik
The first ever “Combined Passing out Parade” for all student officers attending various Aviation and RPAS courses at CATS was conducted on Thursday, wherein all student officers successfully qualified on various Aviation and RPAS courses marched together and were awarded with wings/ badges. Officers with outstanding performance in various disciplines were awarded trophies to acknowledge their achievements.
The ceremony was presided over by Lieutenant General Ajay Kumar Suri, Director General and Colonel Commandant Army Aviation Corps. During the training, the officers underwent rigorous flying training. A total of 57 officers have dawned their new role as combat aviators/ RPAS crew.
32 officers including one Nigerian officer were awarded the coveted ‘Aviation Wings’ to become Combat Helicopter Pilots after successful completion of the Combat Aviators Course. Seven officers were awarded Qualifed Flying Instructor (QFI) Badge to become Aviation Helicopter Instructors after successful completion of the Aviation Helicopter Instructors Course (AHIC) and 18 officers were awarded the RPAS wing to become RPAS pilot after successful completion of the Basic Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Course.
Amongst the trophy winners, Capt Naman Bansal was awarded the ‘Silver Cheetah trophy for standing First in the Overall Order of Merit of the Combat Aviators Course SerialNo 38, Maj Abhimanyu Ganachari was awarded the ‘Major Pradeep Agarwal trophy for Overall Best of Army Helicopter Instructor Course Serial No 37 and Maj Navneet Joshi and Lt Col Puneet Nagar were awarded the ‘Brigadier KV Shandil, SM trophy for First in Order of Merit of Basic RPAS (Internal Pilot & Observer-02).
Combat Army Aviation Training School (CATS) is the premier flying training institution of the Indian Army which functions under the aegis of Army Training Command (ARTRAC). The Army Aviation Corps has completed 37 glorious years and is undeniably a formidable force multiplier and a key combat enabler of the Indian Army.
