The Sabji Courier

During the summer, one of the key tasks of the Indian Army is to stock up its high-altitude border posts with tents, clothing, food, ammunition and fuel for the harsh winter ahead. The heavy stocks are moved by roads while essential and high-value assets are mobilised by air. This is the just first step. Subsequently, all supplies are moved to forward bases through tough terrain with the help of locals, mules or aircraft. A soldier at these outposts is fighting three elements – the enemy, the weather and his own health. The cost of keeping each soldier at those altitudes, equipping him, feeding him and providing him with wherewith all for fighting is humongous and require Herculean effort. The story highlights the human side of the problem.

The Unknown Sikh Soldier in the Kargil War

 ..in the Kargil war I remember it as if it was yesterday. It was the 23rd May 1999, the Kargil conflict was ongoing. My crew and I were in Awantipur to pick up 24 casualties (20 sitting & 4 on stretchers) the casualties were seriously wounded. The age of the passengers ranged between 19-27 years. Some had deep bullet wounds, where the bullet had gone through, but he still had his legs and could sit, stand, walk, and wasn’t on a stretcher. The men who were on a stretcher were the badly…

HELICOPTER OFFSHORE OPERATIONS: AN OVERVIEW

The term “offshore operations” is used to describe situations where not only a part of the flight takes place over large bodies of water but when most of the flight, including the main objectives, are to be completed away from dry land. Because of their VTOL and hover capabilities, the use of helicopters in offshore operations has increased greatly. In this post, my guest author, Wg Cdr Vikram Mahajan (Retd) will tell us about helicopter offshore operations, their complexities and safety risks. Crude oil and natural gas are invaluable natural…

My First Flight as a Trainee Pilot (Flight Cadet)

 “Sometimes, flying feels too God-like to be attained by man. Sometimes, the world from above seems too beautiful, too wonderful, too distant for human eyes to see.” Charles A. Lindbergh Growing up in India in the 1980s that too in tier II city, I would have been lucky if I got a chance to travel on a plane. Almost every child I had met, dreamt about becoming a pilot. Maybe this was just because we wanted to fly and reach the clouds above, or because we saw in cartoons and…