IAF chief visits Ambala airbase as it completes 75 years

Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne visited Ambala, the oldest airbase of the IAF, as it completed 75 glorious years.

The Air Chief accompanied by Mrs. Kiran Browne, President AFWWA(Central), arrived at Air Force Station Ambala where Platinum Jubilee Celebrations were organised that were being attended by a host of officers who have been associated with the station,including the Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, who had once commanded the station.

On arrival, the Air Chief and President AFWWA were received by Air Commodore D K Patnaik, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station, Ambala and Mrs Anuradha Patnaik President AFWWA(Local).

The visit to Ambala which also forms a part of the farewell tour of the Air Chief saw him paying tribute to the martyrs at 'Frozen Tear' Station War Memorial, meeting the station personnel besides visiting key installations of the station.

The Air Chief's association with Ambala airbase dates back to when he was a Flight Lieutenant who formed a part of the initial 'Core' team that flew in Jaguars to India to raise the very first Jaguar Squadron - No.14 Squadron (called 'the Bulls') at Ambala.

Established on April 1, 1938 with a few officers and a defined role of training in Army/Air Cooperation, Air Force Station Ambala has been most closely associated with the growth of the formation and growth of the IAF and has evolved itself into one of the premier airbases of the IAF today.