Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU: Apr 7: 114 Helicopter Unit, also known as the “Siachen Pioneers”, celebrated its golden jubilee at Leh. Senior Indian Air Force officers from Air Headquarters, Veteran Siachen Pioneers and Army officers from local formations attended the two days long celebrations, which included visit to the Unit, a visit to the Unit Museum and traditional get-together with the Air Warriors of the Unit.
Present on the occasion was the previous Commodore Commandant M Bahadur (Retd). He has a distinction of being part of the crew of the first ever helicopter landing in the Siachen Glacier, in a Chetak helicopter, on September 20, 1978.
114 HU has been engaged in service of “Operation Meghdoot” for over three decades now. It routinely involves landing at the highest helipads in the world, in Siachen glacier & flying the helicopters to the edge of its flight envelope over a very treacherous terrain marked by uncertain weather. For its courageous deeds, the Unit has earned 62 Gallantry/ Presidential awards that include 04 Vir Chakra, 07 Shaurya Chakra, 27 VayuSena Medal (Gallantry), 12 Vayu Sena Medal, 05 Yudh Seva Medal, 03 Vishisht Seva Medal & 04 Mention-in-Despatches.
During its 50 years of outstanding service to the nation, 114 HU has been awarded the President’s Standard in 1996, Unit Citation by the Chief of Air Staff in 2004 and a place in the Limca Book for World Records for the highest helicopter landing at a density altitude of 25,140 feet. Besides this, the Unit is famous worldwide for its daring rescues of mountaineers & trekkers from across the globe year after year. In fact, the Unit motto “We do the difficult as a routine, the impossible (may) take a bit longer” is a true reflection of its hardy reputation & commitment. The Commanding Officer paid rich tribute to the Unit martyrs who laid down their lives in the line of duty, he said during the function on 05 Apr 2014, “they brought us glory & we should maintain the highest professional standards all the time, this would be the most fitting tribute to the Unit martyrs”. Air Marshal B S Dhanoa, was the chief guest for the function; he inaugurated the new officers’ mess at Air force Station, Leh. The Golden Jubilee celebration of 114 HU is the first event to be held in the new Officers Mess Complex.
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