Two Haryana lads bag 'Sword of Honour'

In a rare instance, two newly commissioned officers from Haryana have bagged the top honours while passing out from the Air Force Academy (AFA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on the same day.

Flying Officer Parag Dhankar, who topped the 214th pilot’s course that passed out from the AFA at Dundigal near Hyderabad on December 14, hails from Rohtak, while Lieutenant Jatin Kumar of the 155th regular course at IMA, Dehradun, belongs to Palwal.

Parag was awarded the President’s Plaque and the Chief of the Air Staff 'Sword of Honour' by Air Chief Marshal Aman Preet Singh, who was the reviewing officer of the Combined Graduation Parade at AFA.

Jatin received the 'Sword of Honour' for being adjudged the overall best cadet from Nepal’s Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashok Raj Sigdel, who was the reviewing officer at the passing out Parade at IMA. He was also awarded the silver medal for standing second in the order of merit in the course.

There have been numerous past instances of officers from Haryana bagging top honours at various pre-commission training academies of all three services. Haryana has a strong martial tradition and is among the top states in the country to contribute officers as well as manpower to the rank and file of the Armed Forces. The Infantry’s Jat Regiment comprises troops drawn from Haryana.

Parag is the son of an Army officer and has been commissioned into the Flying Branch, while Jatin, whose father retired from the Army in 2018 as Havildar, has opted for joining the infantry.

Jatin, who studied in a Sainik School, made it to the IMA in his third attempt. Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the parade, he said that was his principle in life to devote full effort and devotion to any venture he pursued, which made him excel in studies, sports and other pursuits.

A total of 660 new officers joined the Armed Forces on December 14. This included 456 Army officers and 204 Air Force officers, among whom 26 were women. The occasion also marked the first batch of officers from the newly established Weapon Systems Branch being commissioned into the IAF.

In addition, 35 officers from 13 friendly foreign countries passed out alongside from the IMA and nine officers from the Indian Navy, nine from the Indian Coast Guard and one officer from a friendly foreign country were also awarded ‘Wings’ on the successful completion of their flying training at AFA.