Air Marshal Dilip Kumar Patnaik gets Ati Vishisht Seva medal

BHUBANESWAR: President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday presented Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) to Air Vice Marshal (now Air Marshal) Dilip Kumar Patnaik for his distinguished service of the exceptional order. He got this honour at the Defence Investiture Ceremony-I held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday.
Odisha born Patnaik, a fighter pilot, who assumed charge as the air officer commanding-in-chief of Eastern Air Command of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on October 3, is the first Odia IAF official to get this prestigious position. This Bhubaneswar native is the alumnus of Kendriya Vidyalaya-I here.
Patnaik was conferred with Vayu Sena Medal earlier for his exceptional devotion to his job. He carried out a night laser guided bomb strike on Tiger Hill in June 1999 during the Kargil war. Without thinking about his personal safety, he had launched an attack on an enemy camp and helped the ground force to capture the Tiger Hill.
His professionalism and meticulous planning to execute missions under hostile conditions helped the country to have an edge over the enemy positions during the Kargil War. He was also involved in the Balakot operation.
This fighter combat leader was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on June 8, 1984. He has more than 2,500 hours of flying experience on various types of aircraft including the MIG 21 and the Mirage 2000.
Before heading the Eastern Air Command, he was the senior air staff officer at headquarters, Central Air Command. This officer has tried to prove his mettle in different important positions like command of a frontline fighter base and commandant of the College of Air Warfare.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan took to twitter to congratulate Patnaik for getting this prestigious medal. “Delighted to learn that Air Marshal Dilip Kumar Patnaik has been honoured with the prestigious AVSM by the President for extraordinary courage and bravery and distinguished service for an exceptional order,” he wrote.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had congratulated Patnaik for taking charge as air officer commanding in chief of the Eastern Air Command.