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NO. 6 SQUADRON The No 6 Squadron is one of the ten senior squadrons of the Indian Air Force, raised before Independence. The squadron formed at Trichinopoly (now Tiruchirapally) on December 1, 1942 under the command of the redoubtable Squadron Leader Mehar Singh. The 'Dragon' emblem was initially carried on the B-24 Liberators of the Squadron. A modified version of this dragon is shown on the patch currently worn by the pilots of the Squadron. By representing its association with both the sea and the air and its motto, ‘Sada Satark’ ‘Always Alert’. A squadron veteran interested in heraldic matters informs us that the crest as originally designed violated accepted rules of heraldry, in having the dragon facing from left to right. (This is because when flown on a flag, crest designs conventionally show the flagstaff on the left, which would have resulted in the dragon moving backwards when the flag was marched.) The error was only noticed after the Presiden

THE JAMMU & KASHMIR RIFLES The Jammu & Kashmir Rifles has a unique regimental history. It was not raised by the British but by an intrepid Indian ruler called Gulab Singh in 1821. Gulab Singh was one of the ablest Generals of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and later became the ruler of the Jammu & Kashmir state. He and his legendary General Zorawar Singh led many spectacular campaigns to add Ladakh, Baltistan, Hunza and Skardu to the State territories. Zorawar Singh mounted a breath-taking invasion of Tibet in 1841. The state forces fought as Imperial Service troops in both World Wars under their own native officers. They distinguished themselves in East Africa, Palestine and Burma. However, the regiment's grimmest hour came during the Pakistani invasion of Kashmir in 1947. It was their heroic stand that gained time for the entry of the Indian Army and thus saved the Kashmir Valley. It may not be out of place to mention that the Indian people largely owe the

THE DOGRA REGIMENT The Dogras who form the hardy and loyal population of the hill regions of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir have a long tradition of soldiering. They had been in the service of the British some years as part of the Frontier Force. The Dogras formed into a regiment in 1887 and three Dogra Regiments were raised as part of the Bengal Infantry. During the World Wars, more Dogra battalions were added and after 1947 the Dogra Regiment gained further in the additional battalions as part of the Army's post-1962 expansion. The Dogra Scouts come under the aegis of the Dogra Regiment. Its Regimental Centre is Fazizbad, Uttar Pradesh and its Regimental insignia is a tiger, revered as the mount of Goddess Durga, who is a widely worshipped deity in the Dogra Hills. Its Regimental motto is ‘Kartavyam Anvatma’ (Duty Before Death) and its war cry is ‘Jawala Mata Ki Jai’ (Victory to Goddess Jawala). Its insignia is A Tiger, revered as the moun

AIRCRAFT AND SYSTEMS TESTING ESTABLISHMENT In 1972, Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) first started training pilots of the Indian Air Force for production testing. Three years later, senior ASTE officers visited ETPS and studied its training methods. These were eventually used to start a course for experimental test flying in 1976. The IAF Test Pilots School, co-located with ASTE at Bangalore, conducts Experimental Flight Test Course (11 months ) for Test Pilots (TP) and Flight Test Engineers (FTE) from the Air Force, Naval Aviation and Army Aviation. The school is one among the eight recognized test pilots school in the world to impart flight test training. There are two streams for training - Rotary Wing and Fixed Wing. Hence, there are four entry streams - RW TP, RW FTE, FW TP and FW FTE. The FTEs have two sub-streams - FTE and FTE (Avionics). Occasionally, under a special arrangement, engineers from non-military organisations involved with aviat

INDIAN AIR FORCE The Indian Air Force  (IAF) was officially established on October 8, 1932. Its first flight came into being on April 1, 1933.  It possessed a strength of six RAF-trained officers and 19 Havai Sepoys (literally, air soldiers). In January 1950, India became a Republic within the British Commonwealth and the Indian Air Force dropped its ‘Royal’ prefix. At this time, it possessed six fighter squadrons of Spitfires, Vampires and Tempests, operating from Kanpur, Poona, Ambala and Palam, one B-24 bomber squadron, one C-47 Dakota transport squadron, one AOP flight, a communications squadron at Palam and a growing training organisation. The Motto of Indian Air Force has been taken from eleventh chapter of the Gita, the discourse given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna  on the battlefield of Kurukshetra during the Great War of Mahabharata . The Lord is showing His Supreme Divine form to Arjuna and the great form of the Lord is reaching the sky with glory, evoking

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE The Special Frontier Force -SFF was created on 14 November 1962, near the end of the Indo-China War. The Cabinet Secretariat had ordered the raising of an elite guerrilla force composed mainly of Tibetan refugees. It's main goal was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in the event of another Indo-China war. The first Inspector General of the SFF was a retired Indian Army  Major General who was known for his unconventional thinking. Soon the SFF came to be known as 'Establishment 22' due to its first Inspector General, who used to be commander of 22 Mountain Regiment during World War II. The SFF base is at Chakrata, near Dehra Dun. It is home to the large Tibetan refugee population.  By early 1984, the SFF's elite Special Group became the primary counter-terrorist force in India. They participated in the assault on Golden Temple. The force was also used for VIP security in late 1984. Currently, one SFF battalion is stationed in the Si

RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE In1854 when East Indian Railways employed  certain staff designated as ‘Police’ to denote its own force by enacting the Police Act, 1861 and deployed a contingent for the security of the railway with the owner companies bearing their upkeep. On the recommendation of Railway Police Committee, 1872, Railway Police was organized into ‘Govt. Police’ for Law enforcement and ‘Company Police’ for watch and ward duties in Railways. The actual separation of duties came into effect in 1881. By 1882, as a result of formal division of the Police Force deployed on the railways into ‘Government Police’ and ‘Private (Companies) Police’, the Railway Companies directly assumed the responsibility of protection and Security of their property as well as of the goods entrusted to them by public for carriage. It was only on 29 August 1957 that a Railway Protection Force Act was enacted by the parliament and Railway Security Force was renamed as Railway Protection Force - RPF. The RP