[updated:LAST EDITED ON 08-12-02 AT 08:14 AM (GMT)]New Delhi, December 7: Sqn Ldr Abhijeet Thatte would have winged his way into the record books as the first Indian recipient of the US Meritorious Service Medal. But the Ministry of Defence objected, saying serving officers are not permitted to accept medals from foreign governments, and Thatte, from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, is back to flying Jaguars for the IAF.
(note: IAF personnel have been to the USAF as instructors before this)
Post-Pokhran 2000, when the US lifted the freeze on military exchanges, saw Thatte leave for US as an instructor with the 50th Squadron of United States Air Force (USAF) at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. Until June 2002, he taught a bunch of Americans how to become pilots.
Impressed by his performance, his American commanding officer Lt Col Benjamin Cleveland shot off a fax to the US Embassy in India, recommending Thatte for the Meritorious Medal.
As the wires carried messages between Washington and New Delhi, the American air attache in India, Col Albert Hill, wrote to the IAF on August 29 that the ‘‘United States of America would like to award Sqn Ldr Abhijeet Thatte the meritorious medal for outstanding service as an instructor pilot’’. This would be possible if ‘‘the laws of India allow for Sqn Ldr Thatte to be awarded this medal’’.
Thatte’s performance report records him as an ‘‘exceptional’’ instructor’. His students ‘‘finished top in their class’’. Excited, the IAF forwarded the details to the MoD and the Cabinet. After much deliberation, they turned down the US offer. An IAF spokesman said: ‘‘The proposal was considered at an appropriate level but was declined in view of the national policy on acceptance of such awards.’’
By Saikat Dutta
From: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=14411
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December 8, 2002 at 7:51 am