'One of the bullets grazed General Sagat's hand and one injured Flying Officer Sidhu in the leg.' 'The helicopter was quickly flown back to Agartala and after landing they found that the aircraft had been peppered with 38 bullet holes!'

The retreating Pakistani troops were heading towards Dacca and they had to be stopped at all costs. The Eastern Army Commander, in his orders to General Sagat Singh, had reiterated that he did not want the troops of 4 Corps to cross the Meghna river. But General Sagat had other plans to threaten Dacca and ensure that the pressure would make the Pakistani commanders capitulate. This is where the IAF helicopters came in.

'There is much to glean from such exercises. And make it known that we are ready to take them on together!', says Air Commodore Nition Sathe (retd).

'My brave JCO managed to get to the gun, sit on top of the dead man and fired away at the attacking aircraft till they melted away into the darkness.'

Dad had sneaked into East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) well before the war had started for reconnaissance of the terrain on the other side. He had disguised himself as a driver of a truck laden with goods and traveled into East Pakistan to be received by the underground fighters of the Mukti Bahini.

'I am grateful to God that I am alive and he has made me differently-abled for a greater cause,' says Wing Commander Shantanu.

It was Soni Somarajan's biggest dream -- to see himself as a proud member of the Indian Armed Forces. When Life brutally shattered that dream, he wove a new one.

'Wanting to see the bright side of things, we always told ourselves, 'It could have been worse!', when the situation got tough.' Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), who helped rebuild the IAF's Car Nicobar air base after the 2004 tsunami, recalls the devastation on United Nations World Tsunami Awareness Day.

We salute the Mi-8 today on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of Operation Cactus. Through its glorious service career, the Mi-8 left an indelible mark on the future by providing the IAF with a lineage of professional helicopter aircrew, says Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).

'I have only one life and that is enough.'

Air Commodore Nitin Sathe reveals what he learnt from the Indian Air Force, which he served for 35 years. An Air Force Day Special.

'The Indian Navy has sufficient combat power in areas of interest to India that can quickly scale up operations if the need arises.' 'This includes all the choke points leading into the Indian Ocean as also areas within.'

'The Chinese navy is large and expanding both in numbers and capability by the day.' 'India too must take measures to safeguard its own interests, now and in the future.'

The entire base must be spic and span with flags fluttering along the roads. Everything that moves will be washed and bedecked with the best while everything that is static will be painted afresh, observes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).

'Our air force can strike them with impunity.'

'What has changed is the desperation of Pakistan proxies and the separatists in their failure to foment violence and civilian casualties in Kashmir.'

'It's a matter of great pride that no student of Army Goodwill Schools has ever joined terrorism.'

'We decided that we would fire our rockets and dive into the valley and get away, making it difficult for the missiles to be fired.'

'Searching for the target with bare eyes was like searching for the needle in the haystack, but due to the technology, we had a clear picture of the seven tents perched against the rocky background on our scopes.'

One can only imagine how it is at the receiving end of the bomb. The sound is deafening, splinters and rocks fly like missiles and the blast sucks in the air around asphyxiating everyone. The shock waves can be felt for miles around.