In an unprecedented move, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa, the Chief of Air Staff, has written a personal letter to each officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF), asking them “to be prepared for operations with our present holdings, at a very short notice,” The Indian Express reported Saturday.
As per the report the letter, also covers a range of issues from “favouritism” in the force to “sexual harassment”. Written three months after ACM Dhanoa took over as IAF Chief, the letter is being posted and delivered to each of the nearly 12,000 officers of the force.
According to the report this is the first time that an IAF chief has written a personal letter to all officers, although two Army chiefs — Field Marshal (then General) K M Cariappa on May 1, 1950 and General K Sundarji on February 1, 1986 — have penned similar missives.
“In the present scenario, there is an ever persistent sub-conventional threat. Therefore, we need to be prepared for operations with our present holdings, at a very short notice. Training needs to be focused towards this,” quoting the letter the Indian Express reports.
The “sub-conventional threat” is said to be a reference to the ‘proxy war’ by Pakistan, which is reflected in the increasing number of militant attacks on military camps and the rising public unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.