39 years ago today, the @adgpi & the IAF launched Op Meghdoot- what has come to be the highest battlefield in the world. Operations continue there till date - well beyond the limits of man & machine. The following account is as had been recalled by AVM A Dalaya, then AOC (J&K).
Preparations for the op started six weeks before D-Day on 13 Apr 84. The plan entailed landing 30 troops at Bilafond La Pass on the first day & another 30 to Siala Pass the next day. Seven camps were then to be set up along the 80 km Siachen Glacier at the rate of one per day.
The elevations of the two passes was in excess of 18000 ft, thus narrowing down the choice to the Cheetah helicopter which could carry two fully armed jawans, with limited rations & skis. 8 Cheetahs from the 114 HU at Jammu & 131 FAC Flight at Udhampur were thus tasked for the op
The aircrew started training in DBO, away from Siachen, in total secrecy. Snow bowl landings were practiced in snow-bound Dras. Parallely, the IA prepared 8 helipads for Cheetahs & 2 for Mi-8s, at Base Camp (BC), located at an elevation of 11300 ft.
Fuel & Oxygen were flown in to BC by Mi-8, while Leh & Thoise airfields were also geared up for the impending ops. All preparations were completed by D minus 7, with the earmarked 60 troops of 4 Kumaon at BC having been given exposure to helicopter ops.
On D minus 1, Wg Car CS Sandhu, the Cheetah Force Commander (CFC) flew a recce sortie, identifying specific landing areas in Bilafond La & Siala.
Everything was now in place, with a palpable excitement running through the participants who were all to script history the next day.
Sunrise on D-Day was 0603 hrs. As planned, 8 Cheetahs got airborne from Thoise at 0600 hrs, reaching BC at 0640 hrs. A quick refueling later, the CFC & his No 2 got airborne with two jawans each, returning to BC an hour later after inserting the troops 50 yds short of Bilafond La
A swift debrief ensued & the remaining 6 Cheetahs got airborne in pairs over intervals of 3 min. While 12 jawans were landed at Blantond La, another was evacuated due to ill-health. The 3rd wave of Cheetahs got airborne from BC at 0945 hrs, bearing tents for the troops.
The 4th & final wave of 5 Cheetahs took off at 1120 hrs, carrying the remaining load & troops. Over the day, 19 sorties had landed 30 troops & 1175 kg load by 1210 hrs, when the weather started clamping down. Siala had to wait till 16 Apr, but that's a story for another day.
History had been made by the intrepid IAF pilots & brave Kumaonis. 39 years later, Siachen remains the Karma Bhoomi for all IAF helicopter pilots, whose credo remains, "We do the difficult as a routine, the impossible (may) take a bit longer".
#SiachenPioneers #Jointness
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