Nashik, Dec 29 (PTI) As many as 33 officers were on Tuesday awarded the coveted Aviation Wings to become combat helicopter pilots after they successfully completed a training course at an Army institute here in Maharashtra.

These officers completed the Combat Aviators Course at the Combat Army Aviation Training School (CATS) located at Gandhi Nagar airfield at Nashik Road.

They were awarded Aviation Wings at the valedictory ceremony of CATS. The ceremony was presided over by Major General A K Suri, Officiating Director General, Army Aviation, a defence release said.

During the course, the officers underwent rigorous flying training. The officers were also awarded trophies in various disciplines to recognise their achievements during training.

Captain Santosh Kumar Sourapalli won the Silver Cheetah trophy for standing first in the overall Order of Merit, Captain Tarif Singh won the Capt SK Sharma trophy for Best in Flying and Captain B Prabhu Devan bagged the Air Observation Post (AOP)-35 trophy for standing first in ground subjects, the release said.

CATS is a premier flying training institution of the Indian Army which functions under the aegis of Army Training Command (ARTRAC), Shimla.

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