Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Anil Chopra on Thursday inspected INS Dega, the premier Naval Air Station located here for its operational and administrative efficiency. He reviewed a ceremonial parade of the officers and men of INS Dega, from where the civil terminal –Visakhapatnam airport—also operates, in the morning. The parade also included the military Dog Squad of the Air Station. INS Dega was commissioned in 1991 and is the foremost naval air station on the East Coast which has been operating different types of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters of the Navy. It supports the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet, and also the coastal security off the East Coast. INS Dega plays a key role in search and rescue of stranded civilian personnel during natural calamities, as well as casualty evacuation of State police personnel injured in action, an ENC spokesman said. The last intrepid rescue by helicopters from INS Dega was during cyclone Thane when 11 fishermen were rescued from two sinking fishing vessels. The air station is a high security zone with state of the art security including specially trained ferocious guard dogs and explosive sniffer dogs pressed into service.
The photo caption in this article has been corrected for a spelling error
