The Defence Secretary, Shri Sanjay Mitra, IAS, visited Air Force Base at Sirsa, Haryana on 14 Apr 18. He was accompanied by Air Marshal SB Deo PVSM AVSM VM VSM ADC, Vice Chief of Air Staff. The Defence Secretary and Air Marshal were received by Air Cmde MS Deswal VM, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Sirsa. Both the Defence Secretary and the Vice Chief of Air Staff flew a sortie each in Su-30 MKI squadron based at Sirsa. The mission was flown in a dense network centric environment as part of the ongoing pan India IAF Level Exercise Gaganshakti.The two week long exercise being conducted by the IAF, is one of the biggest conducted so far in terms of participation of forces, intensity of operations and scale of logistical support. The mission flown by both the Defence Secretary and the Vice Chief of Air Staff gave them a firsthand assessment of operational preparedness and the combat effectiveness of the air warrior in a real time operational scenario.Post mission, the Defence Secretary and the Vice Chief of Air Staff interacted with the personnel of the base and complimented them for exceptional professionalism displayed during the exercise. They further emphasized that execution of such a large scale exercise is dependent on achieving complete synergy of all combat elements with absolute dedication of Air Warriors.