final feb cover - Indian Airforce

of the IAF. He focuses, delegates, shifts focus,
monitors execution, evaluates results, comes
back to the original point of focus and continues
with this chain. Along the way, he drops issues,
adds on issues and in the process creates a focus
chain that is self-sustaining if there is energy and
commitment in the system. Moving down the
chain, what does focus mean at the station level.
I took over as COO at one of the premier air bases,
which was getting prepared for the new induction
of SU-30s. The AOC there, a man of few words,
spoke in monosyllables and dismissed you from
his office in five minutes by swivelling in his chair
back to a game of Solitaire. In my first meeting
with him sometime in Jan 2004, he told me very
bluntly, “Subbu, I have 3 focus areas for you- The
first is that come what may, SU-30s moves in here
by 1 st April. The second is that the operating
surfaces need lot of attention, and thirdly, the
bird activity gives me nightmares. I don’t care
if paperwork suffers or if command rings me up
about minor snafus from your end, but I want
you on the move, on the airfield, in the towereverywhere
except your office” He asked me to
bring him a plan of action in one week, approved
the plan with minor modifications and followed it
up with full support. To say that we worked hard
would be an understatement and I can say without
hesitation that it was only Focus with loads of
luck and nothing else that facilitated accident
10 Aerospace Safety F e b r u a r y 2 0 12
INDIAN AIR FORCE