Patriotic Pearls' motorcycle expedition concludes

Rajkot, Apr 10 (UNI) The Indian Air Force (IAF)'s motorcycle expedition team ''Patriotic Pearls'' has completed its 1200-km journey in the Saurashtra region and returned back to the Air Force Station Samana yesterday.

Celebrating the Platinum Jubilee Year of the IAF, seven officers and seventeen airmen on twelve motorcycles had embarked on the expedition, nicknamed ''Gir Lions'', from the air force station at Samana near Jamnagar on March 31.

En route, the team interacted with the local populace and also with Naval and Coast Guard personnel to foster inter-service camaraderie and espirit-de-corps, an official press release said.

The team held stop-overs at Kambaliya, Dwaraka, Porbandar, Veraval, Diu, Junagadh, Jam Jodhpur before returning back to Samana.

The team members delivered awareness lectures on a career in the Air Force at various schools, the release said. An audio visual presentation, ''Fast Forward to the Future with Indian Air Force'' was also presented.

The team members paid a special tribute at the INS Khukri memorial at Diu where Naval officers and sailors sacrificed their lives during 1971 Indo-Pak war, the release said.

UNI