“A soldier never retires, he just withers away… I want to prove this wrong,” says a resume of one of the retired defence officers. The corporate world too agrees to this without a doubt, it seems.

As a matter of fact, the placement cell for retired Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel is abuzz with calls from companies in those sectors where staff are expected to be more disciplined.

In order to provide better opportunities to their retired officers, the Army, Navy and the IAF have come up with their own placement cell, which is said to be getting tremendous response.

“The cell was set up just last year in Vadodara and it has already got a huge response from the corporate world. We usually put up the resume on our website or circulate it to the companies when the officers are in the last five years of their service,” said Wing Commander H H Nair, Chief Administrative Officer, Air Force Station, Vadodara.

The officer himself is an MBA in Human Resources.

The cells have been set up in seven regions, including the South Western Air Command (SWAC) and a few other commands.

The IAF placement cell has a large database of personnel with experience in logistics, management, technical and administration. “Usually, the corporate world looks at employees who are experts in the subject and are well-disciplined. Due to the training that each officer goes through in the defence services, they have all these qualities,” said Wing Commander Nair.

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