Quintessence of a soldier

It is not an easy task to write about a man of so many qualities; and all his traits would require volumes to describe. Wg Cdr Enayetullah belonged to that category of men whose deeds will be remembered with reverence for a long time. He had a multi-faceted personality, not just merely a man of action, he was a creative artist, a perfectionist, a visionary, a man engaged in a diversity of pursuits. He had an intellectual mindset and he loved to read.

My association with this great soul spans almost my entire career in the air force. I was a Flight Cadet in the Academy about to start my flying training. The PAF Academy had just received T-37 jet trainers from the USA and the man designated to ensure its proper induction and training process was the than Flt Lt Enayetullah. A Bengali was a rare commodity in the PAF but we were greatly surprised that a Bengali instructor was the man in charge of the project. The mere sight of this man spellbound me when I saw him for the first time. He was immaculately dressed and had a strong personality.

Wg Cdr Enayetullah almost single-handedly launched the T-37 programme. Pilot's handbook, better known as Dash-one, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Check list, Patter book were personally written and compiled by him after meticulous scrutiny. Through his sheer hard work the first batch of five flight cadets passed out on schedule, which initially appeared to be impossible because of the many administrative delays. The word 'impossible' was not in his dictionary and he took the task as a personal challenge.

Perfectionism was his hallmark and he maintained this trait throughout his life no matter where he worked. He never compromised with his principles for which his superiors and colleagues often misunderstood him. However, he was a man of vision who firmly held on to his conviction and was capable of breaching the bastion of superior authorities with his convincing arguments. He would never deviate from his ideas.

I got him as my instructor in the Jet Conversion Unit in Mauripur for flying in T-33 aircraft. From my little experience of the flying instructors, I found them quite tolerant of students' mistakes. At times they overlooked small errors, perhaps thinking that they would disappear with more experience. But not this instructor who demanded perfection from the very outset. He discovered that my rudder pedals moved while I applied the toe brakes. Somehow, my performance fell short of his demands. Instead of correcting my mistakes on board the aircraft, he decided to teach me practically on ground. He got two single seated sofas facing each other. He extended his feet forward and asked me to put my feet against his firmly placed feet, which he asked me to assume, to be radar pedals. He would make me do that exercise for hours together at a stretch.

He was very fond of doing instrument flying with the students. This required the student to fly mission under hood, looking at the dials and gauges on the instrument panel. For some unknown reasons, he would make us fly on Radio Direction Finder (RDF), an outdated and cumbersome procedure when modern navigation aids with alternative systems were otherwise available. RDF method was never practiced during those days but he would insist on that procedure on every instrument flying sorties. I was able to attain a good standard on RDF flying under his watchful eyes. That skill helped me return safely to base on a hazy late evening during the 1965 Indo- Pak war.

Wg Cdr Enayetullah had the distinction to command a fighter squadron in the PAF. This was a great honour for a Bengali officer in an alien environment. If I remember correctly, only two other Bengali officers, namely, Sqn Ldr MG Tawab and Sqn Ldr A U Ahmed had achieved such honour before him. It speaks volumes about this man's professional acumen. He was a manifestation of a distinguished career. This was a matter of pride for every Bengali officer serving in the PAF during those days. Within a short time, his squadron won the Command Flight Safety trophy, Top Gun Trophy and the Best Fighter Squadron Award, thereby adding further laurels to his command.

After repatriation to Bangladesh, Wg Cdr Enayetullah led a team of fighter pilots to the USSR to carry out conversion on Mig-21 aircraft. And I was part of the same team comprising of 12 officers. The Soviet training system was not as good as the western system with which all of us were accustomed. Wg Cdr Enayetullah was not satisfied with the elementary training that was scheduled for us. The Russians turned a deaf ear to all his arguments. Series of meetings with the local air force commanders produced no tangible results. Finally Wg Cdr Enayetullah stood up from his chair and threw the syllabus towards the Russian Commander and shouted that the Bangladesh contingent would go back to their country unless the syllabus was appropriately modified if the syllabus was not modified appropriately. He also added that the matter might be sorted out between comrade Brezhnev and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. His concluding remarks acted like a catalyst as an air force general was dispatched from Moscow on the very next day to sort out the matter.

There was another commendable achievement of Wg Cdr Enayetullah during our stay in the USSR. The Bangladesh contingent was to put on Russian uniform during the training period as per an agreement between the two governments. He felt it was not befitting for the BAF officers to put on foreign uniform and prevailed on the Russians to scrap such provision. Only a towering personality like Enayetullah could convince the Russians with such assertiveness that upheld the honour of the Bangladeshi officers.

Bangladesh Air force will always remain indebted to Wg Cdr Enayetullah for helping lay a strong foundation to transform it into a formidable fighting force. His name will remain engraved among the pioneers of the BAF who had toiled with their sweat to put the air force on its proper track. Farewell, my teacher. May Allah bless your soul.

The writer is a former Chief of Air Staff, BAF