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In 1962 it was felt necessary by the PAF to establish a radar installation at Badin due to the strategic importance of the area. It was located close to the Indian border, and enemy aircraft taking off from forward Indian airfields in Rajasthan would have to pass through its cover to attack civil and military targets in the lower Sind region between Sukkur and Karachi. For a number of years the base remained an important sector operations centre contributing to the air defence of a large area in the southern region of Pakistan.
The base is located in the typically sandy and flat terrain of the southern Sind where the post-independence availability of water has transformed the countryside into highly productive farm lands. Due to its remote location, friends did sympathize in the early days if one was posted to Badin. But with the efforts and initiatives of each successive base commander, the technical and domestic facilities at Badin continued to improve and today the base is fully self sufficient in all operational, administrative and recreational respects.
Throughout the 65 war Badin's men bravely warded off air attacks and kept its operational facilities fully intact. On 21 September, When an enemy rocket set ablaze an equipment building, Leading Aircraftman Muhammad Anwar Hussain Khan, a radar mechanic of the maintenance wing, died a hero's death while trying to extinguish this fire. For his courageous conduct Anwar Hussain was posthumously awarded the Tamgha-e-Juraat. He lies buried near the main guard room where floral wreaths are laid on his grave on 7 September every year to renew the memory of his valour.
Some time before the 71 war began, the sector operations centre at Badin was moved to a new location to enable it better to cover a larger area of responsibility. During that war, the observer squadrons of the base were deployed at their assigned surveillance posts and provided excellent and timely warnings to the air defence network. In one particular air raid against Badin itself the determined gunners of the ack unit shot down an attacking Mig-21 with their intensive and accurate fire. Much has been done in recent years too by way of further development and modernization of the base. Its responsibilities have been enhanced both in magnitude and in character to enable it to continue its solid contribution to the PAF's operational efficiency. |
