The above photograph is presented on behalf of all
Imperial Iranian Air Force Aviators who were trained under Colonel Amir Masoud Tajvar, Commandant, Imperial Iranian Air Force Academy,
before the year nineteen hundred and seventy nine. Colonel Tajvar was
a great man and an even greater warrior as he expertly emulated to all of us
how a fighter and a true warrior should be.
He epitomized and instilled the sense of Duty, Honor, Integrity,
Selfless Service, and Personal Courage, day in and day out as he served his
cadets and his beloved land, Persia. He
had such a profound impact on every cadet who was trained under his tenure at
the Academy, especially those who had the privilege of having close encounters
with him. I am one of those many cadets
who was privileged enough to have had several close encounters with him. I attest and believe that Colonel Tajvar’s methods of training have been imbedded in my soul
and have made me the man that I am today.
Below is the memory of one of many encounters I had with my idol in life, Colonel Amir
Masoud Tajvar:
One morning, we were practicing Manual of Arms at the
courtyard in front of the Academy when Colonel Tajvar
arrived, after finishing his ritual morning swimming. I was the cadet who saw him first and I
called the Academy to attention. He
stopped, locked his heels the way he always did, so sharp and strong that
everyone at the courtyard could hear his heels coming together and rendered his
signature hand salute. He then continued
walking towards the front door of the Academy, while observing me practicing
Manual of Arms. He suddenly stopped and
screamed so loudly that it vibrated the windows at the Academy. I froze in place while looking at him. He then waived his signature pointed finger
at me and yelled, “no, no, no,…… that is not how you
do Shoulder Arms, let me show you how it is done.” He then took several steps towards me,
stopped and ordered me to approach him and to hand him my rifle. I followed the proper procedure, holding my
rifle in my hands and across my chest, ran towards him, came to a halt a few
feet from him, and raised my left leg high enough so that my boot reached his head
and four inches from his face. I knew
that was the way he liked it because he had told me in another encounter with
him how to approach him. I then brought
my left leg down and locked my heels, and handed him my rifle. He got very angry and threw the rifle back at
me and said: “when I ask you for your rifle, Soldier, you should throw it at me
as hard as you can.” I threw my rifle
back at him as hard as I could and he immediately threw it back at me. This exchange of rifle between him and I
occurred several times until it was done to his satisfaction. He then proceeded with demonstrating how to
do Right and Left Shoulder Arms. It is
important for me to mention that COL Tajvar was in
his Class A uniform, wearing all of his awards and decorations during this
encounter. He then finished
demonstrating the Right and Left Shoulder Arms and by the time he was finished,
he had torn off both of his epaulettes, the flaps on his breast pockets, and
all his decorations off his chest and uniform. He then threw my rifle back at
me so hard that it almost broke my hands.
I grabbed my rifle and took a look at it and noticed a long crack along
the side of its stock. COL Tajvar looked at me and said: “if you don’t crack the stock
of your rifle when doing Manual of Arms, you are not doing it correctly,
Soldier.” I then did Order Arms and
rendered a hand salute. He returned my
salute with his signature hand salute and walked away………
For the past thirty six years, I have saluted this man
and true warrior, every day and will continue to salute him every day, until
the day I die.
Sincerely, “Soldier” (top row, third from right).
