IAF gets its First Woman in Command Position

NEW DELHI: In the first decision of its kind, the Indian Air Force has given the first command appointment for a woman officer. Group Captain Shaliza Dhami has been given the orders to take over the command of a frontline combat unit in the Western sector of India.

“Having been commended by the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief on two occasions, the officer is presently posted in the Operations branch of a frontline Command Headquarters,” mentioned a statement from the Indian Air Force.

Group Captain Shaliza Dhami was commissioned in 2003 as a helicopter pilot. She has over 2800 flying hours to her name. She was posted as the Flight Commander of a helicopter unit in the Western Sector of the country.

Congratulating Group Captain Shaliza Dhami , Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (Retd.) and former Additional Director General of the think tank Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) tweeted, “Her younger brother was with us in CAPS, now an Assistant Professor in Imphal.”

The armed forces had opened their doors for the appointment of women officers at command positions following a supreme court verdict. After this verdict, the armed forces started conducting interviews and approved the first batch of female officials for commanding positions.

“A total of 244 women officers are being considered for promotion against 108 vacancies, from 1992 batch to 2006 batch, in various Arms and Services (Engineers, Signals, Army Air Defence, Intelligence Corps, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps and Electrical & Mechanical Engineers),” mentioned an official with the armed forces in the beginning of this year.

The vacancies for this Special No. 3 Selection Board were released by the government to promote affected women officers to ensure gender parity in the Army. At the end of the Selection Board, a total of 108 women were declared fit to join in various commanding positions and they were expected to get the new postings by the end of January.

Previously, the first five women officers cleared the Defence Services Staff Course (DSSC) and the Defence Services Technical Staff Course (DSTSC) Exam last year. These ladies would have to undertake a yearlong course and would be given adequate weightage while being considered for command appointments.

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