Indian Army Appoints First Female Battalion Commander

NEW DELHI: According to Indian Army officials on Monday, Colonel Shuchita Shekhar became the first female Army Service Corps commander to take over leadership of a Communication Zone Mechanical Transport Battalion, which is in charge of maintaining the supply chain for the fully operating Northern leadership.

To promote the presence of women at the top of the service hierarchy, the Indian Army has recently taken a number of actions. Since the defence industry has been expanding options for women, the Army has seen a number of "first-timers women."

In the midst of the stalemate with China, Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh made headlines on May 25 when he piloted the fighter aircraft over the Ladakh sector area. Singh gained notoriety when she flew the Rafale fighter jet in the international exercise Orion in France as the first female pilot of the Indian Air Force. Following her leadership of the Indian Air Force tableau during the Republic Day parade the previous year (2022), she later seized the spotlight. She was the IAF's second female fighter pilot, and she was the only one. The IAF's first female fighter jet pilot, Flight Lieutenant Bhawna Kanth, joined the force last year.

In the IAF's second batch of female fighter pilots, Singh, a Varanasi native, was commissioned in 2017. Prior to flying the Rafale, she had been a MiG-21 Bison pilot. Singh is a member of the Punjabi city of Ambala's Golden Arrows unit of the Indian Air Force. The topic for the IAF tableau was "Indian Air Force transforming for the future." The float included miniature versions of the Rafale fighter plane, the Aslesha MK-1 3D surveillance radar, and a light combat helicopter that was produced domestically.

On July 29, 2020, the first batch of Rafale fighter fighters arrived, nearly four years after India and France signed an intergovernmental deal to buy 36 aircraft for Rs 59,000 crore. The IAF has received 32 Rafale jets so far, and four more are scheduled to arrive in April of this year.

Sources claim that Lt. Mehak Saini, Lt. Sakshi Dubey, Lt. Aditi Yadav, and Lt. Pious Mudgil are the five female officers who have joined the Regiment of Artillery.

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