Breaking yet another glass ceiling in the armed forces, an all-female crew member conducted the first independent operational maritime surveillance and reconnaissance mission in the North Arabian Sea aboard the Dornier-228 patrol aircraft. .
The Navy said the “historic” mission flew from their frontline INAS 314 squadron in Porbandar commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Commander Aanchal Sharma, with other members being pilots Lt Shivangi and Lt Apurva Gite, and tactical and sensor officers, Lt Pooja Panda and Sub Lt Pooja Shekhawat (see photo), on Wednesday.
“Five female officers received months of ground training and comprehensive mission briefings during this first military flight mission. It is expected to pave the way for female officers in the naval aviation force to take on greater responsibilities and look forward to more challenging roles,” said a spokesperson for Naval Aviation. Vivek Madhwal speak.
“The Navy has been at the forefront of driving transformation in the Indian armed forces. Pioneering women’s empowerment initiatives include introducing female pilots, recruiting female aviation operations officers to the helicopter line, and embarking on an all-female round-the-world sailing expedition in 2018,” he added.
Overall, there are currently 15 female fighter pilots in IAF as well as 145 female helicopter and transport pilots in the three Services, while 28 officers were deployed on frontline warships and 100 female military policemen trained in Army.
Women still make up a very small minority of the more than 140,000 strong armed forces despite being introduced as officers in the early 1990s. They number only 3,904 (Army 1,705, IAF 1,640 and Navy 559. ) with about 70,000 officers despite a shortage of more than 9,000 officers. There are 1,666 female doctors, 189 dentists and 4,734 separate nurses in the medical line, according to the report. TOI earlier.
FacebookTwitterInstagramKOOKS APPLICATIONYOUTUBE
