Captain Abhilasha Barak created history by becoming the Indian Army’s first female to join the Army Aviation Corps as a combat aviator on Thursday. The director-general of the Army Aviation awarded her the coveted ‘wings’ during a ceremony conducted at the Combat Army Aviation Training School in Nashik.
Barak was commissioned into the Army Air Defence Corps in September 2018. Captain Abhilasha Barak, who is from the Indian state of Haryana is the daughter of Retd. Col S Om Singh. Captain Abhilasha completed a variety of professional military courses before joining the Army Aviation Corps, which was established in November 1986 as a component of the Army.
Additional Directorate General of Public Information shared the news on Twitter stating, “Golden Letter Day in the history of Indian Army Aviation. Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes the First Woman Officer to join Army Aviation Corps as Combat Aviator after successful completion of training.” It also stated that the Director-General & Colonel Commandant Army Aviation presented Captain Abhilasha Barak the Coveted Wings, together with 36 other Army Pilots.
Earlier, in 2018, the Indian Air Force’s flying officer Avani Chaturvedi made history when she became the first Indian woman to solo fly a fighter plane. In her first solo flight, she piloted a MiG-21 bison. Chaturvedi was commissioned as a flying officer in July 2016, less than a year after the government decided to open the fighter stream to women on a trial basis. In the meanwhile, the Navy stated in 2020 that it would deploy its first female pilots on the Dornier maritime aircraft.
In a momentous development, the Army began inducting women into the military police in 2019. The military police’s responsibilities include policing cantonments and army installations, stopping soldiers from breaking rules and regulations and ensuring the movement of soldiers and logistics during peace and conflict.
