Shaliza Dhami becomes the first woman officer in the Indian Air Force to command a combat unit

Group Captain Shaliza Dhami has been chosen by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to assume command of a front-line combat unit in the Western area. She will be the first female commander of an IAF combat unit. Sources stated she will be in charge of a missile facility in Punjab, close to the Pakistan-India border. The missile unit's job is to provide air defence.

Group Captain Dhami has more than 2800 hours of flying experience and was commissioned as a helicopter pilot in the year 2003. She has held the position of flight commander of a helicopter unit in the Western sector, indicating that she was the second in charge of the unit. She is a trained flying instructor.

Shaliza Dhami becomes the first woman officer

The officer is currently assigned to the Operations division of a frontline Command Headquarters and has received two commendations from the Air Commander Commanding-in-Chief.

History Being Scripted

Shaliza Dhami, a group captain, is ready to take control of a front-line combat unit engaged in conflict with Pakistan in the western region. She will make history as the IAF's first female pilot. On March 27, Dhami will assume command of a Pechora surface-to-air missile unit in Punjab.

Current Number of women in Forces

There are currently 18 women flying fighters in the IAF, including brand-new Rafales and MiG-21s, MiG-29s, and Sukhoi-30MKIs. About 30 female officers have been assigned to frontline warships by the Navy. The IAF, Army, and Navy all have more than 145 female helicopter and transport pilots.

Although women have been commissioned as officers into the more than 14 lakh-strong armed services since the early 1990s, they make up just over 3,900 of the 65,000-strong officer cadre (about 1,710 in the Army, 1,650 in the IAF, and 600 in the Navy). In the military medical stream, there are around 1,670 female doctors, 190 female dentists, and 4,750 female nurses.