First IAF woman officer to command frontline Unit

In News

• Shaliza Dhami has become the first woman officer in the Indian Air Force to command a front line combat unit and will command a missile squadron in the Western sector.

About

• Missile squadron is equipped with systems capable of defeating airborne threats, including fighter jets, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, flying at low to high altitudes.

Women in Command

• Women are largely administrative appointments unlike the regular arms and services where Colonels command officers and men and lead them from the front. A Commanding Officer (CO) is a very coveted position in the Army and therein lies its significance in it being opened up for women.
• The latest development also comes two months after the army deployed a woman officer, Captain Shiva Chouhan, on the Siachen glacier for the first time and weeks after the Indian Army selected 108 women officers for promotion from Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel. 
• More frontiers have been opened for women in the military in the last seven to eight years than the two preceding decades. Gender barriers have been knocked down across the three services.
• One of the turning points for women in the military came in 2015 when the IAF decided to induct them into the fighter stream for the first time. 
• Women are not just flying fighter jets, they are flying the latest transport planes such as the C-17s and C-130Js, eligible for permanent commission, assuming command roles, serving in extreme high-altitude areas, undergoing training at the National Defence Academy, and being inducted in the personnel below officer cadre (PBOR).
• Women are soon expected to be serving aboard submarines. However, tanks and combat positions in infantry are still no-go zones for women.

IE