Captain Abhilasha Barak on Wednesday became the first woman officer in history to join the Army Aviation Corps as a Combat Aviator after successful completion of training.
She has been awarded the coveted wings along with 36 Army pilots by Director General and Colonel Commandant Army Aviation.
Sharing the pictures from the event on Twitter, Indian Army tweeted, “Golden Letter Day in the history of Indian Army Aviation.”
Earlier, women were only part of ground duties in the Army Aviation Corps.
The Army Aviation Corps is a component of the Indian Army which was formed on November 1, 1986 and was immediately inducted into “Operation Pawan” which was a crucial test for the newly formed corps.
The corps is headed by a director general at army headquarters in New Delhi.
Last year, then Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane had said that women will be inducted as pilots in the Army Aviation Corps from 2022. He had also said that women pilots would be flying helicopters to forward locations and be part of operations at the borders.
Army Aviation Corps primarily carry out the evacuation of injured troops during operations or health emergencies in high altitude areas.Their choppers are also used for reconnaissance, observation, casualty evacuation, essential load drops, and combat search and rescue.
