IAF appoints Shaliza as 1st female commander of combat unit

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force has selected Group Captain Shaliza Dhami to take over command of a frontline combat unit in the Western sector.

Group Captain Dhami was commissioned in the year 2003 as a Helicopter pilot and has over 2800 hours of flying experience. A Qualified Flying Instructor, she has served as Flight Commander of a Helicopter Unit in the Western sector.

Having been commended by the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief on two occasions, the officer is presently posted in the Operations branch of a frontline Command Headquarters.

Capt Shraddha Shivdavkar who was posted as an Army Air Defence officer in Jalandhar, she was living her dream but something still felt missing in her life.

In 2021, she saw Army Aviation recruiting women officers as pilot in the helicopter fleet and those words from the Colonel rung her ears again. After a healthy amount of convincing to her Commanding Officer, she applied for the Pilot Course and is currently undergoing the course in Combat Army Aviation Training School, Nashik

She is expected to complete her course in November 2023 and become one of the few Women Officers in the Indian Army to wear those wings. Lt Hansja Sharma currently posted to 661 Army Aviation Sqn (R&O), Jalandhar undergoing training to don the coveted wings at Army Pilots' Course-33, the third batch that includes Women Officers at CATS, Nasik.

She is getting trained to become an Army Pilot at Combat Army Aviation Training School, Nasik.

"The veins fill with enthusiasm and I can feel the zeal gushing through my veins when I think how far I have come and how far is this journey going to take me," she says remarking about the Women in Forces.

Lt Kritee Saxena a first-generation Army officer completed her training from Officers Training Academy, Chennai, on November 21, 2020 and got commissioned into Army Aviation.

She has been an active participant in co-curricular activities and has displayed a flair for literature by being an editorial member of journals at college, the Officers Training Academy, and during her course after being commissioned into service.

She has represented India at Global Students Forum, and World Engineering Education Forum twice at Italy and South Korea respectively before joining the Army.