By Vaibhav Agrawal
On Wednesday, 26 year old Captain Abhilasha Barak became the first woman combat aviator of the Indian Army.
Captain Abhilasha Barak graduated at a ceremony conducted at the Combat Army Aviation Training School, Nashik. She also stands as an alumnus of The Lawrence School, Sanawar while in 2016, Cpt. Barak completed her graduation in B Tech in the field of Electronics and Communication Engineering from Delhi Technological University post which she was placed at Deloitte, United States of America.
Captain Abhilasha Barak was commissioned into the Indian Army from the Officers Training Academy at Chennai back in 2018 and she was selected as a Contingent Commander for Presentation of Colours to Army Air Defence by President Ram Nath Kovind during her attachment with Corps of Army Air Defence.
In a recent interview, Cpt. Barak said “While growing up in military Cantonments, and being surrounded by people in uniform, it always seemed like an ordinary affair. I never realised it (that it was different) until our family moved out of the military life, after my father’s retirement in 2011. The feeling only grew stronger after seeing my elder brother’s passing out parade at Indian Military Academy in 2013. That was the moment I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,”
Officials familiar with the matter said that Abhilasha has been tasked to the second flight of the 2072 Army Aviation Squadron which operates Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter.
Women officers in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy (IN) have been serving for long by flying helicopters but the Indian Army decided to allow women to opt for its aviation wing in early 2021.
