Was commissioned in Army Air Defence Corps in September 2018
Twenty-six-year old Captain Abhilasha Barak on Wednesday, May 25, created history by becoming the first woman officer to join Army Aviation Corps as a combat aviator, reports in The Tribune, Chandigarh, and the Indian Express say.
In 2018, she was commissioned in the Indian Army from the Officers Training Academy, Chennai. During her attachment with Corps of Army Air Defence, she was selected as a Contingent Commander for Presentation of Colours to Army Air Defence by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Capt. Abhilasha has completed her six months of combat Army Aviation Course. She was awarded the coveted wings along with 36 Army Pilots on Thursday, May 26, by Director General Lt General AK Suri, Commandant, Army Aviation, at a valedictory ceremony held at Combat Army Aviation Training School, Nashik.
Having grown up in military Cantonments across the country, joining the forces was a natural career choice for Captain Abhilasha Barak.
“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,” Captain Barak said in an in-house interview shared recently by the Indian Army.
She achieved ‘A’ grading in Army Air Defence Young officers course, 75.70 per cent in Air Traffic Management and Air Laws course and passed the promotional exam, Part B, in her first attempt.
“After completing my training from Officers Training Academy, Chennai, in 2018, I opted for Army Aviation Corps. As I was filling the form, I knew I was eligible for only ground duty role but I ended up mentioning that I had qualified Pilot Aptitude Battery Test and computerised pilot selection system. Somewhere in my heart, I always knew that the day was not far away when Indian Army would start inducting women as combat pilots,” she said in the interview.
After two years, when the induction of women as pilots was announced, it all came full circle for Captain Barak. “Not many people know this, but in 1987, during Operation Meghdoot, my father was leading a patrolling party from Amar Post to Bana Top Post (earlier Quaid Post). Owing to bad weather, he suffered from Cerebral Odema and was brought back to Amar Post, from where he was evacuated right in time. He owes his life to the Army Aviation Corps and hence, so do I,” according to excerpts of the interview.
Captain Barak is an alumnus of The Lawrence School, Sanawar. She completed her graduation in B Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Delhi Technological University in 2016 and was placed at Deloitte, USA.
Her father Col S Om Singh (retd) served in the J&K Light infantry. Capt Barak’s family is settled in Panchkula, Haryana.
The IAF has had women copter pilots for almost 30 years, the Coast Guard also has women copter pilots. The Navy has pilots flying surveillance planes like the drones but does not have copter pilots.
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