NEW DELHI: Shattering yet another glass ceiling on Wednesday, Captain Abhilasha Barak became the first woman officer to join the Army Aviation Corps of the Indian Army as a combat pilot.
The Indian Army in a statement said, “Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes the first woman officer to join the Army Aviation Corps as a combat aviator after successful completion of the Combat Army Aviation Course.”
Captain Abhilasha was awarded the coveted wings along with 36 Army pilots on Wednesday by Lieutenant General Ajay Kumar Suri, Director General and Colonel Commandant, Army Aviation, during a valedictory ceremony held at Combat Army Aviation Training School, Nashik.
Captain Abhilasha Barak hails from Haryana and was commissioned in the Army Air Defence Corps in September 2018. She is the daughter of Col S Om Singh (Retd). Captain Abhilasha has done a number of professional military courses before joining the Army Aviation Corps.
The Army Aviation Corps became an independent Corps of the Indian Army on 1 November 1986.
The Corps is headed by a Lt Gen rank officer known as Director General of Army Aviation.
Over the years, the corps has expanded exponentially with addition of new units and state of the art equipment like Cheetah Dhruv, Rudra, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and remotely piloted aircraft.
With the motto “Swift and Sure”, the youngest corps of the Indian Army is set to further grow in its tactical importance in the battlefield to take forward its role of force multiplier.