NEW DELHI: The passing out parade at Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai on Saturday witnessed a pioneering batch as the first five women officers in the Regiment of Artillery have been commissioned.
The batch also included Lieutenant Rekha Singh, wife of the Late Naik Deepak Singh (Nursing Assistant), who made the supreme sacrifice during the Galwan clash in 2020.
Lt Rekha Singh, after a rigorous training of 11 months, was commissioned into the Army Ordnance Corps and has been posted to Ladakh, the same area in which Late Naik (Nursing Assistant) Deepak Singh, Vir Chakra, was killed. Naik Deepak Singh was posted as a nursing assistant in the Army’s Bihar regiment with which the Chinese soldiers clashed in June 2020 in Galwan Valley. Deepak got killed in the clashes and was posthumously conferred the Vir Chakra in 2021 in recognition of his bravery.
The commissioning of women into the Regiment of Artillery, a major combat support arm of the Army, is seen as an expansion of the role of women. The passing out parade of the 186 officers (60 women and 126 men) was reviewed by General SM Shafiuddin, the Army Chief of Bangladesh Army. Bangladesh Army Chief Gen SM Shafiuddin Ahmed is currently in India on a three-day official visit between April 27-29 on the invitation of Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande.
The passing out batch included 126 male officers, 36 Indian women officers and 24 women officers from foreign armies. Of the total, 29 officers from Bhutan were commissioned. Giving details the sources informed, Lieutenant (Lt) Mehak Saini is commissioned into a SATA Regiment, Lt Sakshi Dubey and Lt Aditi Yadav into Field Regiments, Lt Pious Mudgil commissioned into a Medium Regiment and Lt Akanksha commissioned into a Rocket Regiment. In addition, 19 male officers were also commissioned into the Artillery.
They being commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery are being provided the same opportunities and challenges as their male counterparts. These young women officers are being posted to all types of artillery units, where they will get adequate training and exposure to handle Rocket, Medium, Field and Surveillance and Target Acquisition (SATA) and equipment in challenging conditions. Out of the five women officers, three are posted to units deployed along Northern borders and the other two in challenging locations in the Western Theatre.
The ceremony was attended by senior military officials including Lt Gen Adosh Kumar, Colonel Commandant and Director General of Artillery (Designate), other dignitaries and proud family members of the newly-commissioned officers.