New Delhi: Another golden chapter in women empowerment, Captain Abhilasha Barak from Haryana, on Wednesday, May 25, has become the first woman combat aviator in the Indian Army.
Captain Barak graduated in a ceremony held at the Combat Army Aviation Training School in Nashik. D G of Army Aviation, A K Suri, was the chief guest at the event.
The 26-year-old officer was commissioned into the Army Air Defence Corps in September 2018.
During the ceremony, she was awarded the coveted “wings” along with 36 army pilots by the director-general of army aviation.
Captain Abhilasha Barak belongs to a family of army personnel.
“While growing up in military Cantonments, and being surrounded by people in uniform, it always seemed like an ordinary affair. I never realised it 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,” Captain Barak said in an in-house interview shared recently by the Indian Army.
Captain Abhilasha is the daughter of Col (retd) S. Om Singh.
The Army Aviation Corps is a component of the Army that was formed in November 1986. The corps has expanded exponentially with the addition of new units and equipment such as the Cheetah Dhruv, Rudra light combat helicopter and remotely piloted aircraft.
