NEW DELHI: Five women, who were commissioned as officers in the Indian Army today, have been inducted into the Regiment of Artillery making them the firsts to join a “major combat support” arm of the Army.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Rekha Singh, wife of gallantry award-winning Army soldier Naik Deepak Singh who lost his life in the Galwan clash with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh in June 2020, was today commissioned into the Indian Army as an officer and has been posted to Ladakh.
The five women who were commissioned today completed their training at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai. Three of these officers have been posted to units deployed along northern borders (with China) and the other two at locations in the Western Theatre (facing Pakistan).
Lt Mehak Saini was commissioned into a SATA regiment, Lt Sakshi Dubey and Lt Aditi Yadav into field regiments, Lt Pious Mudgil got commissioned into a medium regiment and Lt Akanksha was commissioned into a rocket regiment.
Though the artillery is classified as a “combat support arm”, most of its regiments are forward deployed. These young women officers will get adequate training and exposure to handle rockets, medium guns, field guns and surveillance and target acquisition (SATA) equipment.
The women officers being commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery are being provided exactly the same opportunities and challenges as their male counterparts. As many as 19 male officers have also been commissioned into the artillery, Army officials said. In January, Army Chief General Manoj Pande had announced the decision of commissioning women officers into the artillery. It was later approved by the government.