Indian Air Force’s Wing Commander S Dhami has written a new success story for herself after she became the first female officer in India to become the flight commander of a flying unit.
As per the news agency ANI, the Ludhiyana native S Dhami has been recruited as the Flight Commander of a Chetak helicopter unit at Hindon airbase. To note that the flight Commander is the second one in command of the unit.
The Wing Commander is a permanent commission officer belonging to the flying branch in the Air Force and has been flying choppers.
Dhami who has clocked over 2300 hours of flying, was also the Indian Air Force’s first-ever female qualified flying instructor for Chetak and Cheetah helicopters.
Dhami who has served in the IAF for over 15 years was also the first woman officer to be granted permanent commission for a long term contract.
Her promotion as Flight Commander is steering a step closer towards women officers commanding units and formations in the service.
In the past few years, women officers have been making stupendous progress in the fields which were once deemed a male bastion.
In May this year, Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh scripted history after she became the first woman pilot of the IAF, to become operational on a Hawk advanced jet aircraft.
This year also saw yet another significant achievement after Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth became the first woman to qualify for combat missions on a fighter jet.
Bhawana who was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as one of the first women fighter pilots in the year 2016 joined the fighter squadron in 2017. She flew solo on MiG-21 Bison in 2018 and is now posted at the Nal base in Rajasthan’s Bikaner.