Historic first: Batch of five women Army officers commissioned into Regiment of Artillery; three posted to units along LAC

In a historic first the Indian Army has inducted five women officers into its Regiment of Artillery and three of them have been posted to frontline formations along the Line of Actual Control LAC with China military sources said on SaturdayLt Mehak Saini Lt Sakshi Dubey Lt Aditi Yadav Lt Pious Mudgil and Lt Akanksha have joined the Armys premier artillery units after successfully completing their training at the Officers Training Academy OTA in ChennaiOut of the five women officers three are posted to units deployed along the borders with China and the other two in challenging locations near the frontier with Pakistan the sources saidThe Regiment of Artillery is a major combat support arm and it has around 280 units that handle various gun systems including Bofors howitzers Dhanush M777 howitzers and K9 Vajra selfpropelled gunsThe sources said the young women officers are being posted to all types of key artillery units where they will get adequate training and exposure to handle rockets field and surveillance and target acquisition SATA systems as well as key equipment in challenging conditionsLt Saini has been commissioned into a SATA regiment Lt Dubey and Lt Yadav into field regiments Lt Mudgil into a medium regiment and Lt Akanksha has been inducted into a rocket regiment they saidAlso readBhiwandi building collapse Three including fiveyearold dead 11 rescuedThe commissioning of women officers into the Regiment of Artillery is a testament to the ongoing transformation in the Indian Army a source saidIn January Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande announced the decision of commissioning women officers into artillery units The proposal was later approved by the governmentThe Indian Army has expanded the role of women by allowing women officers into the Regiment of Artillery Five Women Officers have joined the Regiment of Artillery after successful completion of training at the Officers Training Academy OTA in Chennai on April 29 the source saidThe women officers WOsare being provided exactly the same opportunities and challenges as their male counterparts said an officialNineteen male officers have also been commissioned into the artillery units after completion of the training at the OTA The passing out parade at the OTA took place on SaturdayThe culmination of the passing out parade was the moment of commissioning when the young women cadets took the oath of allegiance to the Constitution and received their rank insignia signifying their entry into the Regiment of Artillery the official saidThe ceremony was attended by senior military officials including Lt Gen Adosh Kumar Colonel Commandant and Director General of Artillery Designate other dignitaries and family members of the newly commissioned officersThis significant event marked a major milestone in the journey of women officers in the Indian Army who have been breaking barriers to serve their country with valour and distinction the official cited above saidIn a significant move the Army in 2019 began the process of inducting women into the military policeThe role of the military police includes policing cantonments and army establishments preventing breach of rules and regulations by soldiers maintaining movement of soldiers as well as logistics during peace and war and extending aid to civil police whenever requiredIn January Captain Shiva Chauhan from the Armys Corps of Engineers was posted at a frontline post in Siachen Glacier in the first such operational deployment of an woman Army officer at the worlds highest battlefieldThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever