13 Incredible Women From The Indian Armed Forces Who Inspire Us

India has been making efforts in crushing the gender barrier in its armed forces. Women can now join serve in ground combat positions, onboard submarines and tank units. We can now find extraordinary women working side by side their male officers.

Here is a list of 13 incredible women from the Indian Armed Forces who inspire the younger generation.

1. Punita Arora

General Arora is the first woman in India to hold the second-highest rank in the Indian Army, Lieutenant General as well as the Indian Navy’s first female Vice Admiral. During her 37 years of service, she was rewarded with 15 medals for her outstanding service and leadership.

2. Padmavathy Bandopadhyay

She is the woman of many firsts. She was the Indian Air Force’s Air Marshal, the first woman to become a member of the Aerospace Medical Society, the first ever Indian woman to carry out an experiment in the North Pole’s extreme cold acclimatization.

During the Indo-Pak conflict in 1971, for her remarkable service, she received the Vishisht Seva Medal.

3. Mitali Madhumita

During her time in the Indian Armed Force, Mitali was the first woman to receive the Sena Medal for her bravery. The medal honors officers who show their gallantry and risk their lives serving the army.

In the Kabul Embassy Attack in 2010, Mitali died while saving injured civilians as well as army personnel.

4. Priya Jhingan

In 1992, Priya was the first cadet to serve in the Indian Army, making history. She sent a letter to General Sunith Francis Rodrigues, the Chief of Staff, asking him to allow women to join the army. One year later, she and 24 other new female recruits started their journey. Until today, she still treasures the replying letter that she received and said, “It’s a dream I have lived every day for the last 10 years.”

5. Divya Ajith Kumar

When she was 21, Divya beat 244 other cadets (both males and females) on different tests, from academic to physical ones to become the first woman to earn the coveted “Sword of Honour.”

In 2015, during the Republic Day parade, she led an all-women team of 154 officers.

6. Nivedita Choudhary

Choudhary was the first Flight Lieutenant from the Indian Air Force to conquer Mount Everest. Five days later, the other women in her team including Flight Lieutenant Rajika Sharma, Squadron Leader Nirupama Pandey, reached the peak.

7. Anjana Bhaduria

Bhaduria was the first female officer to get a gold medal. During her training in the Indian Army, she excelled in every field. Her serving time was 10 years.

8. Sophia Qureshi

At the international military exercise, she was the first female officer to lead an army contingent of 40 members. Among all participating countries including USA, Russia, South Korea, China, and Japan, she was the sole woman commander.

9. Deepika Misra

In 2016, Misra was the first IAF female pilot to train for Sarang, the helicopter aerobatic team.

10. Shanti Tigga

When Tigga became the Indian’s Army first female jawan, she was a 35-year-old woman with two kids. During her physical tests, all of her male co-cadets were no match for her in the 1.5km as she completed it 5 seconds faster than them.

11. Ganeve Lalji

Lalji made history as she was the first female officer to be assigned as the aide-de-camp. Only officers who prove their ability to face up to hardships and challenges receive this distinction. In 2013, she became the Army Commander’s key aide.

12. Avani Chaturvedi

Chaturvedi proved that there is no such thing as a man’s job. She was the first Indian female officer to fly a supersonic jet fighter all by herself.

13. Gunjan Saxena and Srividya Rajan

During the Kargil war, the two officers were the first female pilots to fly in the combat zone. With their Cheetah helicopters, they got close to the enemy lines to save wounded soldiers.