New Delhi: Captain Abhilasha Barak on Wednesday became the first woman officer to join the Army Aviation Corps as a Combat Aviator.
Described as the ‘Golden Letter Day’ for the Indian Army, Captain Barak was honored with the prestigious Wings along with 36 Army Pilots by the Director General and Colonel Commandant Army Aviation during a valedictory function held at Combat Army Aviation Training School, Nashik.
Till now, unlike the Indian Air Force and Navy, the Flying Branch of the Army did not have women officers. It had women officers in air traffic control for ground duty.
Hailing from Haryana, Captain Barak was commissioned into the Army Air Defense Corps in September 2018.
Before joining the army, he worked as a Business Technology Analyst in Deloitte, US.
Capt Barak is the daughter of Col S Om Singh (Retd) and had completed several professional military courses before joining the Army Aviation Corps.
As a new aviator in the Combat Aviation Squadron, Barak is now ready to receive his posting and will soon fly a helicopter.
Established On 1 November 1986, the Army Aviation Corps was first deployed in Jaffna in 1987 in India’s battle with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), known as ‘Operation Pawan’. He flew Chetak and Cheetah helicopters developed by HAL.
Today the Corps and their helicopters operate at altitudes above areas such as the Siachen Glacier.
Army Aviation Corps is one of the youngest corps The Indian Army operates a fleet of more Chetak, Cheetah, Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) Dhruv, and Rudra helicopters.
The main roles of helicopters include assault, observation, reconnaissance, evacuation of casualties, load drop as well as search and rescue operations.
Read also: As drones usher in a new era of warfare, India’s burgeoning UAV industry begins to take off