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Women in combat

Women in combat

Woman pilot to fly Rafale, two others to fly choppers from Navy warships. Finally, the glass ceiling has been broken

Women in India have something to be extremely proud of as Avani Chaturvedi, a young fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF), will soon be part of the crew flying the newly-inducted Rafale fleet. She is now undergoing training to fly India’s latest acquisition and is part of a three-member women team commissioned as flying officers in July 2016, less than a year after the Government decided to open the fighter stream for women. The first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo, she has been flying MiG-21s for a while now. However, India has been a bit late in entrusting the nation’s safety to its daughters. Because this small and elite league of extraordinary women is led by Turkish aviator Sabiha Gökçen, who in 1937 flew fighter airplanes into war zones and dropped bombs on rebel camps. This was a time when women weren’t even allowed to become air force pilots, forget flying fighters. At the young age of 24, Gökçen became the world’s first-ever woman to participate in a national military operation. That a woman from a predominantly Western Asian country, with a small part straddling south Europe, was the first to do so says much about the region’s leadership at that time as even in the “free world”, namely the US, women were not allowed to serve as jet pilots until about 50 years later in 1976. And it took a few more years for women in the US to do what Gökçen could as Jeannie Leavitt became the first woman fighter pilot in 1993. It’s a sad statement on gender parity in the Indian security forces that it took over six decades for them to send a woman into combat. It was in 1999 during the Kargil War that India allowed Gunjan Saxena to fly into a war zone on a chopper. Too late and too little, the IAF has 10 women fighter pilots and 18 women navigators and the total strength of women officers serving in the IAF is 1,875 as the force continues to induct and deploy them as per strategic needs and operational requirements. Now, the Golden Arrows squadron that was raised on October 1, 1951, will have its first woman fighter pilot. Two women will also fly Navy choppers in frontline positions on Navy warships. A rather slow start. This in a country that has had a woman Prime Minister, a woman President and many women Chief Ministers and Governors, leaving behind a so-called developed country like the US, which is yet to have its first woman President. So while the much-maligned world of politics has been more inclusive, the gallant security forces have not been as welcoming of the other half.

Thanks to the Supreme Court, women officers in the Army can now get command positions on par with male officers and break the glass ceiling in the forces. However, the sad part is that they had to fight for it legally rather than being naturalised in the just order of things, considering that they were inducted in the Army way back in 1992, a long 28 years ago. The court also underlined the need for a mindset change in the evolutionary flow of changing times, not just in the Army but everywhere. It had said, “Physiological features of women have no link to their rights. Women work shoulder to shoulder with men.” Women officers in the forces, like their male counterparts, give up on all familial commitments to be part of the Army. They, too, undergo the same rigorous selection and training procedures as their male peers. If women have made it through all kinds of selection criteria, then they should at least be given a chance to prove their mettle. Not benched.

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)

Women in combat

Women in combat

Woman pilot to fly Rafale, two others to fly choppers from Navy warships. Finally, the glass ceiling has been broken

Women in India have something to be extremely proud of as Avani Chaturvedi, a young fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF), will soon be part of the crew flying the newly-inducted Rafale fleet. She is now undergoing training to fly India’s latest acquisition and is part of a three-member women team commissioned as flying officers in July 2016, less than a year after the Government decided to open the fighter stream for women. The first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo, she has been flying MiG-21s for a while now. However, India has been a bit late in entrusting the nation’s safety to its daughters. Because this small and elite league of extraordinary women is led by Turkish aviator Sabiha Gökçen, who in 1937 flew fighter airplanes into war zones and dropped bombs on rebel camps. This was a time when women weren’t even allowed to become air force pilots, forget flying fighters. At the young age of 24, Gökçen became the world’s first-ever woman to participate in a national military operation. That a woman from a predominantly Western Asian country, with a small part straddling south Europe, was the first to do so says much about the region’s leadership at that time as even in the “free world”, namely the US, women were not allowed to serve as jet pilots until about 50 years later in 1976. And it took a few more years for women in the US to do what Gökçen could as Jeannie Leavitt became the first woman fighter pilot in 1993. It’s a sad statement on gender parity in the Indian security forces that it took over six decades for them to send a woman into combat. It was in 1999 during the Kargil War that India allowed Gunjan Saxena to fly into a war zone on a chopper. Too late and too little, the IAF has 10 women fighter pilots and 18 women navigators and the total strength of women officers serving in the IAF is 1,875 as the force continues to induct and deploy them as per strategic needs and operational requirements. Now, the Golden Arrows squadron that was raised on October 1, 1951, will have its first woman fighter pilot. Two women will also fly Navy choppers in frontline positions on Navy warships. A rather slow start. This in a country that has had a woman Prime Minister, a woman President and many women Chief Ministers and Governors, leaving behind a so-called developed country like the US, which is yet to have its first woman President. So while the much-maligned world of politics has been more inclusive, the gallant security forces have not been as welcoming of the other half.

Thanks to the Supreme Court, women officers in the Army can now get command positions on par with male officers and break the glass ceiling in the forces. However, the sad part is that they had to fight for it legally rather than being naturalised in the just order of things, considering that they were inducted in the Army way back in 1992, a long 28 years ago. The court also underlined the need for a mindset change in the evolutionary flow of changing times, not just in the Army but everywhere. It had said, “Physiological features of women have no link to their rights. Women work shoulder to shoulder with men.” Women officers in the forces, like their male counterparts, give up on all familial commitments to be part of the Army. They, too, undergo the same rigorous selection and training procedures as their male peers. If women have made it through all kinds of selection criteria, then they should at least be given a chance to prove their mettle. Not benched.

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)

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