Group Captain Shaliza Dhami Becomes First Woman To Command An IAF Combat Unit

On International Women’s Day, March 8, Group Captain Shaliza Dhami created history by becoming the first woman in all three armed forces to command an Indian Air Force combat unit. It is a frontline combat unit in the Western sector that faces Pakistan. She is stationed in the operations branch of a frontline command headquarters.

Bharat Bhushan Babu, spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence, tweeted, "Commissioned as a helicopter pilot in 2003, Gp Capt Shaliza Dhami is selected by #IAF to take over command of a frontline combat unit in the Western sector. With over 2800 hrs of flying experience, the Officer is commended by AOC-in-C on two occasions."

Group Capt. Shaliza Dhami’s Journey

Commissioned as helicopter pilot in 2003, Gp Capt Shaliza Dhami is selected by #IAF to take over command of a frontline combat unit in the Western sector. With over 2800 hrs of flying experience, the Officer is commended by AOC-in-C on two occasions.@giridhararamane@IAF_MCCpic.twitter.com/cJ5RXQfh9h

— A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) March 7, 2023

Commissioned as a helicopter pilot in 2003, Group Captain Dhami has over 2,800 hours of flying experience. She has flown helicopters like Cheetah and Chetak. She is a qualified flying instructor who has served as the commander of a Chetak unit at the Hindon air base. She was the first Indian Air Force woman officer to hold the position.

Group Captain Dhami has been commended twice by the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the past. She has carried out many rescue operations and undertaken flood relief missions as well.

Personal Life

Group Captain Dhami was born to parents who worked in government services. She hails from Ludhiana and decided to join the Indian Air Force very early on. He followed her dream more rigorously after becoming a cadet of the NCC (National Cadet Corps).

The officer is married to Vineet Joshi, a helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force.

Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (Retd.), former Additional Director General of the think tank Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), congratulated the officer on her achievements on Twitter and wrote, “Her younger brother was with us in CAPS, now an Assistant Professor in Imphal.”

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Women In The Indian Air Force

In 2016, the Indian Air Force started including women officers. The first batch had three women fighter pilots. Currently, they are flying Su-30MKI, MiG-21, and Rafale. This news of Group Captain Dhami's recent achievements came into light only a few weeks after the Army cleared at least 108 women officers for the rank of Colonel (selection grade). It would make them eligible for commanding roles.

The Indian Navy also started commissioning women officers on the frontline ships which were no-go zones for females. Women have also started taking commanding roles in the Indian Army as well. It has the largest number of female officers (1,705). They are serving as engineers in, Army Service Corps, mechanical engineers, electronics engineers, signals and Army Ordnance Corps among others.

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Indian armed forces have 10,493 women officers now. The majority of them are serving as medical officers. The Indian Air Force has 1,640 and the Indian Navy has 559 women officers respectively.