In a first, Army commissions five women officers in artillery regiment

Chennai: Indian Army has appointed five women officers to its artillery regiment. After successfully completing their training at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai on April 29, 2023 the women officers joined the Regiment of Artillery.

Official sources told Defence Watch that the women officers who joined the Regiment of Artillery are Lt Mehak Saini, Lt Sakshi Dubey, Lt Aditi Yadav and Lt Pious Mudgil. 

Out 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, reportedly. "The commissioning of women officers into the Regiment of Artillery is a testament to the ongoing transformation in the Indian Army," said the media reports. 

In January 2023, General Manoj Pande, the Chief of Army Staff, announced that a proposal to induct women officers in the Regiment of Artillery had been sent to the government. He said at the time that gender empowerment in the Army is a focus area and that women are expected to do very well in the Artillery.

As of now, Permanent Commissioning is granted to Women Officers in 11 Arms & Services (in addition to Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service). They are Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), Army Education Corps (AEC), Judge Advocate General Branch (JAG Br), Corps of Engineers (ENGRS), Corps of Signals (SIGS), Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Intelligence Corps (Int Corps), Army Air Defence (AAD), Army Aviation, Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC).

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