Two women army officers selected to train as combat pilots

The two women are among the 47 army officers who began their training at the Nashik training school on Monday, said a second officer.

Two women army officers have for the first time been selected to train as helicopter pilots at the force’s premier Combat Army Aviation Training School at Nashik in Maharashtra, officials familiar with the development said on Tuesday.

The development comes months after army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane cleared a proposal for allowing women officers to opt for the army’s aviation wing. While women officers in the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy fly helicopters, the Army Aviation Corps only inducted male officers until now. Pilots have to go through a stringent selection process.

“Fifteen women officers volunteered to join army aviation. But only two were selected after the Pilot Aptitude Battery Test (PABT) and medicals,” said one of the officials cited above, asking not to be named.

The two women are among the 47 army officers who began their training at the Nashik training school on Monday, said a second officer. They will join front-line flying duties on completion of their training in July 2022.