Abhilasha Barak Becomes Indian Army’s First Combat Aviator

June 16, 2022

Abhilasha Barak has become the first woman officer to join the Army Aviation Corps as a combat aviator. The 26-year-old from Haryana completed a year-long training programme at the Combat Army Aviation Training School in Nashik, Maharashtra, and was awarded the coveted ‘wings’ along with 36 army pilots during the graduation ceremony. Barak is the daughter of Retired Colonel S Om Singh and grew up in military cantonments across the country. She was always keen on joining the armed forces. In 2018, Barak was commissioned into the Army Air Defence Corps. Here, she was selected by President Ram Nath Kovind as a contingent commander for the presentation of colours to Army Air Defence.