Group Captain Shaliza Dhami: IAF pilot from Ludhiana 1st woman to lead combat unit

New Delhi, March 7

Group Captain Shaliza Dhami of the Indian Air Force (IAF) today created history. She has been selected to command a frontline combat unit of the force along the western sector. She will be the first woman in the three services to command a combat unit.

Group Captain Dhami, hailing from Ludhiana, will command a missile unit near India-Pakistan border in Punjab, sources said. The missile unit, tasked for an air defence role, has surface-to-air-missiles in its arsenal. Ground-based missile units are the first line of defence to tackle any air intrusion from the western front – Pakistan. Group Captain Dhami was commissioned in the IAF in 2003 as a helicopter pilot and has over 2,800 hours of flying experience. A Qualified Flying Instructor, she has served as Flight Commander of a helicopter unit in the western sector, meaning she was the second-in-command. The officer has done schooling from the government school on Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) campus, and higher studies from Khalsa College for Women in Ludhiana.

She was commended by the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief on two occasions, and is at present posted in the operations branch of a frontline command. Women have been inducted in the Indian Air Force for more than 30 years.

Alumna of Khalsa College for women

Commissioned in 2003 as copter pilot, Gp Capt Shaliza Dhami studied in Khalsa College for Women in Ludhiana