Military Digest: Three decades of women officers in Army

The journey of women officers in these three decades in olive green uniform has only recently taken a turn towards their rightful dues with their promotion to selection rank of Colonel and being cleared for command of battalions and regiments.

On March 6, 1993, the first batch of women officers passed out from the Officers Training Academy, Chennai. The city was still known as Madras at the time. Major Priya Jhingan of the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Branch was the first in order or merit in that course and, for years, has spoken up about the career trajectory of women officers in the Army and the challenges they face.

It is a fact that women officers over the years have had to get help from the courts to protect and progress their careers. Judicial intervention was available to them, whether it be the grant of permanent commission or the promotion to the rank of colonel. The higher judiciary led by Delhi High Court and Supreme Court awarded them the relief they sought. The opening up of the National Defence Academy (NDA) to women Cadets has also come only as a result of judicial intervention.

The initial induction of women officers in the JAG branch and Army Education Corps and other services gradually increased to include support arms like Signals, Engineers, Army Air Defence, Military Intelligence and Army Aviation Corps. However, career progression remained limited due to the Short Service Commission that was available to the women Army officers and the lack of a grant of permanent commission. Many career courses crucial for rising higher in rank were not available to women officers. The prestigious Defence Services Staff College has recently granted admission to the first few women officers.

The last 30 years have been quite challenging, given the initial resistance to the idea of women in olive green. Through their persistence and hard work, the women officers have shown that they have the mettle to take on higher responsibility and should not be left to command independent sub-units in the garb of promotion to the rank of Colonel. However, with the women officers now being eligible to command battalions and regiments, the playing field will likely get level, and they will get equal opportunities as their male counterparts.

The Chief of Army Staff’s recent comment that a proposal to induct women officers in the Regiment of Artillery has been made before the government is a welcome step. This will gradually lead to women officers being inducted into a fighting arm like Armoured Corps and then, physical standards permitting, into mechanised infantry and infantry itself. The induction of women cadets in the NDA is an important step in that direction and will set the bar for future physical standards of women officers in demanding roles like combat arms.

It is also heartening to see that the Army brass is also going beyond the symbolism of women officers and now posting them in environments where their male counterparts have been routinely posted. Therefore, from marching women officers in the Republic Day contingent or using them as aides in investiture ceremonies, the focus has now changed to posting them on Siachen Glacier, sending them on UN assignments and giving them assignments of command in field areas like Ladakh.

Apart from expanded roles for women officers in the Army, the experiment of inducting women Other Ranks (ORs) in the Corps of Military Police is also likely to yield to the induction of women ORs in other arms and services too in select roles.

This can only bode well for gender integration in the military, which is essential today when women are granted equal opportunities in all fields of life. The women ORs have already proven themselves in Assam Rifles and Riflewomen and the central police forces, like the BSF and the ITBP.

The women Army officers who served in uniform in the past three decades and are now donning ‘civvies’ are the pathfinders of officers like Colonel Madhu Rana. The trials and tribulations of these ex-Captains, Majors and Lt Colonels have paved the way for women Army officers carrying the Commanding Officer’s cane today. The following 30 years will be better because of them.