23-year-old from Kolhapur makes history as first woman TA officer to complete pre-commissioning training at IMA

“Sai always wanted to join the armed forces since she was in school. However when she joined college, this thought crystalised and she started preparing for her dream. An entrance exam for the TA was held in December 2023. She scored very good marks and got a call from the Services Selection Board (SSB). She cleared the SSB interview with first rank. Since there was just one vacancy for TA entry for women officers, she secured that position. She subsequently joined the IMA on July 4 earlier this year for her pre-commissioning training,” her mother said.

Lt Sai is the first woman TA officer to have completed her pre-commissioning training at the prestigious IMA. Prior to this, some women officers have done their post commissioning training at the IMA, officials said. When asked about the armed forces background in Sai’s family, her mother said, “Her great grandfather served with the British Indian Army, her father’s maternal uncle was in the Indian Air Force and her father is serving in the TA. So she is the fourth generation to don the armed forces uniform.”

Six months from now, the IMA will witness another historic moment when Army cadets from the first batch of women cadets of the NDA, who passed out in May this year, are commissioned in May next year. In May this year, a total of 336 cadets including 17 female cadets from the 148th course passed out of the NDA and then moved to their pre commissioning training academies — IMA for Army, Indian Naval Academy (INA) at Ezhimala or the Air Force Academy (AFA) at Dundigal.