Shaliza Dhami | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1982 Ludhiana, Punjab, India |
| Allegiance |  India |
| Service |  Indian Air Force |
| Years of service | 2003–present |
| Rank |  Group Captain |
| Service number | 27773 |
| Spouse(s) | Vineet Joshi [1] |
Group Captain Shaliza Dhami (born c. 1982) [2] is a senior officer in the Indian Air Force (IAF). She is the first woman officer in the IAF to become a Flight Commander and the first to command a front-line combat unit in the IAF. [3] [4] [2] [5] [6]
Born in Ludhiana, Punjab. [4] [7] Dhami holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electronics and Communication. [8] [3] Her first solo flight was in 2003 in a HAL HPT-32 Deepak. She was commissioned as a flying officer in the Air Force on 20 December 2003 on a short-service commission, [9] and was promoted to flight lieutenant on 20 December 2005 and to squadron leader on 20 December 2009. [10] [11]
Promoted to wing commander on 20 December 2016, [12] Dhami became a Flight Commander in August 2019, the first woman officer in India to do so. [4] She is a flight commander of a Chetak helicopter unit at Hindan Air Force Station. [13] She also became the first woman flying instructor of the IAF for Chetak and Cheetah helicopters; this made her the first woman flying instructor in the IAF.
On 18 December 2018, Dhami became the first woman officer in the Indian Air Force to be granted a permanent commission. [14] She was selected for promotion to group captain, effective from 28 December 2021 (seniority from 28 September 2021), [15] thus becoming the first female officer in the Indian Armed Forces to attain a selection-grade rank in a combat arm. In March 2023, she became the first woman selected to command a front-line IAF combat unit. [2]
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