Raising up the bar, creating history; Ponung Doming becomes first woman Army officer ranked as Lieutenant Colonel

News Bharati    23-Sep-2019
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New Delhi, September 23: Giving many reasons to be proud of, Northeast has undoubtedly proven to be a gateway of New India. Defining utmost will, determination and hard work, rightly implying nothing is impossible, the women in Northeast are shining high raising up the bar. Making India proud by creating history, Ponung Doming becomes the first woman Army officer from Arunachal Pradesh to be elevated to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army.

 

Revisiting her journey, it was during the year 2008 when Ponung Doming made it into army and joined Officers Training Academy, Chennai. After her getting inducted into Army as Lieutenant in September 2008, she rose to the position of the Major within four and half years. And within a short period of her service, she was deputed in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force mission during April 2014 at Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

Fortunate as she was Doming did not face any grave situation though Congo was a disturbed country. Her duty was divided into six months into two tenures. During the first six months, she was posted as military observer whose duty was to observe the security situation at Congo and to oversee any human right violation by any local authorities like force enforcement authority, availability of schools and colleges, medical facilities etc. In the next six months she was among the team of 27 officers who were responsible for conducting the discipline of entire troupes which was no less a tough job. There were nineteen thousand and seven hundred military forces in the Congo.

Women in armed forces

Giving wings to dream big, Army chief Bipin Rawat abiding to the instructions of PM Modi announced induction of women soldiers in combat role. The women Corps of Military Police (CMP) batch, whose prime responsibility will be policing army cants, will see a hundred women jawans being recruited. Presently, the Army, Navy and Air Force have only women officers, not jawans. Women soldiers are presently under the selection process from thousands of volunteers across the nation and the training of the selected 100 is likely to start in December in Bangaluru.

Indian Army has handpicked four lady officers including Lt Col Nandani to train the first batch of women soldiers who will be inducted into the military police by year-end or early next year. The Colonel Commandant of the Military Police, Lt Gen Ashwani has interviewed Lt Col Nandani in Srinagar for the role of the instructor of the first-ever batch of women soldiers for the Army. There will be more women officers as instructors including Maj Julie who was the instructor to the first batch of women constables in Assam Rifles.

A young woman officer with the Indian Army, Captain Kalpana Kundu, undertook a rare high-altitude patrol in the Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday. Accompanied by her team, medical officer Captain Khandu headed on a crucial patrol in inhospitable and treacherous terrain to provide medical cover to her colleagues deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Breaking the barriers of inequality, India has got its first woman defence attaché at an Indian mission abroad, Wing Commander Anjali Singh. She was trained on MiG-29 aircraft and has served the Indian Air Force for 17 ye