Milestone reaches skies! Flt Lt Swati Rathore - 1st woman ever to lead R-Day Parade flypast

Jaipur, Jan 25: Security and defence were considered as male bastions but it is no longer the same. With women empowerment getting witnessed in the defence sector, the perception is changing. This comes as Flight Lieutenant Swati Rathore of the Indian Air Force will be scripting history soon, by becoming the first woman to lead the flypast at Delhi's Rajpath, during the Republic Day parade.

 

  

The 28-year-old IAF officer who hails from Prempura in Nagaur will be flying the Mi-17 V5 with IAF flag in a formation of four choppers. Rathore, who was commissioned in 2014, will be the only woman pilot in this formation of the flypast.

 

 

Earlier, Rathore had participated in a flypast on Air Force Day on October 8 last year. Adding another feather to her cap, she was part of the rescue operation conducted by IAF during the 2018 Kerala floods.

 

 

 

It was in her veins to become an IAF officer since her childhood. In a painting competition, she made a tricolour during her childhood, showing her passionate love for her country. Eventually, her parents pushed her to realise her dream, and she entered the NCC Air Wing after graduation.

 

Swati dreamed of becoming a pilot and was chosen for her first attempt at the IAF in 2014. Her brother is in the Merchant Navy. Rajesh Kanwar, her mother, says she never treated her son and daughter differently.

 

Swati appeared in the Air Force Common Admission Exam, in 2013. She was called for an interview in March 2014, by the Air Force Selection Board, Dehradun, after clearing it.

 

Surprisingly, there were approximately 200 female students from all over the country, according to her, out of which 98 were selected for screening. After the screening, only five students were left, from which only she was chosen for the flying branch.

 

Tweeting about the upcoming event, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, wrote, 'It is a matter of pride for all of us that the daughter of Veerbhoomi #Rajasthan and Flight Lieutenant of Air Force #SwatiRathore will lead the ‘Fly Past’ in the parade on Rajpath on the occasion of Republic Day. I wish her a bright future!’.

 

 

Congratulations to Swati for making her family and country proud!