Women cadets' squadron at National Defence Academy to be named Sierra

By Anish Kumar | First Published Dec 2, 2021, 12:28 PM IST

Sources it will take three years for their squadron to be operationalised.

A total of 19 woman cadets will be trained at National Defence Academy from June next year, sources in the defence establishment have told Asianet Newsable. Sources it will take three years for their squadron to be operationalised. This squadron of women cadets would be named Sierra.

The induction of women cadets into the National Defence Academy comes after the government informed the Supreme Court in September that women can join the armed forces training institute. The government wanted their entry to be delayed by a year but the Apex court turned down their plea and said that this step needed to be taken from this very session.

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The first-ever batch of 19 women cadets will comprise of 10 cadets who will be trained for the Indian Army, six for Indian Air Force and the remaining will be trained for the Indian Navy. During the 3-year training course, there are two terms in a year and in each term, the same number of women cadets will be taken in.

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In the next three years, a separate squadron for woman cadets will be created. The squadron will comprise 110-120 cadets. So far, the National Defence Academy has 18 squadrons and 19th would come into force after three years.

Keeping in mind the induction of women, the National Defence Academy has made changes in its infrastructure by creating separate enclosures, cabins, additional washrooms among others. An official said that the prefab shelter has been created wherein all sorts of facilities have been provided. A woman officer and woman doctor will also be deployed there.

Prior to their entry into the National Defence Academy, the physical training and drill masters will be trained at OTA Chennai as per the training standards required for the woman cadets. On October 29, Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane had said in Pune that the entry of woman cadets in the NDA was the first step towards gender equality in the armed forces.

Gen Naravane said that the training for woman cadets will be at par with their men counterparts but that would be a little different. He had further added that 40 years down the line there could be a woman officer on his post.

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