Shaliza Dhami
Group Captain Shaliza Dhami 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.
Career
Born in Ludhiana, Punjab. Dhami holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electronics and Communication. 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, and was promoted to flight lieutenant on 20 December 2005 and to squadron leader on 20 December 2009.Promoted to wing commander on 20 December 2016, Dhami became a Flight Commander in August 2019, the first woman officer in India to do so. She is a flight commander of a Chetak helicopter unit at Hindan Air Force Station. 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. She was selected for promotion to group captain, effective from 28 December 2021, 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.