Flying Officer Gunjan Saxena:First indian woman to fly in war zone of kargil in 1999
Flying Officer Gunjan Saxena is among the few women pilots in the IAF. Saxena was the first Woman IAF Officer to fly in a Combat Zone when she took part in the Kargil conflict. FIFTEEN years ago, when Gunjan Saxena first set foot into the cockpit of an aircraft, she felt as if she had stepped into the sky. It was the momentous beauty outside that became her source of inspiration. It was this inspiration which motivated her to guide her helicopter, dodging artillery shells through the steep valleys of Kargil as a Flying Officer in the Indian Air Force. Presently in Lucknow on a short vacation to visit her parents, the first ever woman lady pilot of Indian Air Force who proved her mettle in Operation Vijay, has not only stepped into celebritydom but maybe also history as the Kargil girl.
Not yet accustomed to the new found celebrity status and all the attention it brings, the diminutive girl in blue jeans and T- shirt could pass off for any young collegian. Says Gunjan matter-of-factly, dismissing it to be a great feat: "It was just by chance that I was posted in Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir at that time and was sent on the operation. I was just doing my work." Modesty and smiles it seems come easy to the 25-year-old, who is quick to admit that it was the constant encouragement of her father which has made her touch the skies, literally. "He would always tell me and my elder brother that he wanted us to ride from a tricycle to an airplane. And when as a fifth grader I was shown a cockpit by a cousin who happened to be an Indian Airlines pilot, I decided that I only wanted to fly," says she, adding that following her schooling she moved on to New Delhi to join the Safdarjung Flying Club while doing her graduation from Hansraj College.
Commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 1996, Gunjan has since then been posted in Udhampur and included in Kargil operations due to her familiarity with the sector. "Our job is primarily FAC (Forward Area Control) guiding fighters to recognise target, casualty evacuation and air maintenance. During the Kargil operations we had to fly 7 to 8 sorties every day and it was always there at the back of our mind that someone was desperately waiting for us and even if we are late by a couple of minutes, it might cost a life," she said, pointing out that all through the Kargil operations she had to fly the chopper through the valleys and watch artillery shells fall left and right. And the most memorable moment for her was when she saw the first shell fall. "It was June 5, I remember walking towards the helipad with another officer and my brother who is in the Army and was posted at Kargil at that time. We heard a strange sound which I had never heard before, and my brother said that a shell will fall nearby. A few moments later it fell a kilometre away, and of course from then onwards I got rather accustomed to the sound," she says with a laugh. "I was just a part of the rotating crew and doing my job when the press people started coming. `Outlook' first took my interview and then the other newspapers," she remarked, showing the October issue of `Savvy' magazine with her on the cover as the Savvy woman of the month.
One of the pioneering lady pilots among the 25 to 30 odd ones in the IAF, Gunjan opted for the helicopter section rather than the transportation division. "I can do mountain flying, sea flying and desert flying and visit places nobody has ever been to. The Cheetah helicopter I fly is very versatile and can land on even very small makeshift helipads," Gunjan adds with all enthusiasm. But then, she reminds, the job is not as rosy as many people think. "Even the training itself requires a lot of physical as well as mental resilience. And then even on the job people do not know how to react to you, and one has to also sometimes face bias," says she, remembering to add that any girl opting for the air force should be totally oriented and dedicated for the job.
Life is of course not without its share of amusing incidents. Gunjan recounts the attention she got after flying with a senior officer to a remote Kashmir village. A large number of villagers turned up, only to see what a woman pilot looks like! "Yet another funny incident was after my photograph appeared in `Outlook' which featured me with an AK-47 which we normally carried during the war. I actually had people asking me on the streets that where was my AK-47," says Gunjan with an uproarious laughter. A frequent visitor to Lucknow where her parents settled a few years back, what Gunjan never misses out on her vacations is the `basket chaat' and `kulfi faluda', before flying off to touch the sky.
Flight Lieutenant Supriya Gurjar
For a girl who had always dreamt of taking to the air, setting a precedent in the scintillating world of flying was nothing out of the blue. At the height of Operation Vijay, Flight Lieutenant Supriya Gurjar of No 48 Squadron here, became the first woman pilot to command an operational sortie to the world's two highest airfields - Thoise and Leh. She is among the three women pilots posted at the Chandigarh Air Force Station, all of whom fly AN-32 transport aircraft. Never before has a woman pilot captained a military transport or a commercial aircraft landing at such an altitude. Though women pilots, both IAF and civil, have been flying to these airfields, both located at over 10,000 meters above sea-level, heretofore they had not flown there "solo", which implies that they have never issued inflight instructions or shouldered full responsibility for a sortie.
Flt Lt Supriya flew solo to Thoise on June 19, with an aircrew of four and a mixed load of supplies and armed forces personnel. The next day she was again in the left hand captain's seat on a sortie to Leh. "The orders to fly solo come more as a relief than an apprehension," said the 26-year-old flier who logs an average of 70 flying hours a month. "The flight was generally uneventful, the only problem being that wind turbulence in Thoise Valley had increased by about 15 knots during approach." With a war on, there was, however, little time for any celebration. "I knew that it was a precedent, but there are so many more important things on your mind," she said. On her feelings after touchdown, she said: "My colleagues congratulated me, but with operational commitments, there was little time to think about anything else." Her husband, Flt Lt Shreya Shukla, too had been on deployment in Kargil at that time.
Daughter of a Pune-based consultant and married to a fighter pilot, who also happens to be posted at Chandigarh, Flt Lt Supriya is the first in her family to opt for a career in the Services. "My father used to take me to the airshows in Pune when I was a kid. I remember MiG-21s being based there then and the aerobatics they performed were enthralling. Ever since I had dreamt of being at the controls of an aircraft," she said. She said she had planned to go in for commercial flying, but by the time her graduation was nearing completion, the Air Force had opened the Flying Branch to women. "Although entry of women officers for ground duty had already been on for some time, I had not opted for that because I was interested only in flying," she said. Belonging to the 2nd Batch of IAF women pilots, she was commissioned into the IAF in June 1995. "Flying in the mountains is a challenge because of the weather and the terrain. It is also the feeling you get on drop sorties -- when you communicate with the eager troops retrieving the supplies -- you feel satisfied that you are doing your bit for the chaps on the ground," she remarked.
Flt. Lt. Archana Kapoor
"IAF - It's All Fun". Those were the words of my father, which inspired me to join the Air Force Academy in July 1993 as part of the first batch of women pilots in the Indian Air Force. 17th December 1994 was the culmination of one and a half years of hard work. It was also the day when I felt special pride as my father watched me don the same uniform and wings that he once wore.
The training in the air force is an experience in itself. It combines moments of fun with unrelenting pressure to perform. The training endeavours to make us professionals as well as good officers. Living together with trainees from all over the country from different backgrounds instills a great sense of camaraderie amongst us. This is the hallmark of the defence services and therefore sets it apart from any other career. The rigorous routine of physical training, flying training and social manners creates the final product of a well-groomed air force officer. The actual challenge for me began once I joined my unit as a commissioned officer. I knew that I was stepping into what had been a male domain for over 60 years. It was important for me to make a place for myself. It was a challenge for me to be just one woman working amongst so many men. A majority of my colleagues and seniors welcomed me with great enthusiasm and helped me feel comfortable and at home.
There were also those who initially had reservations towards my presence. That was understandable, but soon they too accepted me as a colleague. It is important to understand that above the occupation of a pilot is that of an officer. While flying is one part of the job, the other as an officer entails a whole gamut of activities such as conducting oneself in a pleasant manner while dealing with matters which require compassion and equally stern with matters of professional concern like flying, where there is no room for complacency. Over the years, I have grown in experience and confidence as an administrator as well as a manager of men and resources. The job as a pilot in the air force has been a very satisfying experience for me. It generates tremendous sense of pride in me to know that I have been flying with an institution that excels in it. Military aviation being very different from the civil, the varied requirements give an excellent opportunity to experience the thrill of flying in different roles. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have performed aerobatics on jets and also experienced the adventure of landing on far-flung airfields all over the country.
Monotony is a word redundant in the context of flying in the Air Force. It is pertinent to say that the job is not an easy one as you lead your men by example. Flying, as a job, requires tremendous concentration and discipline due to the risk involved. It also requires continuous updating of knowledge to keep abreast with the latest developments. I have flown for over 1400 hours, and today, I can confidently say that my acceptability has grown and I too am well adjusted within the organisation. Besides being an officer and a pilot, I am also a wife and a mother. My help and support comes from my husband, Flt Lt AK Yadav who is the perfect gentleman, officer and pilot. He has been a pillar of strength whose encouragement eggs me on to continue doing well in my job as well as at home. He puts in an equal, if not more, effort in ensuring that our child and home is well looked after. At the same time, both our parents also render us maximum support, which makes it easier for us to perform our duties.
In the services, the social life and the closeness that exists between people is exemplary. Whereas in big cities, interpersonal relationships seem to be suffering a setback due to the fast pace of life, in the air force, social life is pleasantly congenial. My personal experiences with people have been, by and large, good through all the years of my service. I can say with conviction that I have enjoyed my life and work in the air force. It is an excellent opportunity open to the women of our country to actively participate in the defence services while doing something as exciting and exhilarating as flying. At the same time, it also requires a high degree of discipline and willingness to weather tough situations, which arise from time to time. (The Hindu 12/4/2000)
Flying Officer Gunjan Saxena is among the few women pilots in the IAF. Saxena was the first Woman IAF Officer to fly in a Combat Zone when she took part in the Kargil conflict. FIFTEEN years ago, when Gunjan Saxena first set foot into the cockpit of an aircraft, she felt as if she had stepped into the sky. It was the momentous beauty outside that became her source of inspiration. It was this inspiration which motivated her to guide her helicopter, dodging artillery shells through the steep valleys of Kargil as a Flying Officer in the Indian Air Force. Presently in Lucknow on a short vacation to visit her parents, the first ever woman lady pilot of Indian Air Force who proved her mettle in Operation Vijay, has not only stepped into celebritydom but maybe also history as the Kargil girl.
Not yet accustomed to the new found celebrity status and all the attention it brings, the diminutive girl in blue jeans and T- shirt could pass off for any young collegian. Says Gunjan matter-of-factly, dismissing it to be a great feat: "It was just by chance that I was posted in Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir at that time and was sent on the operation. I was just doing my work." Modesty and smiles it seems come easy to the 25-year-old, who is quick to admit that it was the constant encouragement of her father which has made her touch the skies, literally. "He would always tell me and my elder brother that he wanted us to ride from a tricycle to an airplane. And when as a fifth grader I was shown a cockpit by a cousin who happened to be an Indian Airlines pilot, I decided that I only wanted to fly," says she, adding that following her schooling she moved on to New Delhi to join the Safdarjung Flying Club while doing her graduation from Hansraj College.
Commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 1996, Gunjan has since then been posted in Udhampur and included in Kargil operations due to her familiarity with the sector. "Our job is primarily FAC (Forward Area Control) guiding fighters to recognise target, casualty evacuation and air maintenance. During the Kargil operations we had to fly 7 to 8 sorties every day and it was always there at the back of our mind that someone was desperately waiting for us and even if we are late by a couple of minutes, it might cost a life," she said, pointing out that all through the Kargil operations she had to fly the chopper through the valleys and watch artillery shells fall left and right. And the most memorable moment for her was when she saw the first shell fall. "It was June 5, I remember walking towards the helipad with another officer and my brother who is in the Army and was posted at Kargil at that time. We heard a strange sound which I had never heard before, and my brother said that a shell will fall nearby. A few moments later it fell a kilometre away, and of course from then onwards I got rather accustomed to the sound," she says with a laugh. "I was just a part of the rotating crew and doing my job when the press people started coming. `Outlook' first took my interview and then the other newspapers," she remarked, showing the October issue of `Savvy' magazine with her on the cover as the Savvy woman of the month.
One of the pioneering lady pilots among the 25 to 30 odd ones in the IAF, Gunjan opted for the helicopter section rather than the transportation division. "I can do mountain flying, sea flying and desert flying and visit places nobody has ever been to. The Cheetah helicopter I fly is very versatile and can land on even very small makeshift helipads," Gunjan adds with all enthusiasm. But then, she reminds, the job is not as rosy as many people think. "Even the training itself requires a lot of physical as well as mental resilience. And then even on the job people do not know how to react to you, and one has to also sometimes face bias," says she, remembering to add that any girl opting for the air force should be totally oriented and dedicated for the job.
Life is of course not without its share of amusing incidents. Gunjan recounts the attention she got after flying with a senior officer to a remote Kashmir village. A large number of villagers turned up, only to see what a woman pilot looks like! "Yet another funny incident was after my photograph appeared in `Outlook' which featured me with an AK-47 which we normally carried during the war. I actually had people asking me on the streets that where was my AK-47," says Gunjan with an uproarious laughter. A frequent visitor to Lucknow where her parents settled a few years back, what Gunjan never misses out on her vacations is the `basket chaat' and `kulfi faluda', before flying off to touch the sky.
Flight Lieutenant Supriya Gurjar
For a girl who had always dreamt of taking to the air, setting a precedent in the scintillating world of flying was nothing out of the blue. At the height of Operation Vijay, Flight Lieutenant Supriya Gurjar of No 48 Squadron here, became the first woman pilot to command an operational sortie to the world's two highest airfields - Thoise and Leh. She is among the three women pilots posted at the Chandigarh Air Force Station, all of whom fly AN-32 transport aircraft. Never before has a woman pilot captained a military transport or a commercial aircraft landing at such an altitude. Though women pilots, both IAF and civil, have been flying to these airfields, both located at over 10,000 meters above sea-level, heretofore they had not flown there "solo", which implies that they have never issued inflight instructions or shouldered full responsibility for a sortie.
Flt Lt Supriya flew solo to Thoise on June 19, with an aircrew of four and a mixed load of supplies and armed forces personnel. The next day she was again in the left hand captain's seat on a sortie to Leh. "The orders to fly solo come more as a relief than an apprehension," said the 26-year-old flier who logs an average of 70 flying hours a month. "The flight was generally uneventful, the only problem being that wind turbulence in Thoise Valley had increased by about 15 knots during approach." With a war on, there was, however, little time for any celebration. "I knew that it was a precedent, but there are so many more important things on your mind," she said. On her feelings after touchdown, she said: "My colleagues congratulated me, but with operational commitments, there was little time to think about anything else." Her husband, Flt Lt Shreya Shukla, too had been on deployment in Kargil at that time.
Daughter of a Pune-based consultant and married to a fighter pilot, who also happens to be posted at Chandigarh, Flt Lt Supriya is the first in her family to opt for a career in the Services. "My father used to take me to the airshows in Pune when I was a kid. I remember MiG-21s being based there then and the aerobatics they performed were enthralling. Ever since I had dreamt of being at the controls of an aircraft," she said. She said she had planned to go in for commercial flying, but by the time her graduation was nearing completion, the Air Force had opened the Flying Branch to women. "Although entry of women officers for ground duty had already been on for some time, I had not opted for that because I was interested only in flying," she said. Belonging to the 2nd Batch of IAF women pilots, she was commissioned into the IAF in June 1995. "Flying in the mountains is a challenge because of the weather and the terrain. It is also the feeling you get on drop sorties -- when you communicate with the eager troops retrieving the supplies -- you feel satisfied that you are doing your bit for the chaps on the ground," she remarked.
Flt. Lt. Archana Kapoor
"IAF - It's All Fun". Those were the words of my father, which inspired me to join the Air Force Academy in July 1993 as part of the first batch of women pilots in the Indian Air Force. 17th December 1994 was the culmination of one and a half years of hard work. It was also the day when I felt special pride as my father watched me don the same uniform and wings that he once wore.
The training in the air force is an experience in itself. It combines moments of fun with unrelenting pressure to perform. The training endeavours to make us professionals as well as good officers. Living together with trainees from all over the country from different backgrounds instills a great sense of camaraderie amongst us. This is the hallmark of the defence services and therefore sets it apart from any other career. The rigorous routine of physical training, flying training and social manners creates the final product of a well-groomed air force officer. The actual challenge for me began once I joined my unit as a commissioned officer. I knew that I was stepping into what had been a male domain for over 60 years. It was important for me to make a place for myself. It was a challenge for me to be just one woman working amongst so many men. A majority of my colleagues and seniors welcomed me with great enthusiasm and helped me feel comfortable and at home.
There were also those who initially had reservations towards my presence. That was understandable, but soon they too accepted me as a colleague. It is important to understand that above the occupation of a pilot is that of an officer. While flying is one part of the job, the other as an officer entails a whole gamut of activities such as conducting oneself in a pleasant manner while dealing with matters which require compassion and equally stern with matters of professional concern like flying, where there is no room for complacency. Over the years, I have grown in experience and confidence as an administrator as well as a manager of men and resources. The job as a pilot in the air force has been a very satisfying experience for me. It generates tremendous sense of pride in me to know that I have been flying with an institution that excels in it. Military aviation being very different from the civil, the varied requirements give an excellent opportunity to experience the thrill of flying in different roles. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have performed aerobatics on jets and also experienced the adventure of landing on far-flung airfields all over the country.
Monotony is a word redundant in the context of flying in the Air Force. It is pertinent to say that the job is not an easy one as you lead your men by example. Flying, as a job, requires tremendous concentration and discipline due to the risk involved. It also requires continuous updating of knowledge to keep abreast with the latest developments. I have flown for over 1400 hours, and today, I can confidently say that my acceptability has grown and I too am well adjusted within the organisation. Besides being an officer and a pilot, I am also a wife and a mother. My help and support comes from my husband, Flt Lt AK Yadav who is the perfect gentleman, officer and pilot. He has been a pillar of strength whose encouragement eggs me on to continue doing well in my job as well as at home. He puts in an equal, if not more, effort in ensuring that our child and home is well looked after. At the same time, both our parents also render us maximum support, which makes it easier for us to perform our duties.
In the services, the social life and the closeness that exists between people is exemplary. Whereas in big cities, interpersonal relationships seem to be suffering a setback due to the fast pace of life, in the air force, social life is pleasantly congenial. My personal experiences with people have been, by and large, good through all the years of my service. I can say with conviction that I have enjoyed my life and work in the air force. It is an excellent opportunity open to the women of our country to actively participate in the defence services while doing something as exciting and exhilarating as flying. At the same time, it also requires a high degree of discipline and willingness to weather tough situations, which arise from time to time. (The Hindu 12/4/2000)
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