In a first two Indian Navy women officers set to join warship’s crew

In a first in the history of the Indian Navy, two women officers have been selected to join as ‘observers’ or airborne tacticians in the helicopter stream. With this Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi and Sub Lieutenant Riti Singh will be the first women officers in the Indian Navy to operate the warships.

The duo will be part of Multi-Role-Helicopters (MRH) crew. The entry of women was earlier restricted to fixed-wing aircraft that took off and landed ashore.

Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi and Sub Lieutenant Riti Singh are a part of a group of 17 officers of the Indian Navy, including four women officers and three officers of the Indian Coast Guard, who passed out of Indian Navy’s Observer Course at INS Garuda, Kochi on Monday.

The ceremony was presided over by Rear Admiral Antony George NM, VSM, and Chief Staff Officer (training) who presented the awards and coveted wings to the graduating officers.

Both, Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi (hails from Ghaziabad) and Sub Lieutenant Riti Singh (hails from Hyderabad), are engineering graduates in computer science. They were commissioned into the Navy in 2018.