In a landmark achievement for gender inclusion in the country’s paramilitary forces, Inspector Bhawna Chaudhary has become the first woman flight engineer of the Border Security Force (BSF) Air Wing. The historic milestone comes after she successfully completed an intensive in-house training capsule alongside four male officers.
The BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chawdhary presented flying badges to all five officers during a valedictory ceremony held in New Delhi, marking the culmination of their rigorous training program. The two-month ab-initio training, conducted entirely by BSF Air Wing instructors, began in August 2025. The officers received 130 hours of technical and operational training, including real-time exposure to aerial missions and relief sorties during recent flood operations in Punjab and other states.
Officials highlighted that this initiative was launched to address a critical shortage of flight engineers in the BSF’s Mi-17 helicopter fleet. While the first batch of BSF engineers had trained with the Indian Air Force (IAF), the subsequent batch, including Inspector Chaudhary, underwent the first-ever in-house program after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Since its inception in 1969, the BSF Air Wing has been operating under the MHA, providing crucial aviation support not only to the BSF but also to other paramilitary and disaster-response units such as the National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The unit operates a diverse fleet, including the Embraer jet for VIP duties and multiple helicopter variants such as Mi-17 1V, Mi-17 V5, Cheetah, and ALH Dhruv.
Inspector Bhawna Chaudhary’s induction as the first woman flight engineer is a proud moment for the BSF and a powerful symbol of women’s expanding role in India’s security and aviation sectors.
