Shaliza Dhami Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Nickname	Babbal [1]The Indian Express
Profession	Defence Personnel
Known For	Being the first woman officer to assume command of a frontline combat unit of the Indian Air Force
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 165 cm in meters- 1.65 m in feet & inches- 5’ 5”
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Black
Military Service
Service/Branch	Indian Air Force
Rank	Group Captain
Service Years	20 December 2003 - present
Stream	Helicopters
Service Number	27773 F(P)
Career Ranks	• Flying Officer (20 December 2003 - 20 December 2005) • Flight Lieutenant (20 December 2005 - 20 December 2009) • Squadron Leader (20 December 2009 - 20 December 2016) • Wing Commander (20 December 2016 - 20 December 2019) • Group Captain (20 December 2019 - present)
Military Decoration	She has twice received the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Commendation Card.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	Year, 1982
Age (as of 2023)	41 Years
Birthplace	Ludhiana, Punjab, India
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Ludhiana, Punjab
School	• Government High School, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (till class 10) • Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana (Class 11 and 12)
College/University	Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana
Educational Qualification	B. Tech in Electronics and Communication [2]The Indian Express
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Husband/Spouse	Vineet Joshi (wing commander of the Indian Air Force)
Children	She has two sons.
Parents	Father- Harkesh Dhami (retired Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd employee) Mother- Dev Kumari (retired Water Supply and Sanitation Department official)
Siblings	Brother- Sarvsureshth Dhami (defence studies professor at a university in Imphal, Manipur)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shaliza Dhami

• Shaliza Dhami is a helicopter pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF) who became the first woman pilot of the IAF to take over the charge of a frontline combat missile squadron in March 2023.

• Shaliza became a cadet of the National Cadet Corps’ air wing while pursuing B. Tech at the Khalsa College for Women. While serving as a cadet, she attended many training camps, where she received learnt to operate a glider. P. P. Singh, her instructor at NCC, motivated her to become an officer in the Indian Air Force. While giving an interview, her parents said,
  

  What made all the difference was her decision to join the Air Wing of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). Her mentor P P Singh, who was from IAF, motivated her to give it a try and there was no looking back. NCC played a pivotal role in her life and decision to join IAF. We never stopped her from attending NCC camps which were held at different locations. She used to enjoy and learn so much in her NCC camps.”

• When Shaliza was in school, she was interested in playing hockey, dancing, and painting.

• While giving an interview, Shaliza’s father said that although many suggested him to enrol her in a convent school, he enrolled her in a convent school, he enrolled her in a government school as he did not want her to feel inferior to other kids whose parents came to drop them in luxurious cars. He said,
  

  I owned a cycle at that time. The kids who study in a convent school, their parents come to drop them off in swanky cars. I decided that my children will study in the school where children of common men like me study. Had I admitted her to a convent, she might have had an inferiority complex. So, we admitted her to a government school. And look where she has reached today.”

• Shaliza joined the Air Force Academy in Dundigal, Telangana after completing her engineering.

• While undergoing training at the academy, she took her first solo sortie in HAL HPT-32 Deepak, a trainer aircraft.

• She was commissioned as a flying officer in the helicopter branch of the Indian Air Force on 20 December 2003.
  

  Shaliza Dhami (extreme left) posing for a photo with other woman officers of the IAF

• After becoming a wing commander, Shaliza was selected to attend a flight instructor’s course at the IAF’s Flying Instructors School in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. After qualifying as a certified instructor, Shaliza became the first woman officer to have completed the course.

• Shaliza became the first female officer to get appointed as a flight commander of a squadron of Chetak helicopters stationed at the Hindon Air Force Base in Ghaziabad in August 2019. ^[3]India Today
  

  A picture of Shaliza Dhami taken when she was giving an interview at Hindon Air Force Station

• Later, she was sent to an Indian Air Force’s headquarters situated close to the Line Of Control.

• In March 2023, she assumed the command of an IAF missile squadron deployed near the LOC, thus, becoming the first female pilot of the IAF to be given charge of a frontline combat unit.

• She has registered over 2,800 hours of experience in flying aircrafts as of March 2023.