Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 29: Bringing laurels to the Jammu and Kashmir, a daughter of the soil, has become first along with four other Women Officers selected in the Artillery Regiment of the Indian Army.
Hailing from Phinter village in Billawar Sub Division of district Kathua in J&K, Pious Mudgil, passed out today as a senior appointment from Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai (Madras), at very high merit and finally chosen amongst the batch of first five Women Officers in India to join the Regiment of Artillery, opened for the first time for the Women Officers by the Modi Government.
With a rich Army background, Pious Mudgil is the third generation `Fauji’, with both her Grandfathers (Dada and Nana), also retired from the Army as officers. Her father, Satish Kumar Sharma is presently a Brigadier in the Army.
This J&K Woman Officer, who passed out from OTA Chennai today, is joining 172 Medium Regiment, a highly decorated Artillery Unit and is being deployed in hard field along the China border.
Born in Ahmed Nagar in 1997, Pious studied in Jammu, Pune, Gwalior and Chandigarh. She did her degree in Law from Army Institute of Law, Mohali (Chd). She is an ace tennis player and a trained All India Tennis Association coach. She has been the most valued athlete on three occasions at all India Law College Sports Festivals. She has also won medals at State level competitions in air-rifle shooting and Table Tennis.
“Pious wanted to join Army since her childhood days and preferred to join combat arm. The dream now stands fulfilled with her joining an Artillery Unit,” her father Brig Satish Sharma from OTA Chennai told `Excelsior’.
Brig Satish said this is the first group of women officers getting commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery today. This is the good move of this Government empowering women for higher leadership roles and making all future selection boards gender-neutral, he added.
” We both, me and my wife-Parul Sharma from Chandigarh moved to Chennai to join the grand passing out function at OTA Madras today. We are extremely happy and feeling proud to see our brave daughter in Army uniform,” Brig Satish expressed.
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