Meet Captain Shiva Chauhan, the first woman officer to be deployed at Siachen
Captain Shiva Chauhan from the Corps of Engineers has been posted at a frontline post in Siachen Glacier, in a first such operational deployment of an woman Army officer at the world’s highest battlefield.
The officer has been posted at the Kumar post, located at an altitude of around 15,600 feet in Siachen, for a three-month stint after she underwent rigorous training at the Siachen Battle School.
Captain Chauhan’s training included endurance training, ice wall climbing, avalanche and crevasse rescue and survival drills, said the Indian Army. “In spite of various challenges, Captain Shiva with unflinching commitment successfully completed the training and was all set to be inducted to the Siachen Glacier,” said an official.
Capt Shiva Chauhan, who hails from Rajasthan, is a Bengal Sapper Officer. She completed her schooling in Udaipur and holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur. She lost her father at the young age of 11 years and her mother took care of her studies.
Since childhood, she was motivated to join the Indian Army and showcased unparalleled zeal during training at Officers Training Academy, Chennai and was commissioned into the Engineer Regiment in May 2021.
The Army said the team of Sappers led by Capt Shiva Chauhan will be responsible for numerous combat engineering tasks and will be deployed at the post for a duration of three months.
The Siachen glacier at the height of around 20,000 feet in the Karakoram range is known as the highest militarised zone in the world where the soldiers have to battle frostbite and high winds.