Shakti Sharma Becomes First Woman Two-Star Officer

Air Vice Marshal Shakti Sharma has become the first woman officer outside the medical stream to reach a two-star rank in the Indian defence forces. On 1 September 2026 she took charge as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Education) at Air Headquarters. The rank of Air Vice Marshal in the Indian Air Force, and the ranks equal to it in the Army and the Navy, carry two stars. No woman from outside the medical branches had held such a rank before her.

Her service record

She was commissioned into the Education Branch of the Indian Air Force on 18 June 1994. Her service therefore runs past three decades. She has worked at training establishments, at field stations, at command headquarters and at Air Headquarters. Those postings cover both the teaching side of the force and the offices where it is commanded, and the Ministry of Defence said she brings that width of experience to the new post.

Two firsts and the institutions she built

One first already stood against her name before this promotion. She was the first woman officer from the three services to command a Sainik School, serving as Principal of the Sainik School, Kapurthala. She also led the setting up of the Indian Air Force Chairs of Excellence at IIT Kanpur and at Pune University. Those chairs were created to deepen academic work and strategic collaboration on defence subjects.

The appointment at a glance

The Ministry of Defence called the promotion a new chapter in the story of women officers in the Indian defence forces and said she keeps inspiring later generations to live up to the Air Force motto, Touch the Sky with Glory. For an examination, three linked facts carry the story: the rank she has reached, the branch she belongs to and the two firsts attached to her name.