Major Shweta Pandey, an officer of the Indian Army, helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurl the Indian tri-colour at the 74th Independence Day celebrations in Delhi's Red Fort.
Major Pandey was the first woman officer to carry the national flag and lead a first-ever tri-services contingent of the Indian Armed Forces at the Victory Day Parade in Moscow, Russia, in June this year.
Pandey was commissioned in the Indian Army in March 2012 from the Officers' Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai, and is an alumnus of the City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow.
Pandey's father, Raj Ratan Pandey, was Additional Director, Finance in the Uttar Pradesh government while her mother, Amita Pandey, is a professor of Sanskrit and Hindi.
Pandey also has a degree in electronics and mechanical engineering from the Army's 505 base workshop. She is also presently posted at the 505 Army Based Workshop (ABW) in Delhi Cantonment
Apart from engineering, she is also a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) expert and has completed courses in the same from the College Of Military Engineering (CME) in Pune.
She also has a degree in computer science and has done advanced courses of radar technology.
While at the OTA, Pandey received the Garhwal Rifles medal for topping tactics in the academy.
Through her school and college life, she was also known to be an avid debater with over 75 medals and 250 certificates to her name.
Last year as well, three women Indian Air Force (IAF) officers had assisted PM Modi during the Independence Day ceremony.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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