Colonel Madhu Rana

Colonel Madhu Rana is the first officer to take command of a Signal Regiment on 12-Mar-2023.

28 Squadron

Equipped with the first lot of MiG- 21 (F-13 type) aircraft in the IAF, 28 Squadron was raised in Chandigarh with Wing Commander (later Air Chief Marshal and Chief of Air Staff) Dilbagh Singh taking over its command on March 2, 1963. They are also called The First Supersonics.

Commodore G Douglas

Commodore G Douglas was the first Commanding Officer of INS Garuda, the oldest operating air station of the Indian Navy.

Only Pilot to Be Awarded the Param Vir Chakra Posthumously

Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Sekhon was the only IAF officer who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra for his lone defence of the Srinagar Air Base during the Indo-Pak War of 1971.

First Woman Commanding Officer of a Signal Regiment

First Woman Commissioned Officer

First Woman Commander of an Independent Army Unit in Ladakh

Colonel Geeta Rana

Colonel Geeta Rana, a Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) officer, has assumed command of an independent field workshop located in a remote and forward position in eastern Ladakh.

First Woman to Lead an All-male Contingent at the Republic Day Parade

First Batch of Naval Agniveer

Batch of 2597 Agniveer Including 273 Women

Passing Out Parade held at INS Chilka on 28 March 2023 and reviewed by the Chief of Naval Staff.

World Record for Highest Number of Step-ups in 24 hours

Captain Swati Rathore

Captain Swati Rathore is the first woman to lead an all-male contingent at the Republic Day parade in India. She led a contingent of 148 soldiers from the Assam Rifles.

Harishankar Yadav ex-POELP Indian Navy

The most step ups in 24 hours by a male person is 28,114, and was achieved by Harishankar Yadav (India) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, on 12 Feburary 2022, as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Yadav served as a Petty Officer with the Indian Navy.

First Indian Pilot to Shoot Down an F16

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is the first Indian Air Force pilot who became famous for his bravery during the India-Pakistan standoff in 2019 by shooting down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet and was later captured by Pakistani forces. He was released after three days due to diplomatic efforts by …

First Indian Pilot to go into Space

Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma

Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma is the first Indian astronaut to go to space. He flew aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11 in 1984.

First Ladakhi Woman Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army

Lieutenant Rigzin Chorol

Lieutenant Rigzin Chorol became the first woman from Ladakh to be commissioned as an officer in the Indian Army.

She passed out of the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai. Lt. Chorol lost her husband Rifleman Rigzin Kendal of 3 Ladakh Scouts in a tragic incident while performing his …

First Post Office

India’s “first” post office bearing PIN code 193224 is located on the banks of the Kishanganga river, the de facto Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district with Pakistan-occupied territory just across the stream at a stone’s throw.

First Woman Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces

Former President of India Pratibha Patil

The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. As in most democracies, the Indian Armed Forces are controlled by the elected political leadership of the Nation - The Government of India. Executive control is exercised sequentially through the Union Cabinet, the Defence Minister, the …

Major Priya Jhingan

On March 6, 1993, the first batch of women officers passed out from the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, and Major Priya Jhingan of the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Branch was the first in order or merit in that course.

First Woman Fighter Pilot in the US Military to Die in a Crash

Kara S. Hultgreen

Kara S. Hultgreen (5 October 1965 – 25 October 1994) served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy, and was also the first female fighter pilot in the U.S. military to die in a crash. She died just months after she was certified for combat when her F-14 …

First Commanding Officer of INS Garuda

INS Garuda

INS Garuda, an Indian naval air station located in Kochi, was commissioned on 11 May 1953, and it is the oldest operating air station of the Indian Navy.

First MiG 21 IAF Squadron

Nina Singh, IPS

Senior IPS officer Nina Singh became as the first Director General of the Central Industrial Security Force on December 28, 2023. She joined the CISF in 2021 and served as Additional DG, Special DG, and DG in charge previously. Singh is the recipient of the President’s Police Medal for …

First Indian Officer to be Commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery

Lieutenant General Prem Singh Gyani

First Aircraft to be Acquired by the Indian Navy

First Warship to be Named After a City in Northeast India

INS Imphal

INS Imphal is the third ship of the Visakhapatnam-class stealth-guided missile destroyer of the Indian Navy. Imphal has the unique distinction of being the first warship to be named after a city in the Northeast.

Short Sealand

The first Sealand aircraft arrived in Kochi from the UK on 4 February 1953, and it was inducted into the Indian Navy on 13 January 1953.

First Woman Carrier-based Fighter Pilot in the US Navy

Kara S. Hultgreen

Kara S. Hultgreen (5 October 1965 – 25 October 1994) served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy and was the first female carrier-based fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy.

First Woman Director General of CISF

China's Navy

China's Navy is the largest in the world by number of ships.

Deepest Shipwreck from Any War

The USS Samuel B Roberts sunk in WW2 by the Japanese Navy

The WWI destroyer USS Samuel B Roberts ("DE413") was sunk by the Japanese Navy in Oct 1944 during the Battle of Samar in the Philippine Sea. It was rediscovered on 22 Jun 22 at a depth of 6865 m, the deepest shipwreck ever to be found.

Oldest Operating Air Station of the Indian Navy

First Woman War Correspondent

Margaret Bourke-White

On 22 January 22 1943, Major Rudolph Emil Flack piloted the lead aircraft with Margaret Bourke-White as the first female photographer/writer to fly on a combat mission aboard his 414th Bombardment Squadron B-17F and bombed the El Aouina Airdrome in Tunis, Tunisia.
Bourke-White was also the first female war correspondent.

First Woman Subedar in the Indian Army

First Lethal Attack by a Drone on American Troops

On Tower 22 in Jordan on 28-Jan-24

Late on Sunday, 28 January 2024, a drone struck a remote and lightly defended American outpost in Jordan—known as Tower 22—on the border with Syria, killing three American troops and injuring dozens of others. America blamed Iran-backed militants for the attack. No American soldier has died in an enemy …

First Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-Tejas) Crash of the IAF

On 12 March 2024 Near Jaisalmer

The first crash of the indigeneous fighter jet to occur since its maiden flight 23 years ago. The pilot ejected safely.

Largest Mass Execution of American Soldiers by the Army

First Woman Parade Commander at NCC PM Rally

Occurred on 11 December 1917 during the aftermath of the Houston Riot of 1917

The largest mass execution of American soldiers by the Army occurred on 11 December 1917 during the aftermath of the Houston Riot of 1917. This event saw the hanging of 13 Black soldiers in a single day, which was part of a larger series of executions that totaled 19 …

First Use of a Submarine in Warfare

The Turtle in 1776

The world’s first use of a submarine in warfare took place in 1776 when the American vessel The Turtle attempted to attach a time bomb to the bottom of the British ship Eagle in New York harbour. It was hand-powered and could only accommodate one person aboard. Unfortunately, the …

First Venue of India's Republic Day Parade

Irwin Amphitheatre opposite the Purana Qila, now Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium

The first Republic Day parade was held at Irwin Amphitheatre opposite the Purana Qila, now Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The then President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, inspected the parade and the chief guest on the occasion was the then President of Indonesia, Sukarno. More than 3,000 Armed …

Margaret Bourke-White

Bourke-White was the first known female war correspondent, as well as the first woman to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II. In 1941, she travelled to the Soviet Union just as Germany broke its pact of non-aggression. She was the only foreign photographer in …

Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)

The Rhodesian Bush War (1964-1979), also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, a guerrilla conflict between the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and the Rhodesian government, led to the end of white minority rule and the establishment of Zimbabwe, marking the end of …

First Batch of Women Aviators in the IAF

First Batch of 13 Women Flight Cadets joined the Academy in Mid-1993

The first batch included Anupama Rao, Lakshmi Deepak, Harita Deol, Bindu Sebastian, Sabitha Banu, Priya Nalgundwar, Priya Paul, Veena CK, Archana Kapoor, Anisha Shinh, Shweta Mishra, Anjana Achutan and Pamela Pereira. Eventually, seven cadets passed out after the successful completion of the training in December 1994: Harita Deol, Bindu …

Last AN-12 Sortie by the IAF

Flown on 30 June 1993

It was flown by Wing Commander Satish Bhatia after which the aircraft was phased out of service. Wing Cdr Bhatia passed away on 13 March 2024.

Subedar Preeti Rajak

Havildar Preeti Rajak, a renowned trap shooter, has achieved the rank of Subedar, becoming the first woman in the Indian Army to hold this position. Joining the Corps of Military Police in December 2022 due to her outstanding performance in trap shooting, Rajak, the first meritorious sportswoman in shooting …

Ulfat Khan

At Republic Day 2024, NCC cadet, captain Ulfat Khan became the first woman Parade Commander at the NCC PM Rally.

Ulfat hails from Uri in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla. She is pursuing her BA in English from a Jammu college and was selected from among 2,274 NCC cadets across …