Sending Female Commanders to the US for Specialised Military Training is a Trend That Pakistan Leads the Region In

The number of Pakistani female officers undergoing military training in the US has significantly increased in the last ten years.

There has been a noticeable surge in Pakistani female military officers’ involvement in the International Military Education and Training Programme (IMET), according to a media article citing data from the US State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

Encouraging military ties between partner states is the goal of the US State Department-sponsored programme.

In contrast to the 22 participants from 2013 to 2019, the study states that 55 women attended IMET courses between 2020 and 2023. Over the previous two years, Pakistan has been the most prolific country in the area sending female military officers to study in the United States.

In addition to a wide range of disciplines including public affairs, gender-based violence, military justice, information technology, cyber tactics, anti-terrorism, and anti-piracy, Pakistani women officers have been actively participating in specialised training programmes.

Pakistani Army, Navy, and Air Force departments produce female officers undergoing training in the United States.

To join the Army, Navy, or Air Force, these officers must pass the same stringent selection procedures as their male counterparts. They experience the same rigorous training phases in training academies as cadets who identify as masculine.

In the district of Khyber Pakhtun Khwa, the Air Force Training Academy is situated in Risalpur, a city; the Navy Training Academy is situated in Karachi. The Army Training Academy is situated in Kakul, a city in the Abbottabad district.

As of right now, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has thirty-four female pilots, among them Squadron Leader Ayesha Farooq, the country’s first female fighter pilot. In the PAF fighter jet fleet, she is currently the adjutant of a flying wing.