Major General James G. Blunt

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An ordnance corps soldier in Comilla, 2018

The Bangladesh Army opened its door for women to join as ordinary soldiers for the first time in 2013. In 2013, it was announced in Bangladeshi newspapers through recruitment advertisements that women would be recruited as ordinary soldiers in the Bangladesh Army. In 2015, the Bangladesh Army trained female ordinary soldiers for the first time in its history.[1][2][3] On the other hand, women are being commissioned in various arms and services of the army since the early 2000s decade.[4][5]

Now women can become both ordinary soldiers and officers in every corps of the Bangladesh Army except infantry regiment, artillery regiment and armored corps though women can be commissioned in the artillery regiment.

Overview

Female soldiers of Bangladesh Army in parade, 16 December 2016, the Victory Day of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Army was created in 1971 in the Bangladesh Liberation War, and one Bengali female officer from the Pakistan Army's Medical Corps participated in the war, she was Captain Sitara Begum, who was awarded the Bir Protik medal; she was commissioned into the Pakistan Army Medical Corps as a lieutenant in 1970. She took part in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after being in the Comilla Cantonment. She was also the commanding officer of a field hospital shortly after the war started.[6]

Women are allowed to join as doctors in the Bangladesh Army's medical corps since 1972, it was the only corps till the early part of the 21st century where women could become officers.[citation needed] Susane Giti was the first woman who was promoted to the rank of major-general in 2018, she was from the Medical Corps.[7][8]

From the early part of the 2000s decade women are allowed to join every corps and regiments as officers like men though the infantry and the armored corps didn't take women as officers.[9][additional citation(s) needed] Zannatul Ferdous became the first female paratrooper in 2013 who was commissioned in December, 2008 from the Bangladesh Military Academy's 59th long course.[10][11] In 2019, four female officers were made lieutenant colonels and were appointed commanding officers of artillery regiments and engineers battalion.[12][13][14] Colonel Nazma Begum was the first female contingent commander in United Nations Peacekeeping Mission, she went to UNOCI in 2016 with a 56-member contingent; as a lieutenant colonel she was the first female commanding officer of the 21st Field Ambulance of the Bangladesh Army.[15][16]

Women were not allowed to join as ordinary soldiers, but from 2013 women as ordinary soldiers were being recruited, primarily they were taken in the Medical Corps, and the first batch of Medical Corps soldier recruits completed their basic military training on 29 January 2015, with a training period of 1 year.[17][additional citation(s) needed] In this batch, total 879 females were enlisted as ordinary soldiers in the army.[18] In this year, the army got first female pilots, two women named Nazia Nusrat Hossain and Shahrina Binte Anwar became pilots; Nazia was commissioned in the corps of engineers and Shahrina was commissioned in the ordnance corps, both were commissioned in December 2009, both of them completed their first solo flying training successfully in June, 2015.[19][20][21]

Women by corps and regiment

Name of corps/regiment Women can become ordinary soldiers and officers
Armored Corps No
Regiment of Artillery No/Yes (officers only)
Corps of Engineers Yes
Corps of Signals Yes
Infantry No
Army Aviation No/Yes (officers only)
Army Service Corps Yes
Army Medical Corps Yes
Army Ordnance Corps Yes
Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Yes
Remount, Veterinary and Farms Corps No/Yes (officers only)
Army Dental Corps Yes
Corps of Military Police Yes
Army Education Corps No/Yes (officers only)
Army Corps of Clerks Yes

See also

References

  1. ^ Unb, Tangail (2015-01-30). "Serve people with professionalism; PM asks female military paramedics". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Archived from the original on 2015-06-29.
  2. ^ "Serve with professionalism: PM to female army paramedics". The Daily Observer (Bangladesh). 2015-01-29. Archived from the original on 2015-02-04.
  3. ^ "Women now country's proud soldiers: PM". Banglanews24.com. 2015-01-29. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09.
  4. ^ Inam Ahmed (8 July 2000). "Bangladesh army recruits women". United Press International.
  5. ^ "Beacons of success: The life and challenges of female army officers". Dhaka Tribune. 2019-03-08. Archived from the original on 2023-08-04.
  6. ^ Aasha Mehreen Amin, Lavina Ambreen Ahmed and Shamim Ahsan (16 December 2016). "The women in our Liberation War, Tales of Endurance and Courage". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Archived from the original on 2016-12-15.
  7. ^ "Susane Giti becomes first female major general". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 1 October 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-10-08.
  8. ^ "Bangladesh Army gets its first female Major General". Bangla Tribune. 30 September 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03.
  9. ^ "The woman keeping pace with men in the Bangladesh army". BBC News Online. 2012-04-16. Archived from the original on 2021-07-10.
  10. ^ "Ferdous first female paratrooper". Bdnews24.com. 7 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09.
  11. ^ "Capt Zannatul first female paratrooper in country". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 8 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01.
  12. ^ "Four women promoted to Lt Col". Bangla Tribune. 24 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06.
  13. ^ "Bangladesh Army appoints four female officers as battalion chiefs". Bdnews24.com. 25 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2023-02-16.
  14. ^ "Four female Bangladesh Army officers made COs". Dhaka Tribune. 24 January 2019.
  15. ^ "First female officer leads contingent". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 29 February 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-02-29.
  16. ^ "Army medical core gets first woman brigadier". Prothom Alo. 8 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27.
  17. ^ "Women going ahead in challenging professions: PM". Risingbd.com. 29 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09.
  18. ^ "Women troops on the march". The Daily Observer (Bangladesh). 30 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01.
  19. ^ "Army gets first female pilots". Prothom Alo. 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01.
  20. ^ "Women pilots of Bangladesh Army 'herald new era' by operating first flights". Bdnews24.com. 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2024-03-04.
  21. ^ "Nazia, Shahrina become first ever female pilots in army". Dhaka Tribune. 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2024-03-03.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_Bangladesh_Army