Army gets first woman Subedar in champion shooter

She is currently ranked 6th in India (trap women event) and is training at the elite Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow for the Paris Olympics

New Delhi: Havildar Preeti Rajak, a champion trap shooter, has been promoted to the rank of Subedar, making her the first woman in the Indian Army to hold that rank, the army said in statement on Saturday.

Havildar Preeti Rajak, a champion trap shooter, is the first woman promoted to the rank of Subedar (HT Photo/Sourced)

“Her achievement is an extraordinary display of Nari Shakti,” it said.

Rajak joined the Corps of Military Police in December 2022 on the basis of her proven performance in trap shooting. She was the first meritorious sportswoman in the shooting discipline to be enrolled in the army as a havildar.

At the 19th Asian Games 2022 held at Hangzhou in China, Rajak won the silver medal in the trap women team event.

“Based on her extraordinary performance, she was awarded the first out-of-turn promotion to Subedar, and Lieutenant General Gajendra Joshi, commandant, Infantry School, chaired the pipping ceremony and hailed the shooter for her excellent performance,” the statement said.

She currently ranked 6th in India (trap women event) and is training at the elite Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow for the Paris Olympics.