Indian Armed Forces Get First Woman Director General Of Medical Service

Lieutenant General Sadhna Saxena Nair has become the first woman to be appointed the Director General of Medical Services.

She was also the first woman to serve as the Director of General Hospital Services (Armed Forces) as well as the first woman to be the Principal Medical Officer of the Western Air Command.

She graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune with a distinguished academic record and was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in Dec 1985.

Lt Gen Nair holds multiple qualifications including a postgraduate degree in Family Medicine and diplomas in maternal and child health. She has undergone a two-year training Programme at Medical Informatics at AIIMS, New Delhi.

She did her schooling at St Mary's Convent, Prayagraj and Loreto Convent, Lucknow.

She trained in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Warfare with the Israeli Defence Forces and Military Medical Ethics with the Swiss Armed Forces in Spiez, Switzerland.

Previously, Lt Gen Nair was nominated as an expert member of the prestigious Dr Kasturirangan Committee for drafting part of the medical education component of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2019.

For her meritorious service, she has been awarded the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of Western Air Command (WAC) as well as the Vishisht Seva Medal by the Hon'ble President of India.

Three generations of her family have served in the Armed Forces over the last seven decades. She is married to Air Marshal KP (Retired).