Indian Air Force
Flying Officer Aanchal Gangwal True Example of “Never give up Spirit”
- The daughter of a tea seller, Aanchal Gangwal, fought all odds to become a flying officer of the Indian Air force. Aanchal, who comes from a small district in Madhya Pradesh, proved her mettle at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal. She was awarded the President’s Plaque at the combined graduation parade on Saturday, June 20.
- Daughter of a tea seller in an obscure town of Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh, 23-year-old Anchal had doggedly pursued her dream to become IAF pilot and got recommended in Services Selection Board (SSB) after the sixth attempt.
- The daredevil operation by the Indian Air Force to evacuate people stranded in flood and rain-hit Uttarakhand in 2013 had inspired Anchal Gangwal to set her goal to become an IAF pilot, her humble background notwithstanding.
- “I owe it to my father who taught me to be tough in tough times. I followed the mantra, “Never give up” taught by my father, religiously, to achieve my goal”, she was quoted as saying by a member of her family who watched the flying officer in her uniform on TV, bagging President’s Plaque at the combined graduation parade held at Indian Air Force Academy in Hyderabad on Staturday.
- “Like her other two siblings, Anchal is very disciplined and determined”, her proud father Suresh Gangwal told media.
- A computer science graduate from a government degree college in Neemuch, Anchal was first selected as sub-inspector in Madhya Pradesh police. She later switched her job after she was selected as labour inspector.
- “I am always ready to serve my motherland and see this as an opportunity to do so,” said Aanchal
- However, her ambition was to pursue a career in IAF as a fighter plane pilot. She had begun preparing for the AFCAT soon after her graduation and cleared SSB in the sixth attempt to be commissioned as flying officer in IAF.
- There is no doubt that story of Flying Officer Aanchal Gangwal will motivate and inspired so many young defence aspirants who always dream of joining Defence Forces.
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