Wing Commander Vyomika Singh's role at the press briefing for Operation Sindoor is consistent with her experience as a helicopter pilot in Jammu and Kashmir during the course of her career.
The year was 1991 or 1992.
Vyomika Singh was in Class 6 and participating in a discussion about the meaning of names.
'My name is Vyomika,' she recalls telling her teacher, 'and Vyom means sky.'
And a classmate from behind shouted, 'So you own the sky! You're Vyomika.'
The idea took root in the little girl's mind; at that tender age, she knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
More than two decades later, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, an accomplished helicopter pilot who has flown both the Cheetah and the Chetak, was one of the two women officers who addressed the nation on May 7, 2025, during the press conference about Operation Sindoor, India's retaliatory strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
She shared the dais with Colonel Sophia Qureshi of the Indian Army and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Operation Sindoor was launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. The IAF carried out coordinated precision strikes on nine terrorist launchpads early Wednesday morning.
Wing Commander Singh's role at the forefront of this communication effort is consistent with her experience as a helicopter pilot in Jammu and Kashmir during the course of her career.
As a pilot, she says, she has flown both at sea level and at a height of 18,000 feet. Her exemplary performance in rescue operations has earned her the Signal-Officer-In-Chief's appreciation.
Defence Direct Education reports that she was among the women officers a granted permanent commission in December 2019, a key reform that enabled women in the IAF to serve in leadership roles with the same retirement benefits and tenure as their male counterparts.
What the report does not say is that, as outspoken advocate of equal rights within the military, she had filed a case against the Union Of India, seeking permanent commission in the air force and the case was decided in her favour.
It began with Wing Commander Singh's dream to 'own the sky'. For her, being a pilot meant flying for the Indian Air Force. It came as a bitter disappointment when she went through Employment News and saw that the Indian Air Force was inviting applications from 'unmarried male candidates only', she told Republic World.
She decided to study engineering instead and that was when she came to know one could join the armed forces by giving the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam. 'I applied for SSB (Services Selection Board),' she told Republic World. And then, there came the moment she would never forget. 'I was awarded the wings and I became a helicopter pilot.'
In 2021, she was part of an all-women, tri-services mountaineering expedition to Mount Manirang (21,630 feet) in Himachal Pradesh; the expedition -- a demanding climb to the 'crown of the Spiti Valley' -- commemorated 75 years of India's Independence.
The team, led by Wing Commander Bhavana Mehra, summited the peak on August 15 as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav campaign.
The effort, supported by the armed forces, showcased the endurance and capability of women officers in extreme environments.
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