Posted at 15,632 feet: Meet Captain Shiva Chauhan, the first woman officer to conquer Siachen’s Kumar Post

Just picture yourself on top of an ice sheet that lies 15,632 feet above sea level. The environment here is not fit for you to survive because the air is thin; at the same time, it is constantly freezing, getting to -50 degrees per second. This is the Siachen Glacier, which is the deadliest battlefield in the world.

But the history has been changed in this frozen desert. Captain Shiva Chauhan became the first woman officer to be posted at the Kumar post on the Siachen Glacier.

It would not be fair to speak about her career in the military forces only because we are going to discuss the other aspect of her training, the psychological strength she needs to survive in an environment where a person can't live, and how this unique experience of hers will open a new era for women on the battlefield.

Who is Shiva Chauhan? First woman officer to serve at the World's highest battlefield

Captain Shiva Chauhan became the first woman army officer who managed to be posted to the Siachen Glacier – the world’s toughest battlefield. Below are some of the profiles of Captain Shiva Chauhan with her journey and historic posting:

1. Background and Education

• She is from Udaipur city in Rajasthan state.
• Her childhood was tough because her father passed away when she was eleven years old. Luckily her mother handled all the household work. Made sure she got a good education even when money was tight.
• She finished her schooling in Udaipur. Got a degree in Civil Engineering from Techno NJR Institute of Technology in 2020.

2. Rising Through the Army Ranks

• She was really inspired by her childhood dream to serve the country. So she went through the SSB Interview process using the SSC Technical Scheme. She got an All India Rank of 1.
• She finished her training at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. After that she was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers also known as the Bengal Sappers in May 2021.
• Before she did something that people will always remember, she went on a long bike ride. She cycled from the Siachen War Memorial to the Kargil War Memorial, which's 508 kilometres away. 
• It took her 11 days to complete the Corps of Engineers cycle ride from the Siachen War Memorial to the Kargil War Memorial. The Corps of Engineers cycle ride was a challenge for her.

3. The Historic Siachen Deployment

• Shiva Chauhan became a captain at Kumar Post in January 2023. This post is located at a very high elevation of 15,632 feet in the Siachen Glacier. 
• Although other women soldiers had been assigned duty in the Siachen glacier base camp, with its elevation being approximately 9,000 feet, her duty was different since she faced the sub-zero temperature of minus 50 degrees Celsius.
• For carrying out her mission for three months, she required one month of training at Siachen Battle School for developing the skills of endurance, ice climbing, avalanche survival, and crevasse traversal.
• Being an engineer officer, commanding her sappers, she had to perform challenging tasks in the field of combat engineering that included the maintenance of military infrastructure, operation of helipads, and logistics connectivity in such a harsh environment.

She has shattered many glass ceilings through her unique mission in the form of proving that endurance knows no limits in terms of gender.