The Media Line: Record Numbers of Pakistani Women Join US Military Training Programs

[Islamabad] Pakistan has seen a significant 150% surge in the number of female officers receiving military training in the United States over the past decade, according to a report from the US State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. 

“Since 2013, there has been a notable increase in the participation of Pakistani female military personnel in the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET),” the report stated. 

Sponsored by the State Department, this program aims to foster military relationships between partner nations by funding international military students to attend American military training and education courses. 

The report further stated, “From 2020 to 2023, 55 women attended IMET courses, more than doubling the twenty-two participants from 2013 to 2019. Moreover, Pakistan has been the leading country in the region for the past two years in sending female military officers for courses in the United States.” 

According to the report, “Pakistani women officers have been actively involved in specialized training programs that cover a wide range of subjects, such as anti-terrorism, anti-piracy, military justice, information technology, cyber strategies, public affairs, gender-based violence, and medical-related topics.” 

“In Pakistan, these individuals have proven to be the first drops of rain, jumping head-first into military training and education courses to advance their professional development while laying the groundwork for more women to follow,” the report said. 

Female officers receiving training in the US come from various branches of Pakistan’s Army, Navy, and Air Force. 

The Pakistan Army started inducting women as commissioned officers in 1948, followed by the Pakistan Air Force in 1993 and the Pakistan Navy in 1996. Despite facing cultural and societal barriers, Pakistani women have made significant strides in the military, breaking gender stereotypes and proving their capabilities in various operational and leadership roles. 

The female soldiers undergo the same rigorous selection process as their male counterparts when joining the Army, Navy, and Air Force. In training academies, they face the same tough training stages as male cadets. 

The Army Training Academy is located in Kakul, a city in the Abbottabad district, while the Air Force Training Academy is in Risalpur, a city in the Khyber Pakhtun Khwa district, and the Navy Training Academy is in Karachi. 

In 2003, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched a new combat program, initiating the training of women as fighter pilots. By 2006, the first batch of women fighter pilots had joined the combat services of the PAF. 

There are currently 34 women pilots in the PAF, including Squadron Leader Ayesha Farooq, who holds the distinction of being Pakistan’s first female fighter pilot. She currently serves as the adjutant of a flying wing within the PAF fighter jet fleet. 

The Pakistan Navy restricts women from serving in combat roles but permits them to contribute to various other essential branches such as information technology, engineering, medical, education, logistics, and public relations. 

In these roles, scores of women play crucial roles in supporting naval operations, maintaining technical systems, providing medical care, educating personnel, managing logistics, and handling public relations. 

The Media Line spoke with global experts about women’s empowerment and inclusion in US-sponsored training programs. 

Feroz Hassan Khan, a leading South Asian expert and retired brigadier general in the Pakistan Army, who currently teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, told The Media Line: “There isn’t any peculiar agenda behind the report of women military officers training. We have to realize that world geopolitics has changed, along with the nature of warfare and statecraft. Therefore, given the current great power competition, the United States needs allies in key regions with comprehensive military training and capabilities that span the entire spectrum of modern warfare.” 

With extensive combat and command experience, including having worked on assignments across the US, Europe, and Asia, contributing to nuclear and conventional arms control policies, Khan knows from experience that today’s warfare “extends beyond traditional battlefields to include cross-domain operations involving emerging technologies, AI, and space. It targets the hearts and minds of people, as seen in the Russia-Ukraine, Middle East, and Armenia-Azerbaijan wars. Therefore, both women and men must receive equal opportunities for training,” he added. 

Khan highlighted Pakistan’s evolving stance on integrating women into the armed forces beyond traditional roles like doctors and nurses. He noted that while progress has been made, women are still not in combat roles. 

He emphasized the need for modern training for women in expanded roles such as administration, communications, artificial intelligence, drone operation, and space technologies, “where their contributions are increasingly valued.” 

According to Khan, “Most officers in the IMET program are still male. However, the current [US] Democrat-led government wants to demonstrate to the American public, especially Congress, its commitment to gender equality, which can help with budget approvals.” 

While Khan believes that women’s and LGBT rights are major issues, especially during an election year, “the Democratic government wants to show its support for these rights. Also, Pakistani impression of women’s rights and gender issues is not very positive, and Pakistan has few sympathizers in Congress.” 

Khan also said, “The State Department needs to demonstrate that IMET funds, which are American taxpayers’ money, are being used appropriately for a major non-NATO ally and in line with modern warfare needs.” 

Irina Tsukerman, a New York-based national security and South Asian expert, told The Media Line: “There are several US interests in training Pakistani female officers. The Biden Administration emphasizes gender equity in the military and international cooperation as part of its national security strategy and official policy.” 

Tsukerman explained that this training aims to enhance opportunities and inclusivity for Pakistani female officers, providing them with additional skills to better integrate into the Pakistani military and cooperate with the US and other allies. 

“Furthermore,” she said, “the US government and military also believe that increasing the number of women in Pakistan’s military will promote reform and liberalization, fostering greater openness and inclusivity within the country’s institutions and society.” 

Tsukerman added that “Washington aims to modernize the Pakistani military, making it more adept at handling threats and more aligned with US perspectives. This could lead to reduced corruption, fewer radical influences, greater professionalism, and the empowerment of women by providing young girls with educated, patriotic role models,” she said. 

Farhat Asif, a Lahore-based doctoral student and expert in strategic communications, geopolitical research, and analysis, told The Media Line that Pakistan and the US have made significant progress in increasing the participation of Pakistani women officers in the IMET program. This increased participation “signifies a positive trend towards greater gender inclusion and enhanced military capabilities.” 

She noted that the aim “is also to foster close cooperation and build military-to-military ties not just within the military operational environment but also during peacetime. This collaboration is essential for developing mutual understanding, trust, and shared strategies, which can enhance overall security and stability.” 

According to Asif, “Having more women officers from Pakistan in this program helps to empower female officers within Pakistan’s military ranks” and implementing specialized training in anti-terrorism, cyber strategies, and other military justice areas enhances Pakistan’s military capabilities. “This will cover security challenges at both national and regional levels,” she added. 

Noureen Akhtar, a doctoral student in international relations at the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR) at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, told The Media Line that women officers are participating in the IMET program “as part of the efforts of Pakistan Armed Forces to develop the professional capacity of women in the Pakistani military for different specialized roles spanning from administration, staff assignments to field duties.” 

“The sudden surge in participation of female officers during the last three years in the IMET program suggests the success of earlier smaller batches that attended IMET training,” she noted. 

Akhtar, a policy/research consultant at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, said that from the US perspective, the driving force behind the IMET program is “establishing a rapport between the US military and Pakistan’s military to build alliances for the future and enhancing interoperability and capabilities for joint operations.” 

“The program offers an opportunity for the participants to understand US military culture better.” In addition, the participation of Pakistani women in the program “ensures that female officers [in Pakistan] have equal career opportunities to their male colleagues,” Akhtar concluded.