Athira Suresh Joins Indian Army as Lieutenant

Key facts

• Lieutenant Athira Suresh of Kozhikode, Kerala, was commissioned into the Indian Army on September 5, 2026, at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Gaya.
• She was commissioned during OTA Gaya's 29th passing-out parade, where 253 officer cadets, including 218 men and 35 women, completed the Short Service Commission (Technical) course.
• Combined with a simultaneous parade at OTA Chennai, the Army commissioned 595 new officers that day, including 64 women.
• Before joining the Army, Athira Suresh worked at ExxonMobil as a Project Controls Engineer after completing a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Calicut.
• Her father, Naik Suresh, served in the Corps of Signals before joining the Railway Protection Force, and both her grandfathers, Gangadharan Nayar and the late Velayudhan Nayar, also served in the Army.
• She cleared the Services Selection Board on her first attempt and joined OTA Gaya as an officer cadet on the SSC Technical (Women) course.
• The passing-out parade was reviewed by Lieutenant General Le Van Huong, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, and parents of the newly commissioned officers received the Gaurav Padak.