Assam Girl,Lt. Commander (equivalent to an Army Major) Karabi Gogoi, a naval engineercurrently posted at the Karwar base in coastal Karnataka has been selected forthe post of the assistant naval attaché also at the Indian embassy in Russiawho is the first woman officer selected by Navy.

Gogoi is thefirst woman officer selected for the post of a defence attaché abroad by theNavy, which comes a month after the IAF posted Wing Commander Anjali Singh asthe deputy air attaché at the Indian embassy in Moscow.

According tosources, Lt. Commander Gogoi will finish her Russian language course thismonth. She is likely to take over the new post in Moscow in December afterrequisite approvals.

Theappointments of Wing Commander Singh and Lt-Commander Gogoi are the first timethat woman officers have been selected for defence diplomacy in themale-dominated environs of the armed forces. If the former as an aeronauticalengineer specializes in handling fighter jets, the latter has experience inwarship construction and maintenance.

Gogoi, a Guwahati grown-up girl was commissioned into the Navy in 2010. Her husband, Lt. Commander Pranjal Handique, is also a gunnery officer in the Navy. She was selected over other candidates for the diplomatic assignment after an interview conducted by a board of senior naval officers.