Meet Grace Garba; the trained nurse who is now Nigerian Air Force’s first female Air Warrant Officer

After 55 years of existence, Nigeria’s Air Force has its first female Air Warrant Officer, Grace Garba.

Garba was born on February 14, 1966, in Garkida, Gombi Local Government Area of Nigeria’s Adamawa State, barely two years after the official establishment of the Nigerian Air Force on April 18, 1964.

Garba joined the Nigerian Air Force at age 20 as a member of the Basic Military Training Course (BMTC) 10 in 1986.

Thirty-three years down the lane, Garba, a holder of Certificates in Nursing from School of Nursing, Maiduguri, Midwifery from Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Public Health Nursing from School of Health Technology both in Kaduna State and Advanced Diploma in Public Administration at the Federal University of Technology, Yola becomes the first Nigerian Air Force’s female Warrant Officer.

Nigeria’s Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, approved Garba’s promotion from Master Warrant Officer (MWO) to the enviable position of Air Warrant Officer (AWO). 

Currently, Garba is the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) of the Nigerian Air Force’s School of Medical Sciences and Aviation Medicine (NAFSMSAM), Kaduna.

She will be decorated with the new rank on October 15, 2019.

The Director of Public Relations and Information of Nigeria’s Airforce, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said in a statement Tuesday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital that Garba becomes the first female Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) to be promoted to the highest rank in the Non-Commissioned Officers’ cadre in the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

“The promotion demonstrates the commitment of the current NAF leadership in paying adequate attention to the empowerment of female personnel to realize their full potentials,” he said.