NSG Launches India’s First All-Women Commando Course
NEW DELHI: In a significant expansion of women’s roles in specialised security operations, the National Security Guard has commenced its inaugural Mahila Commando Conversion Course at the NSG Training Academy in Manesar, Haryana.
The 12-week programme is designed exclusively for selected women personnel drawn from State Police Forces and Central Armed Police Forces, equipping them with advanced counter-terrorism skills.
The course, which began in late August 2026, marks the first time the elite force has opened a dedicated conversion programme of this nature for women. It aims to transform participants into operationally capable commandos who can handle high-intensity roles in counter-terror missions.
What the Training Covers
The intensive curriculum focuses on building physical endurance, technical proficiency and tactical readiness. Key modules include rigorous physical conditioning, weapons handling and marksmanship, tactical intervention techniques, hostage rescue operations, and other specialised aspects of counter-terrorism.
Officials describe the programme as meticulously structured to produce personnel who are physically robust, technically skilled and operationally prepared for demanding assignments.
Upon successful completion, the women will return to their parent organisations. The NSG expects them to serve as force multipliers, carrying enhanced combat skills and operational knowledge back to their respective forces.
This approach is intended to spread specialised expertise more widely across India’s security apparatus rather than concentrating it solely within the NSG.
The National Security Guard has framed the initiative as a milestone in strengthening women’s operational capabilities within India’s counter-terrorism framework.
In an official statement shared on its social media platform, the force said: “In a pioneering initiative towards strengthening women’s operational capabilities in India’s counter-terrorism architecture, the NSG Training Academy, Manesar has commenced the 1st Mahila Commando Conversion Course (MCCC) for women personnel of State Police Forces and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).”
It further noted that the course “is designed to develop physically robust, technically proficient and operationally ready women commandos through rigorous training in physical conditioning, weapons and marksmanship, tactical intervention, hostage rescue and other specialised facets of counter-terrorism operations.”
The broader goal, according to the NSG, is to build a wider pool of trained personnel, promote common professional standards and strengthen interoperability across different security forces.
The force has adopted the theme “She Who Dares, Leads,” emphasising that the programme represents empowerment through operational capability rather than merely increasing numerical participation. “It will prepare women to shoulder the most demanding specialist roles and contribute decisively to the evolving contours of internal security. Truly – She Who Dares, Leads,” the NSG stated.
The National Security Guard, popularly known as the Black Cats, is India’s premier federal contingency force specialising in counter-terrorism, hostage rescue and specialised interventions.
While women have progressively taken on greater responsibilities in various wings of the security forces, opportunities for high-end specialised counter-terror training have traditionally been limited.
The MCCC addresses this gap by systematically transferring NSG expertise to women personnel from state and central forces.
By creating a distributed network of trained women commandos who return to their parent cadres, the initiative is expected to enhance institutional preparedness at multiple levels.
It also aligns with the wider national emphasis on Nari Shakti and the professional integration of women into challenging operational domains within the internal security architecture.
The launch of the first Mahila Commando Conversion Course therefore represents more than a training milestone. It signals a deliberate shift towards building specialised operational capacity among women across India’s security forces, ensuring that expertise in complex counter-terrorism tasks becomes more widely available and resilient.
About the Author
