Eye on the sky, Gujarati girl is now a sailor with US Navy

SURAT: Born and brought up in Ahmedabad, 20-year-old Netri Patel, is now a sailor with the US Navy and is preparing to fulfill her dream to become a fighter pilot.
After studying in schools of Paldi and Bopal in Ahmedabad, Netri migrated with her parents Nirav and Doli to Columbus in Mississippi state of the US in 2015.
“We feel proud that our daughter, a girl from Gujarat will work in the armed forces in the US. Despite being a girl, she completed the 10-week training and got selected,” said Nirav. Netri completed the training and her graduation ceremony was held on Friday. She will undergo further training at Chicago.
“Netri will now try to become an officer. Her ultimate goal is to become a pilot,” said Nirav. He added that Netri got selected for a boot camp in December 2020 and successfully completed 10 weeks of training.
“She study computer science as her further training will continue in the Navy,” Nirav added.
“Netri always dreamt of becoming a pilot and had been preparing for it. After completing schooling, she was studying computer science in an undergraduate course,” said Nirav.
Patel family is native of Vanzana village in Chikhli taluka of Navsari district. However, they had settled in Ahmedabad decades ago. Nirav runs a motel business in Columbus.
“Being a Gujarati family, it was a tough decision for us to allow her to go for training for the armed forces. But she proved her ability. She is brilliant in studies as well,” Nirav said.