Punita Arora is a former Flag Officer of the Indian Navy and the Indian Army. She was the first woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a three-star rank. She held the rank of Lieutenant General in the Indian Army and Surgeon Vice Admiral in the Indian Navy. Arora was born into a Punjabi family on May 31, 1946. She moved to India during partition when she was a year old. The partition was a division of British India into two independent dominion states, India and Pakistan by an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Arora’s family settled in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Like millions of families who left their homes for a better future, Arora’s family had to restart from scratch and make sacrifices along the way. As far back as Arora can remember, her father wanted her to become a doctor. She studied in Sophia School in Saharanpur till 8th grade. After that she moved to Guru Nanak Girls Inter-College. In 11th Standard while getting admitted to Government school for boys she decided to take science as a career. Arora joined the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune as an undergrad in 1962. Arora was commissioned in January of 1968. She came back for graduate studies and eventually also came back as faculty. Arora was coordinating medical research of the Armed Forces at the Army Headquarters as additional director-general of the Armed Forces Medical Services. She took charge of commandant of Armed Forces Medical College in 2004. Arora became the first woman officer to command the medical college. Arora was awarded with the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2004 by the President of India for providing efficient and prompt treatment to the victims of the Kula Chak terrorist attack, while the military hospital was under her command. She was also awarded the Sena Medal by the President of India in 2006 for providing gynae-endoscopy and oncology facilities, pioneering invitro-fertilization, and assisting reproductive techniques for infertile and childless couples in military hospitals. Arora was the first women in India to hold the rank of Lieutenant General of the Indian Armed Forces. She later transferred from the Army to the Navy, becoming the first female Vice Admiral of the Indian Navy. She has been awarded with 15 medals in her 37 years of career in Indian Armed Forces.