The
Pakistan Army (
Urdu: ) is
a branch of the
Pakistan military
that protects the state borders and territories.
The Pakistan Army came into existence after
independence in 1947 and is led by
General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. It has an active
force of 700,000 personnel and 528,000 men in reserve. The Pakistan
Army is a volunteer force and soldiers continue to serve until the
age of 45. The Pakistan Army has had conflicts with India, and has
been involved in
United Nations
peacekeeping efforts. It maintained division and brigade strength
presences in some of the Arab countries during the past
Arab-Israeli Wars, and aided the
Coalition in the first
Gulf War.
Combat doctrine
Pakistan Army has a doctrine of limited "offensive-defense" which
it has tried to refine consistently ever since 1989 since its
inception during "Exercise Zarb-e-Momin."
Under this strategy the Army does not wait for the enemy's
offensive, but rather launches an offensive of its own. Two things
are accomplished under this strategy: first, the enemy is kept
off-balance; second, enemy territory of strategic importance may be
seized, which can then be used as a bargaining chip to consolidate
the Army's gains. Similarly, in protecting state borders, the
Pakistan Army will attempt to keep the enemy off of the border
rather than giving ground on the Pakistani side.
In the
1990s, the Army created a strong centralized corps of reserves for
its formations in the critical semi-desert and desert sectors in
southern Punjab
and Sindh
provinces. These new formations were rapidly equipped with
assets needed for mechanized capability. These reserve formations
are dual-capable, meaning they can be used for offensive as well as
defensive (holding) purposes.
Organization
The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), formerly called the Commander
in Chief (C in C), is charged with the responsibility of commanding
the Pakistan Army.
The COAS operates from army headquarters in
Rawalpindi
, near Islamabad
. The Principal Staff Officers (PSO's)
assisting him in his duties at the
Lieutenant General level include a Chief
of General Staff (CGS), under whom the Military Operations and
Intelligence Directorates function; the Chief of Logistics Staff
(CLS); the Adjutant General (AG); the Quarter-Master General (QMG);
the Inspector General of Training and Evaluation (IGT&E); and
the Military Secretary (MS). A major reorganization in GHQ was done
in September 2008 under General
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, when two new PSO
positions were introduced: the Inspector General Arms and the
Inspector General Communications and IT, thus raising the number of
PSO's to eight..
The headquarters function also includes the Judge Advocate General
(JAG), and the Comptroller of Civilian Personnel, the Chief of the
Corps of Engineers (E-in-C) who is also head of
Military Engineering Service
(
MES), all of them also report to the Chief of
the Army Staff.
The current Principal Staff Officers (PSO's) helping the COAS in
his duties at the
Lieutenant
General level include:
- Chief of General Staff (CGS) — Lt Gen Mohammad Mustafa
Khan
- Chief of Logistics Staff (CLS) — Lt Gen Muhammad Alam Khattak
- Inspector General Arms — Lt Gen Jamil Haider
- Adjutant General (AG) — Lt Gen Javed Zia
- Quarter-Master General (QMG) — Lt Gen Zahid Hussain
- Inspector General Training and Evaluation (IGT&E) — Lt Gen
Ahsan Azhar Hayat
- Military Secretary (MS) — Lt Gen Mohsin Kamal
- Inspector General Communications and IT — Lt Gen Tanvir
Tahir
Structure of Army units
A PA Mi-17 at Skardu
The Pakistan Army is divided into two main branches, which are Arms
and Services. Arms include:
- Armoured Corps
- Infantry
- Artillery
- Air Defence
- Engineers
- Signals
- Army Aviation
And Services include:
- Army Medical Corps
- Ordnance
- Electrical & Mechanical Engineering (EME)
- Army Supply & Transport (ASC)
Regiments
- The President's Bodyguard
- Armour
- 4th Cavalry
- 5th Horse
- 6th Lancers
- 7th Lancers
- 8th Cavalry
- 9th Horse
- 10th Cavalry (Guides Cavalry)
- 11th Cavalry
- 12th Cavalry
- 13th Lancers
- 14th Lancers
- 15th Lancers
- 16th Horse
- 17th Lancer
- 18th Horse
- 19th Lancers
- 20th Lancers
- 21st Horse
- 22nd Cavalry
- 23rd Cavalry
- The Charging 24th Cavalry
- 25th Cavalry
- 26th Cavalry
- 27th Cavalry
- 28th Cavalry "CHAMMB HUNTERS"
- 29th Cavalry
- 30th Cavalry
- 31st Cavalry
- 32nd Cavalry(al aadiyat)
- 33rd Cavalry
- 34th Lancers
- 37th Cavalry(newest regt of ac)
- 38th Cavalry
- 40th Horse
- 41st Horse
- 42nd Lancers
- 51st Lancers
- 52nd Cavalry
- 53rd Cavalry
- 52nd Cavalry
- 53rd Cavalry
- 54th Cavalry
- 55th Cavalry
- 56th Cavalry
- 57th Cavalry
- 58th Cavalry
|
*The President's Bodyguard formed at independence from
members of the Governor
General's Bodyguard, itself successor to the Governor's Troop
of Moghals raised in 1773
*5th Horse is the successor to the 1st Sikh Irregular
Cavalry (Wales's Horse), and the 2nd Sikh Irregular Cavalry, both
raised in 1857
*6th Lancers is the successor to The Rohilkhand Horse raised
in 1857, and the 4th Sikh Irregular Cavalry raised in
1858
*Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force) is the successor to the
Corps of Guides raised in 1846
*11th Cavalry (Frontier Force) is the successor to 1st
Regiment of Punjab Cavalry and 3rd Regiment of Punjab Cavalry, both
raised in 1849
*13th Lancers is the successor to the 1st Native Troop
raised in 1804, and the 2nd Native Troop raised in 1816.
It is also the senior most armour regiment of the Indian
Sub-Continent.
*15th Lancers is the successor to the Multani Regiment Of
Cavalry raised in 14 January 1858.
*19th Lancers is the successor to the 2nd Mahratta Horse
(Tiwana Horse) raised in 1858, and Fane's Horse raised in
1860
*25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) is the
famous unit which stopped Indian
armour
thrust in Chawinda in 1965
*The Punjab Regiment formed in 1956 from the
1st, 14th, 15th and 16th Punjab Regiments; can be traced back to
the 3rd Battalion of Coast Sepoys raised in 1759
*The Baloch Regiment formed in 1956 from the 8th Punjab
Regiment, The Baloch Regiment, and The Bahawalpur Regiment; can be
traced back to the 3rd Extra Madras Battalion raised in
1798
*The Frontier Force Regiment is the successor to the
Frontier Brigade raised in 1846
*The Azad Kashmir Regiment was raised in 1947, became part
of the army in 1971
*The Sindh Regiment was raised in 1980 from battalions of
the Punjab Regiment and Baloch Regiment
*The Northern Light Infantry was formed in 1977 from various
paramilitary units of scouts, became part of the army in 1999 after
the Kargil War
*The Special Service Group was formed in 1959 around a cadre
from the Baloch Regiment
Corps
There are 11
Corps including the newly formed
Army Strategic
Forces Command (2004) and
Army Air Defence Command located at
various garrisons all over Pakistan.
| Corps |
HQ
Location |
Major
Formations under Corps |
Commander |
| I Corps |
Mangla,
Punjab |
6th Armoured Division
(Kharian ), 17th
Infantry Division (Kharian), 37th
Infantry Division (Gujranwala ) |
Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmad |
| II Corps |
Multan , Punjab |
1st
Armoured Division (Multan), 40th
Infantry Division (Okara) |
Lt Gen Sikandar Afzal |
| IV Corps |
Lahore ,
Punjab |
10th
Infantry Division (Lahore), 11th Infantry Division
(Lahore) |
Lt Gen Ijaz Ahmed Bakhshi |
| V Corps |
Karachi , Sindh |
16th
Infantry Division (Pano Aqil), 18th
Infantry Division (Hyderabad ), 25th Mechanized Division (Malir ) |
Lt Gen Shahid Iqbal |
| X Corps |
Rawalpindi, Punjab |
Force
Command Northern Areas (Gilgit ), 12th Infantry Division
(Murree ), 19th
Infantry Division (Mangla), 23rd Infantry
Division (Jhelum ) |
Lt Gen Tahir Mahmood |
| XI Corps |
Peshawar , North West Frontier Province |
7th Infantry Division
(Peshawar), 9th Infantry Division (Kohat ) |
Lt Gen Muhammad Masood Aslam |
| XII Corps |
Quetta , Balochistan |
33rd
Infantry Division (Quetta), 41st
Infantry Division (Quetta) |
Lt Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne |
| XXX Corps |
Gujranwala, Punjab |
2nd
Artillery Division (Gujranwala), 8th Infantry Division (Sialkot ), 15th Infantry Division (Sialkot) |
Lt Gen Nadeem
Taj |
| XXXI Corps |
Bahawalpur , Punjab |
14th
Infantry Division (Okara), 26th Mechanized
Division (Bahawalpur), 35th Infantry Division (Bahawalpur) |
Lt Gen Naeem Khalid Lodhi |
| Strategic
Corps |
Rawalpindi, Punjab |
2
divisions, 47th Artillery Brigade (Sargodha ) |
Lt Gen Syed Absar Hussain |
| Army Air Defence Command |
Rawalpindi, Punjab |
3rd
Air Defence Division (Sargodha), 4th Air Defence Division (Malir) |
Lt Gen Muhammad Ashraf Saleem |
History of the Pakistan Army
1947–1958
The Pakistan Army was created on 30 June 1947 with the division of
the
British Indian Army.
Pakistan received six armoured, eight
artillery and eight
infantry regiments compared to the forty armoured,
forty artillery and twenty one infantry regiments that went to
India. Fearing that India would take over the state of Kashmir,
irregulars, scouts and tribal groups joined the Kashmiris opposing
the maharaja in 1947. This lead to the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.
Regular army units joined the invasion later on but were stopped
after the refusal of the Pakisatan army C-in-C to obey Pakistani
leader Jinnah's orders to move the army into Kashmir.
Ceasefire followed on
UN intervention with Pakistan occupying the northwestern part of
Kashmir
and India the rest. Later, during the
1950s, the Pakistan Army received large amounts of economic and
military aid from United States and Great Britain after signing two
Mutual Defense Treaties, Central Treaty Organization,
(Cento) also known as the Baghdad
Pact and SEATO, (South East
Asian Treaty Organization) in 1954. This aid greatly
expanded the Army from its modest beginnings.
The sole division HQ that went to Pakistan was the 7th. 8th and 9th
Divisions were raised in 1947; 10, 12 and 14 Divs were raised in
1948. 15 Div was raised in 1950. At some point before 1954, 6 Div
was raised and 9 Div disbanded. 6 Div was disbanded at some point
after 1954 as US assistance was available only for 1 armd and 6 inf
divs. 1st Armoured Div was raised in 1956.
1958–1969
The Army seized control of Pakistan for the first time when General
Ayub Khan came to power through a
bloodless coup in 1958. Tensions with India continued in the 1960s
and a brief border skirmish was fought near the Rann of Kutch area
during April 1965. The Pakistan Army commanders seemed emboldened
and carried out
Operation
Gibraltar, an attempt to take Kashmir that was launched later
in the year and resulted in the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. After
the Pakistani infiltrators were discovered, India counter-attacked
and the 3-week war ended in a U.N. mandated ceasefire culminating
in the
Tashkent Declaration.
The
1965 Indo-Pakistani War
is widely regarded as ending in a stalemate as both countries had
similar amounts of their opposition's territory in their
possession, although the Indian Army may have had an upper hand
because its captured territory was hospitable areas of the Punjab
whereas that captured by the PA was composed of the deserts and
swamps of Rann. Both countries claimed victory, Pakistan's reason
being it had forced a stalemate against a military which was vastly
superior in numbers and equipment. It is also believed that India's
better resources would have given it a decisive advantage had the
war continued.
An uprising against General Ayub Khan during 1968 and 1969 resulted
in Ayub Khan relinquishing his office as President and Chief of
Army Staff in favour of General
Yahya
Khan, who assumed power in 1969. 16 Division, 18 Division and
23 Division were raised at some point between 1966 and 1969 and 9
Division was re-raised during this period.
1969–1977
During the rule of General Yahya Khan, the
Bengalis of
East
Pakistan protested against various political and economic
conditions that had been imposed on them by
West Pakistan and massive civil unrest broke
out in East Pakistan. While the Pakistan Army attempted to quell
the uprisings, which included killings of non-Bengalis by Bengali
rebels, incidents of
human
rights abuses were carried out by certain sections of the
Pakistan Army in East Pakistan. India assisted Bangladeshi rebels
for months before beginning an invasion of East Pakistan in
November 1971. The Pakistani military in East Pakistan was very
heavily out-numbered following a policy that "East Pakistan's
defence lay in West Pakistan" and by 16 December 1971, around
90,000 West Pakistanis were surrendered and taken
Prisoner of War by the
Indian Army. They included around 55,000
military personnel and around 35,000 government and civil
employees.
East Pakistan was made independent from West
Pakistan, becoming the People's Republic of
Bangladesh
. Consequently, the Pakistan Army was
modernised at a faster pace than ever before.
According to Maj (Retd) Agha Humayun Amin, no PA commanders had
seriously considered an Indian invasion of East Pakistan until
December 1971 because it was thought that the Indian military would
not risk Chinese or U.S. intervention. It was not realised that the
Chinese were unable to intervene during the November to December
1971 period due to snowbound Himalayan passes and the U.S. had not
made any real effort to persuade India against attacking East
Pakistan.
1977–1999
In 1977 the Pakistan Army took over the government of Pakistan
after a
coup by General
Zia ul-Haq, which saw the end of another
democratically elected government leading to the hanging of
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, after he
was tried and found guilty of conspiracy of murdering a politician
named Kasuri. General
Zia ul-Haq ruled as
a military dictator until his death in an air crash in 1988. At
that time General Mohammad Iqbal Khan was a powerful general of
Pakistan. He served as a joint chief from 1980 to 1984 and was the
Chief Martial Law Officer at that time. If Zia ul-Haq would have
resigned at that time he would be the next COAS.
Pakistan Army also helped the Saudi Arabian Government in regaining
the control of the Kaaba with the help of French Commandos.
Pakistani and French security forces retook Kaaba in a
battle which left approximately 250
dead, and 600 wounded. The Pakistanis and French were called in
after poor results from assaults by the Saudi Arabian National
Guard (SANG). 127 were reported to have been killed.
In the mid-1970s the Pakistan Army was involved in fighting an
uprising in Balochistan. Various Balochi factions, some with the
oblique support of the USSR, wanted independence or at least
greater provincial rights. The rebellion was put down but the Army
suffered heavy casualties.
1999–present
In October 1999 the Pakistan Army for the fourth time, overthrew a
democratically elected government which resulted in additional
sanctions being placed against Pakistan, resulting in General
Pervez Musharraf coming to power in
a
bloodless coup. Musharraf stepped
down as President in August 2008. On July 30, 2009, the Pakistan
Supreme Court ruled that General Musharraf's imposition of the
Emergency Rule in 2007 was unconstitutional.
Since the
9/11 incident, Pakistan
unrecognized the Taliban and has become a
key ally of the United
States
in the fight against terrorism. As part of the
U.S.
's War on Terrorism,
the army has moved over 100,000 troops to the Pakistan-Afghan
border to patrol against extreme elements cross border
infiltration.
The Pakistan Army commenced operations in Balochistan during 2006,
resulting in the killing of the leader of the Balochis,
Nawab Akbar Bugti and has resulted in the
crushing of a rebellion by the
Balochistan Liberation Army.
Ironically, Bugti never demanded separation of Baluchistan from
Pakistan. In an interview with journalist Hamid Mir, he said "Read
Mir Gul Khan Nasir's book on the
history of Balochistan. The Baloch have always resisted
unconstitutional measures.I'm not a traitor, the people who go
against the Article 6 and take control of Pakistan are the real
traitors. I, like Mir Gul Khan Nasir, only put forward the demand
for Balochistan's rights. But in General Musharraf's view this is a
crime punishable by death. (Bugti Laughs then continues) Your
commando general will rest only after he martyrs me but after my
martyrdom he will be held responsible. So now it's up to you people
to either choose Musharraf or Pakistan. The choice is yours."
Another of his demands that put him into direct conflict with the
military cabal was the trial of an army captain accused of raping a
lady doctor posted at Sui.
On February 21, 2009, the Pakistani government and armed forces
decided to implement a truce with the Taliban rather than engage in
on-off guerrilla warfare to the dismay of many of Pakistan's
Western allies including the United States. As a result of this
truce, Shariah or Islamic law was to be implemented in the
Malakand division – a region in North-West Pakistan
that includes the one time tourist haven,
Swat
Valley. However, when Taliban did not lay down their weapons as
part of the deal which would result in the implementation of
Islamic law, the Pakistan army supported by the country's
parliament embarked on a full-scale military operation in order to
'eliminate' militants that challenge the writ of the state.
Recent press releases by military spokespersons claim to have
already killed over 1,000 militants. The militants, on the other
hand, claim to have taken less losses than the military. However,
due to the intensity of the conflict and the curfew imposed by the
government in the area, it is difficult to verify this
independently. Most observers believe that the military is
regaining territory that was in control of the militants, although
the speed of this progress is considerably slow. Notable defence
analysts believe that if the Pakistan army is serious about
tackling the threat of militancy, it will be successful in quelling
this insurgency.pakistan has been successful in crushing the swat
based taliban . the army has also started an operation to quash
taliban in south waziristan and it has been highly successful in it
as well
Pakistan Army role in peacekeeping
See also
UN peacekeeping
missions involving Pakistan
In the wake of the new world power equilibrium a more complex
security environment has emerged. It is characterized by growing
national power politics and state implosions which have
necessitated involvement of the
United
Nations peace keeping forces for conflict resolution.
The United Nations has been undertaking peace keeping operations
since its inception, but the need for employment of peace keeping
forces has increased manifold since the Gulf War. In 1992 there
were 11000 Blue Berets deployed around the world, by the end of the
year the figure rose to 52000. Presently it exceeds a staggering
figure of 80,000 troops.
Pakistan contribution in UN peace keeping missions
- UN
Operation in Congo
(ONUC) 1960–1964
- UN
Security Force in New
Guinea
, West
Irian
(UNSF) 1962–1963
- UN
Yemen Observer Mission Yemen
(UNYOM)
1963–1964
- UN
Transition Assistance Group in Namibia
(UNTAG) 1989–1990
- UN
Iraq
–Kuwait
Observer
Mission (UNIKOM) 1991–2003
- UN
Mission in Haiti
(UNMIH)
1993–1996
- UN
Transitional Authority in Cambodia
(UNTAC) 1992–1993
- UN
Operations in Somalia
(UNOSOM) 1992–1995
- UN
Protection Forces in Bosnia
(UNPROFOR) 1992–1995
- UN
Observer Mission for Rawanda
(UNAMIR) 1993–1996
- UN
Verification Mission in Angola
(UNAVEM
III) 1995–1997
- UN
Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia
(UNTAES) 1996–1997
- UN Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP) 1996–2002
- UN
Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone
(UNAMSIL) 2001–2005
- UN
Transitional Administration in East Timor
(UNTAET) 1999-to-date
- UN
Mission in Democratic Republic of the
Congo (MONUC)
2003-to-date
- UN
Mission in Liberia
(UNMIL) 2003-to-date
- UN
Mission in Ivory
Coast
(ONUCI) 2004-to-date
- UN
Mission in Burundi
(ONUB) 2004-to-date
- UN
Mission in Sudan
(UNMIS)
2005-to-date
- UN
Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK)
1999-to-date
Currently, Pakistan has the most operational army in UN peace
keeping missions. Notable are its achievements in DRC and
Somalia
Political and corporate interests of the Army
Political interests
The Pakistan Army has always played an integral part of the
Pakistan government since its inception mainly on the pretext of
lack of good civilian leadership. It has virtually acted as a third
party that has repeatedly seized power in the name of stabilizing
Pakistan and ending corruption. However political instability,
lawlessness and corruption are seen as direct consequences of army
rule. with the last military dictator, Gen. Musharraf making off
with state gifts worth millions instead of depositing them with the
state treasury as per law besides other reported instances of
corruption . Earlier similar precedent was also setup by general
Zia ul-Haq who retained expensive vehicles and state gifts.
The tradition of insubordination of the army towards the legitimate
leadership of can be traced back to Frank Messervy who had resisted
the orders of Pakistan’s founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah. This
was described as the main reason for his early retirement. However
it did not prevent him being honored and promoted to general. Later
Douglas Gracey, the C in C of the Pakistan Army did not send troops
to the Kashmir front and refused to obey the order to do so given
by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Governor-General of Pakistan. Gracey argued
that Jinnah as Governor-General represented the British Crown of
which he himself was an appointee. The same tradition was continued
by their successors, Ayub Khan, Zia and Musharraf, all of whom
received honours instead of being tried for indiscipline and
insubordination.
General
Ayub Khan came to power in 1958
due to political wrangling engineered by the bureaucracy and the
military after the assassination of prime minister Liaqat Ali Khan.
The situation was so dire that the speaker of the National Assembly
was beaten to death right in front of the assembly hall. Later on,
owing to public pressure, Ayub Khan transferred power to General
Yahya Khan rather than the speaker of the
national assembly as stipulated in the constitution. The prolonged
military rule finally resulted in the dismemberment of Pakistan
with the independence of Bangladesh. After the 1971 war, democracy
was restored only to be cut short in 1977 after a
coup which saw the hanging of
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Pakistani
Premier. General
Zia ul-Haq ruled as a
dictator virtually unopposed until his death in 1988. His rule
resulted in lawlessness, bomb blasts and influx of weapons and
refugees. Despite the exit of the army from mainstream politics,
the political muscle of the military is everpresent. The former
President, General (ret)
Pervez
Musharraf, came to power in a
bloodless coup in October 1999 overthrowing
the last democratically elected government led by
Nawaz Sharif.
Commercial interests
Repeated army coups have served to strengthen and build-up the
military's corporate interests in real estate, security-related
businesses, hotels, shopping malls, insurance companies, banks,
farms and airline sectors. Pakistan has been ruled by the Army for
about half of the period of its existence. During this period of
its dictatorial rule the army has authorized some unbelievable
perks and privileges for itself. Expansion of these interests
occurred most prominently via welfare foundations, under the guise
of providing for the needs of the troops and their families,
whether with bakeries, real estate or beauty parlors. During the
period of direct military rule from 1999-2007, the military owned
the best farmland and several of the largest industrial
conglomerates. Retired or active-duty military officers were
running the ports, postal service, electric utilities, sports
federations, telecommunications authority, culture ministry,
mineral development agency, anti-drug police, railroads, civil
aviation authority, national shipping company and Pakistan’s
biggest steel mill. They hold top administrative posts at the best
universities. Many ambassadors are retired officers. A civilian
government, as and when formed, could hardly change or challenge
these perks. Once Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo attempted to
cut defence expenditure and tried to put generals and admirals in
small cars in place of more luxurious vehicles, General Zia
promptly sacked him. Besides handsome pay package and fringe
benefits, army officers in Pakistan are given many colonial
privileges. The biggest perk is land. In addition to land grants,
pensions five times the civilian level and post-retirement jobs
were designed to make military service lucrative. In fact its is
said that every general retiring from the army is transformed into
a feudal lord, thanks to the prime agrarian lands allotted to
them.In the Pakistan Army a Major General on promotion to the rank
of Lieutenant General gets fifty acres of land. On the contrary out
of the 46 housing schemes directly built by the armed forces, none
is for ordinary soldiers or civilian officers and personnel
employed by the army.. One of Pakistan’s most coveted addresses,
was built on the site of an old antiaircraft battery in the upscale
Karachi suburb of Clifton. It forms a gated community protected by
paramilitary troops, the development consists of spacious,
Mediterranean-style villas grouped around a playground and an
elaborately landscaped Japanese-style garden.
Personnel
Personnel training
Pakistan's SSG Commandos during an
exercise
Enlisted ranks
Most enlisted personnel used to come from rural families, and many
have only rudimentary literacy skills, but with the increase in the
litracy level the requirements have been raised to Matriculate
level (10th Grade). Recruits are processed gradually through a
paternalistically run regimental training center, taught the
official language,
Urdu, if necessary, and
given a period of elementary education before their military
training actually starts.
In the thirty-six-week training period, they develop an attachment
to the regiment they will remain with through much of their careers
and begin to develop a sense of being a Pakistani rather than
primarily a member of a tribe or a village. Enlisted men usually
serve for eighteen years, during which they participate in regular
training cycles and have the opportunity to take academic courses
to help them advance.
Officer ranks
Following are the Officer ranks in Pakistan Army:
- Field Marshal
- General
- Lt-General
- Major-General
- Brigadier
- Colonel
- Lt-Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- Lieutenant
- 2nd lieutenant
About 320
men enter the army bi-annually through the Pakistan Military Academy at
Kakul
in Abbottabad
in the North West Frontier Province; a small number—especially physicians and technical
specialists—are directly recruited, and these persons are part of
the heart of the officer corps. The product of a highly
competitive selection process, members of the officer corps have
completed twelve years of education and spend two years at the
Pakistan Military Academy, with their time divided about equally
between military training and academic work to bring them up to a
baccalaureate education level, which includes English-language
skills.
The army has twelve other training establishments, including
schools concentrating on specific skills such as infantry,
artillery, intelligence, or mountain warfare. A
National
University of Science and Technology (
NUST)
has been established which has absorbed the existing colleges of
engineering, signals, electrical engineering and medicine.
At the
apex of the army training system is the Command and Staff College at
Quetta, one of the
few institutions inherited from the colonial period. The
college offers a ten-month course in tactics, staff duties,
administration, and command functions through the division level.
Students from foreign countries, including the United States, have
attended the school but reportedly have been critical of its narrow
focus and failure to encourage speculative thinking or to give
adequate attention to less glamorous subjects, such as
logistics.
The senior training institution for all service branches is the
National Defence
University.
Originally established in 1971 at Rawalpindi, to provide training in higher military strategy
for senior officers, the school house was relocated to Islamabad in
1995. It also offers courses that allow civilians to explore
the broader aspects of national security. In a program begun in the
1980s to upgrade the intellectual standards of the officer corps
and increase awareness of the wider world, a small group of
officers, has been detailed to academic training, achieving
master's degrees and even doctorates at universities in Pakistan
and abroad.
Pakistani
officers were sent abroad during the 1950s and into the 1960s for
training in Britain
and other Commonwealth countries, and
especially to the United States, where trainees numbering well in
the hundreds attended a full range of institutions ranging from
armored and infantry schools to the higher staff and command
institutions. After 1961 this training was coordinated under
the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program,
but numbers varied along with vicissitudes in the United
States-Pakistan military relationship. Of some 200 officers being
sent abroad annually in the 1980s, over two-thirds went to the
United States, but the cessation of United States aid in 1990
entailed suspension of the IMET program. In 1994 virtually all
foreign training was in Commonwealth countries. However, after the
9/11 attacks, Pakistan again has begun sending
officers to US Army schools. Today there are more than 400 officers
serving in foreign countries.
Officers retire between the ages of fifty-two and sixty, depending
on their rank.
Uniforms
Pakistan Army troops wearing the
standard sand fatigue uniform lead the Joint Services Parade in
2005.
Pakistan Army uniforms closely resemble those of the British armed
services. The principal color is greenish brown. Dress uniforms
were worn mostly on formal occasions. The service uniform was worn
for daily duty. The service uniform for the ground forces was khaki
(sand/tan) cotton. Officers purchased their uniforms, but enlisted
personnel received a standard uniform issue, which consisted of
service and field uniforms, fatigues, and in some cases, dress
uniforms. The uniforms consisted of shirt, trousers, sweater,
jacket or blouse, and boots. There is also a white dress uniform.
The fatigues were the same for winter and summer. Heavy winter gear
was issued as needed. Headgear included a service cap for dress and
semi-dress and a field cap worn with fatigues. Army personnel also
wear berets, usually worn in lieu of the service cap.
Brown and black and more recently US BDU style camouflage fatigues
are worn by army troop units.
Rank structure and uniform insignia
The rank structure is patterned on the British Army model.
Following the British Indian Army traditions, there are three
junior commissioned officer (JCO) grades between enlisted and
officer rank, for those who rise by promotion from among enlisted
recruits. The
Junior
Commissioned Officer is a continuation of the former
Viceroy's Commissioned
Officer rank. During the early days of the Pakistan Army, there
was a large cultural gap between officers and enlisted personnel.
In the early 1990s, JCOs had wide responsibilities in the
day-to-day supervision of lower grades, but they were a group that
may have outlived its usefulness because officers have become "more
Pakistani" and less dependent on British models and because the
education level of enlisted men has risen. Promotion to JCO rank,
however, remains a powerful incentive for enlisted personnel; thus,
if JCO ranks are ever phased out, it will likely be a slow
process.
Awards for valor
The
Nishan-e-Haider (Urdu: نشان
حیدر) (Sign of the Lion), is the highest military award given by
Pakistan.
RecipientsNishan-e-Haider recipients receive an
honorary title as a sign of respect:
Shaheed meaning
martyr for deceased recipients.
- Captain Muhammad Sarwar
Shaheed (1910–27 July 1948)
- Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed
(1914–7 August 1958)
- Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed
(1928–10 September 1965)
- Major Muhammad Akram Shaheed
(1938–1971)
- Major Shabbir Sharif
Shaheed (1943–6 December 1971)
- Jawan Sawar Muhammad Hussain
Shaheed (1949–10 December 1971)
- Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz
Shaheed (1944–17 December 1971)
- Captain Karnal Sher Khan
Shaheed (1970–5 July 1999)
- Lalak Jan Shaheed (1967–7 July
1999)
- Pilot Officer
Rashid Minhas Shaheed (Day of martyrdom : 21 August 1971)
- Naik Saif Ali Khan
Shaheed (Kashmir)
Two Pakistani pilots belonging to the army aviation branch of
Pakistan army who carried out a daring rescue of a mountaineer are
to be given Slovenia's top award for bravery. Slovenian, Tomaz
Humar got stranded on the western end of the 8,125m Nanga Parbat
mountain were he remained for around a week on top of the world's
ninth-highest peak. The helicopter pilots plucked the 38-year-old
from an icy ledge 6,000m up the peak known as "killer
mountain".
The Slovenian president has presented Lt Col Rashid Ullah Beg and
Lt Col Khalid Amir Rana with the Golden Order for Services in the
country's capital, Ljubljana, "for risking their lives during the
rescue mission", a Pakistan army statement said.
Special forces and alliances
- See also Pakistan-China military
relations.
Special Service Group (SSG) is an independent
commando division of the Pakistan Army.
It is an
elite special operations force
similar to the United States Army Special
Forces (Green
Beret) and the British Army's
SAS
.
Official numbers are put at 2,100 men, in 3
Battalions; however the actual strength is
classified. It is estimated
to have been increased to 4 Battalions, with the eventual formation
of 2 Brigades of Special Forces (6 Battalions).
Women and minorities in the Army
Women have served in the Pakistan Army since its foundation.
Currently, there is a sizable number of Women serving in the army.
Most women are recruited in the regular Army to perform medical and
educational work. There is also a Women's Guard section of
Pakistan's National Guard where women are trained in nursing,
welfare and clerical work and there are also women recruited in
very limited numbers for the Janbaz Force. Only recently has
Pakistan began to recruit women for combat positions and the Elite
Anti-Terrorist Force In 2007, several female graduates were
nominated to be Sky Marshalls for Pakistan based airlines. In
addition recently eight of the 41 cadets from the Pakistan Military
Academy at Kakul became the first women guards of honour.
Pakistan
is the only country in the
Islamic world to have
female Major
Generals in the Army.
Recruitment is nationwide and the army
attempts to maintain an ethnic balance but most enlisted recruits,
as in British times, come from a few districts in northern Punjab Province and the adjacent Azad Jammu
and Kashmir
and the North West Frontier Province. Pakistan's Officer Corps are also mostly
from Punjab and the North West Frontier Province and of
middle-class, rural backgrounds.
Minorities in Pakistan are allowed to sit in all examinations,
including the one conducted by Inter Services Selection Board
however the proportion of religious minorities in the Pakistan army
is still considerably very less. As per day only one sixth is in
the Pakistan Army.
Relief operations and economic development
In times of natural disaster, such as the great floods of 1992 or
the October 2005 devastating
earthquake, army engineers, medical
and logistics personnel, and the armed forces played a major role
in bringing relief and supplies.
The army also engaged in extensive economic activities. Most of
these enterprises, such as stud and dairy farms, were for the
army's own use, but others performed functions beneficial to the
local civilian economy. Army factories produced such goods as
sugar, fertilizer, and brass castings and sold them to civilian
consumers.
Several army organizations performed functions that were important
to the civilian sector across the country.
For example, the
National Logistics Cell was
responsible for trucking food and other goods across the country;
the Frontier Works Organization built the Karakoram Highway to
China
; and the Special Communication Organization
maintained communications networks in remote parts of
Pakistan.Pakistan Army is involved in relief
activities not only in Pakistan but also in many other countries of
the world, like they went for relief activities after Bangladesh
was recently hit by floods. The Pak Army also
went to Indonesia
, Bangladesh and Sri
Lanka
after they were hit by tsunami
. Pakistan Army and Navy sent ships and
helicopters to the friendly nations for the tsunami relief
operation.
2009 Refugee crisis
Weapons and equipment
Small arms
The M4A1 with SOPMOD package, including Rail Interface System (RIS)
and Trijicon ACOG 4x.
T-155 FIRTINA SP ARTY
M109 SP Howitzer
Panther Towed Howitzer
The M115 Howitzer
A M60AVLB
Armour inventory
Artillery inventory
|
Vehicle/System/Aircraft |
Firm Number in
Service |
Status |
| M109A5 155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer |
265 |
115 Ordered along with 150 A5 upgrade kits |
| M110A2 203 mm Self-Propelled
Howitzer |
60 |
In Service |
| Type 56 85 mm
Towed Artillery |
200 |
In Service |
| M-56 105 mm Towed
Artillery |
80 |
In Service |
| M101 105 mm Towed
Artillery |
300 |
In Service |
| T-60 122 mm Towed
Artillery |
200 |
In Service |
| Type 54 122 mm
Towed Artillery |
400 |
In Service |
| Type 59I
130 mm Towed Artillery |
200 |
In Service |
| M-59 155 mm Towed
Artillery |
30 |
In Service |
| M114 155 mm Towed
Artillery |
60 |
In Service |
| M-198 155 mm Towed Artillery |
120 |
In Service |
| M-115 203 mm Towed Artillery |
40 |
In Service |
| Panter Howitzer Towed
Artillery |
12 |
Produced by Turkey |
Aircraft inventory
Anti-tank missiles
- Anti-tank:
Air defence systems
- Man-portable air defence systems:
- Medium range air defence systems:
- High altitude air defence systems:
- Anti-aircraft guns:
Future plans
Throughout the International Defence Exhibition & Seminar
(IDEAS) at Karachi in November 2006, Pakistani firms have signed
joint development, production and marketing agreements with defence
firms from South Korea, France and Ukraine. These agreements
include new reactive armour bricks, 155 mm artillery shells,
and other developments in armour and land weaponry. These
agreements all relate to the Pakistan Army's AFFDP-2019
modernization program of its armour, artillery and infantry.
A few months prior to IDEAS 2006, the Pakistan Army and Heavy
Industries Taxila (HIT) announced the development of the Al Khalid
II Main Battle Tank (MBT). The Al Khalid II is poised to become the
Pakistan Army's backbone main battle tank from 2012; thus replacing
1200 obsolete Chinese T-59 and 300 T-85IIAP. Not much is known
about this tank, but it is reported that the Al Khalid II is a very
extensive upgrade of the current Al Khalid. Other reports suggest
that it will be an entirely new tank based on Western designs.
Turkish press reported that a Pakistani armour firm will
participate in the Turkey's new generation tank project. Turkey and
Pakistan have signed many memorandums of understanding in various
defence-related fields. Given that many Pakistani firms have signed
joint agreements with Western firms, it is possible that a
considerable part of the Al Khalid II's design will be influenced
from the Turkish tank design. Nonetheless, the new generation tank
is expected to form the backbone of the Pakistan Army's tank force;
in the long-term.
The Pakistan Army will standardize its artillery capability to
155 mm by 2019. This can be seen by the acquisition of 115
M109A5 self-propelled howitzers from the United States, and joint
production deals of 155 mm shells with French and South Korean
firms. It is expected that the army will procure a range of light,
medium and heavy towed and self-propelled howitzer artillery from
China, Europe and the United States. These will replace all
non-155 mm and older systems. The Army reportedly ordered and
procured an undisclosed number of WS-1B Multiple Launch Rocket
Systems (MLRS). As part of the artillery modernization program, the
Army will likely procure a fair number of new MLRS systems of
various ranges and shell sizes.
Modernization of the Army Aviation is underway with the procurement
of new transport and attack helicopters from the United States,
Russia and Europe. Finalized acquisitions include 26 Bell 412EP and
at least a dozen Mi-17 medium-lift transport helicopters from the
U.S and Russia, respectively. Forty Bell 407 and an unknown number
of Fennec light helicopters from the U.S. and Eurocopter have also
been ordered, respectively. Plans are underway to begin replacing
the
IAR 330 Puma, older Mil Mi-8/17, Bell
Jet Rangers and older Huey helicopters; options include the
Eurocopter NH-90 Tactical Transport Helicopter and UH-60M
Blackhawk. The Pakistan Army has procured dozens of excess AH-1
Cobra attack helicopters since 2002; at least 20 have been brought
into service to supplement the serving 18. These gunships are
expected to add muscle to current counterterrorist support
operations in NWFP.The army reportedly has upgraded its entire
fleet with AH-1Z King Cobra avionics and new weapon systems such as
the TOW-2 and Hellfire missiles. Up to 30 new-generation attack
helicopters will be procured to further enhance the Army's attack
aviation arm; options include the Eurocopter Tiger, South African
AH-2 Rooivalk and Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow.
See also
- Related lists
Notes
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/31/books.pakistan
- General Mirza Aslam Beg. 50 Years of Pakistan Army: A Journey
into Professionalism, Pakistan Observer, 21 August, 1997.
- Iftikhar A. Khan. "Kayani
shakes up army command" Dawn, 30 September, 2008
-
http://www.defence.pk/forums/land-forces/21550-pakistan-army.html
- http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/nov/pak-army.htm
-
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/world/asia/01pstan.html?ref=world
- http://ejang.jang.com.pk/7-30-2009/page5.asp
-
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jul2009-daily/30-07-2009/col5.htm
- LAND, GOLD & WOMEN
- Pakistan, land, gold, women
- Raped doctor: I'm still terrified,
BBC,
June 29, 2005.
- I’m still terrified: Dr Shazia
- Musharraf’s Rape Cover-Up
- http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/september/arena.htm
- http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/16pak3.htm
- http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23103
-
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/military-strategic-issues/249384-who-ruling-poor-nation-pakistan-army-genrals.html
- Siddiqa, Ayesha. "Military Inc. Inside Pakistan's Military
Economy" Karachi: Oxford University Press(2007).
-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23614-2002Nov21.html
- Pakistan Defence Forum
- BBC: Pakistan pilots get bravery award
-
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/army.htm
- http://www.pakdef.info/pakmilitary/army/regiments/ssg.html
-
http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=24
- http://www.pof.gov.pk/products/mg3.htm
- [1]
- http://www.pakdef.info/pakmilitary/army/tanks/btr70.html
-
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/army-equipment.htm
- http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?167823
-
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/army-aviation-aircraft.htm
-
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/2004/2004-09%20-%202372.html
-
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/army-aviation-aircraft.htm
-
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\10\23\story_23-10-2007_pg1_8
-
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Foreign_Military_Sale_Pakistan___TOW_2A_Anti_Armor_Guided_Missiles_999.html
- http://www.pakdef.info/pakmilitary/army/atgm/milan.html
References
- Cloughley, Brian. A History of the Pakistan Army: Wars and
Insurrections, 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2006. ISBN 978-0195473346.
Further reading
- Ayub, Muhammad. An Army, Its Role and Rule: A History of
the Pakistan Army from Independence to Kargil, 1947–1999.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Rosedog Books. ISBN 0-8059-9594-3.
- Cloughley, Brian. "War, Coups and Terror - Pakistan's Army in
Years of Turmoil" (from 1972 to 2008). UK, Pen & Sword Books.
ISBN 184415795-4.
- Siddiqa, Ayesha. "Military Inc. Inside Pakistan's Military
Economy" Karachi: Oxford University Press(2007). ISBN
978-0-19-547495-4
External links
- Official websites
- Web resources
Top topics
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
