Head of the Army GHQ staff in the Pakistan Army
Chief of the General Staff (abbreviated as CGS ) is the most coveted position within the Pakistan Army after that of the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) . Although four-star Chief of the Army Staff is the head of the land forces, CGS is "the organisational lead on both intelligence and operations" hence being in charge of the MI (Military Intelligence) and MO (Military Operations) Directorates.[1] Since 1985 a three-star lieutenant general is appointed to the post of CGS.
History
The selection for Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) have a preference for the officer candidate having served as the Chief of General Staff. Of the last 13 four-star army generals, eight officers had served a tenure as the CGS. Of the five who hadn't, Pervez Musharraf and Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had served as Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), while Ehsan ul Haq had served as Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI), all two-star postings under the CGS.
Historically, the Chief of General Staff , in addition to Commander, X Corps have political significance when the army chief wanted to overthrow political leadership. The 1999 Pakistani coup d'état , which brought General Pervez Musharraf to power had active involvement of Lt Gen Muhammad Aziz Khan , then CGS and Lt Gen Mahmud Ahmed , commander of the X Corps .
Therefore, the army chief essentially appoints his most trusted aides for these two postings before making a routine reshuffle. Gen Ziauddin Butt , who was nominated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after retiring Pervez Musharraf , passed his first orders to appoint Lt Gen Muhammad Akram as CGS and Lt Gen Salim Haider as commander, X Corps. But before this order could be conveyed to the rest of the army, Aziz and Mahmud took steps to reverse the order by overthrowing the government and thus essentially starting the 1999 coup.
List of Chiefs of General Staff
#
Portrait
Name
Start of term
End of term
Unit of Commission
1
Major General
Ross Cairns McCay[2] DSO
1948
1951
6th Rajputana Rifles
1
Major General
Akbar Khan , DSO
1951
1951
6/13 Frontier Force Rifles (1 FF)
2
Major General
Yusuf Khan
1951
1953
3
Major General
Mian Hayaud Din , HJ MBE MC
1953
1955
4/12 Frontier Force Regiment (6FF)
4
Major General
Sher Ali Khan Pataudi , HJ
1955
1957
7th Light Cavalry
5
Major General [1] [2]
Aga Muhammad Yahya Khan
1957
1962
4th Battalion (Duke of Connaught's Own) The Baluch Regiment (11 Baluch)
6
Major General
Malik Sher Bahadur
1962
1966
4th Battalion (Duke of Connaught's Own) The Baluch Regiment (11 Baluch)
7
Major General [3]
Yaqub Ali Khan , SPk
1966
1969
18th King Edward's Own Cavalry
8
Major General [4]
Gul Hassan Khan
1969
1971
5 Horse(Probyn's Horse)
9
Major General
M. Rahim Khan
1972
1974
10
Major General [5]
Muhammad Iqbal Khan , NI(M) SI(M) SBt
July 1974
March 1976
5th Battalion (Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides) 12 Frontier Force Regiment (2 FF)
11
Major General
Abdullah Malik
March 1976
March 1978
12
Major General [6]
Farooq Shaukat Khan Lodi
March 1978
June 1980
East Bengal Regiment
13
Major General
Mirza Aslam Beg , NI(M) SI(M) SBt
June 1980
October 1985
16 Baloch Regiment
14
Lieutenant General
Muhammad Safdar
October 1987
January 1988
Punjab Regiment
15
Lieutenant General
Mian Muhammad Afzaal
HI(M)
SI(M)
OA(M)
SBt
(Shaheed)
January 1988
August 1988
6 Lancers
16
Lieutenant General [7] [8]
'Shamim Alam Khan ', NI(M) SBt SJ
May 1989
April 1991
20th Lancers
17
Lieutenant General
Asif Nawaz Janjua , NI(M) HI(M) SBt
April 1991
August 1991
5 Punjab Regiment
18
Lieutenant General
Farrakh Khan
August 1991
July 1994
15th Lancers
19
Lieutenant General [9] [10]
Jehangir Karamat , NI(M) SBt
July 1994
January 1996
13th Lancers
20
Lieutenant General
Iftikhar Ali Khan , HI(M) SBt
January 1996
May 1997
11 Baloch Regiment
21
Lieutenant General
Ali Kuli Khan Khattak , HI(M)
May 1997
October 1998
12 Baloch Regiment
22
Lieutenant General [11] [12]
Muhammad Aziz Khan , NI(M) HI(M) SBt TBt
October 1998
August 2000
12 Punjab Regiment
23
Lieutenant General [13]
Muhammad Yusaf Khan
August 2000
October 2001
The Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force)
24
Lieutenant General
Shahid Aziz
October 2001
December 2003
10th Baloch Regiment
25
Lieutenant General [14] [15]
Tariq Majid , NI(M)
December 2003
October 2006
28 Baloch Regiment
26
Lieutenant General
Salahuddin Satti
October 2006
October 2008
40 Punjab Regiment
27
Lieutenant General
Muhammad Mustafa Khan
October 2008
April 2010
28
Lieutenant General [16] [17]
Khalid Shameem Wynne , NI(M) HI(M)
April 2010
October 2010
20 Punjab Regiment
29
Lieutenant General
Waheed Arshad , HI(M) TBt
October 2010
January 2013
16 Horse
30
Lieutenant General [18] [19]
Rashad Mahmood , NI(M) HI(M)
January 2013
November 2013
7 Baloch Regiment
31
Lieutenant General
Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad , HI(M)
November 2013
April 2015
34 Azad Kashmir Regiment
32
Lieutenant General [20] [21]
Zubair Mahmood Hayat , NI(M)
April 2015
November 2016
3 (Self Propelled) Medium Regiment Artillery
33
Lieutenant General
Bilal Akbar
December 2016
August 2018
Corps of Artillery
34
Lieutenant General [22] [23]
Nadeem Raza , NI(M) HI(M)
August 2018
November 2019
10 Sind Regiment
35
Lieutenant General
Sahir Shamshad Mirza
November 2019
September 2021
8 Sind Regiment
36
Lieutenant General
Azhar Abbas
8 September 2021
December 2022
41 Baloch Regiment
37
Lieutenant General
Muhammad Saeed
December 2022
November 2023
10 Sind Regiment
38
Lieutenant General
Avais Dastgir
November 2023
Incumbent
See also
Notes
1.^ Later promoted to lieutenant general in-office.
2.^ Later promoted to the post of a general.
3.^ Later promoted to Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee.
References
External links
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