Army promotions: Why 'unusual' simultaneous promotions of 12 major generals matter?

 

The current Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has promoted 12 Major Generals to the rank of Lt. General about a month and a half before his expected date of retirement which can be considered unusual. In the history of Pakistan Army, there are few examples of more than ten Major Generals being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General at the same time.

According to the ISPR, Major General Inam Haider Malik, Major General Fayyaz Hussain Shah, Major General Nouman Zakaria, Major General Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Major General Ayman Bilal Safdar were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. Major General Ahsan Gulriz, Major General Syed Amir Raza, Major General Shahid Imtiaz, Major General Munir Afsar, Major General Iftikhar Babar, Major General Yusuf Jamal and Major General Kashif Nazir are included. 

It should be noted that in the months of October and November, the retirement process of the current six senior lieutenant generals has started. Since the dates of promotion announcement and taking charge of various military posts vary, these Lt. Generals will retire on completion of their tenure by the end of November.

Last but not least is the retirement date of former DGISI and current Quartermaster General Lt Gen Asim Munir which is three days before the retirement of the Army Chief. Therefore, he is being considered as a prime candidate for the post of Army Chief or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, although in case of such a decision some changes will be necessary regarding the departure from the high post.

Reasons for high number of promotions 

After the death of Corps Commander Quetta Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali, Air Defense Command Chief Lt Gen Hamud-ul-Zaman (current Defense Secretary) and the retirement of Engineering Corps Lt Gen Moazzam Ijaz, new officers were to be appointed to these posts. . 

While the generals retiring in October and November include Corps Commander Mangala Shaheen Mazhar Mehmood, Inspector General Training Lt. Gen. Syed Muhammad Adnan Shah, Director General Joint Staff Headquarters Lt. Gen. Wasim Ashraf, Corps Commander Lahore Lt. Gen. Abdul Aziz, Director General Strategic Plans Division, Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Munj's names are included.

Along with this, in case of appointment of new Army Chief and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, at least two officers' positions will be vacant. Recent developments have also been made to fill them. 

Although in the case of promotion and supersedation of officers, in military traditions, new army chiefs promote some officers to build their team, but this time these promotions have been given ahead of time and the same. Therefore, more number of officers have been promoted.

 It is worth noting that six years ago General Qamar Javed Bajwa promoted seven Major Generals to the rank of Lieutenant General immediately after becoming the Army Chief. And now, a month and a half before his retirement date, he has promoted 12 Major Generals.

Along with this, during the six-year tenure of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, there are instances in which promoted officers continued to serve in their old positions for some time even after becoming lieutenant generals. Meanwhile, his post was upgraded for some time and he was appointed there when another post became vacant.

For example, Lt. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Lt. Gen. Syed Adnan served as Vice Chief of General Staff for some time after becoming Lt. Generals, which is generally considered to be the rank of Major General. 

Similarly, Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum Sheikh, Lt. Gen. Salman Fayaz Ghani and Lt. Gen. Aamir Abbasi also performed their duties in their old positions for some time.

During the tenures of General Zia-ul-Haq and General Pervez Musharraf, it happened more than once when they promoted competent or close officers to the next post ahead of time or even though the post was not vacant. 

Promoted Lieutenant General

Lt Gen Nauman Zakaria is currently the Vice Chief of General Staff and was previously Director General Military Operations at GHQ and commanded the Infantry Division in Waziristan.Lt. Gen. Syed Amir Raza is currently serving as the head of Heavy Industries Taxila. He has previously served as Director General Weapons and Equipment and GOC Infantry Division Kharian at GHQ. 

Lieutenant General Ayman Bilal Safdar is supervising a special cell at GHQ. Before that he has served as Inspector General Frontier Corps Balochistan South, GOC Infantry Division Sialkot and National Defense University Islamabad.

Lieutenant General Fayyaz Hussain Shah is appointed Director General Evaluation in the Training and Evaluation Branch of GHQ. Earlier he has worked as Inspector General Frontier Corps North Balochistan and Chief Instructor at National Defense University. 

Lt Gen Ahsan Gulriz is also working as Director General Military Training in the Training and Evaluation Branch. Prior to this, he had commanded the Mamour Division on the protection of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and had also served as the GOC Infantry Division Khariyan. 

Lt Gen Shahid Imtiaz is the Commandant Infantry School, Quetta and previously commanded the Infantry Division in Jhelum as well as Director General DG Staff Duties in the Army Chief Secretariat, GHQ.

Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar is working as Director General Inter Services Public Relations. Earlier he had commanded the Armed Division in Multan. 

Lt. Gen. Muhammad Munir is an officer working as Inspector General Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa South and he has been Director General Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence in GHQ and has also served in ISI.

 Lt Gen Yusuf Jamal is currently the Director General National Logistics Cell and was previously the General Officer Commanding of the Infantry Division in Sialkot. 

Lt. Gen. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal is serving as the Acting Chief of the Air Defense Command, before which he also commanded the Air Defense Division in Karachi and the Infantry Division in Sialkot.

Lt Gen Kashif Nazir was Director General Internal in ISI. Earlier, he was Director General Housing at GHQ and commanded the Engineering Division. 

Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik is currently working as Chief Engineer and Director General Works at GHQ. Prior to that, he was DG Frontier Works Organization and commanded the Infantry Division in Quetta. 

Why are promoted officers important? 

Are these normal developments in the current situation or are there any significant aspects that may be important in the future?

The answer to this question seems to indicate the situation three years later. If everything goes as usual and the new Army Chief is appointed in November 2022, then all the generals promoted in October will be at the top of the seniority list for the posts of the new Army Chief and Chairman Joint Chiefs in November 2025. 

will Perhaps in view of this importance, several key officers were not promoted to the rank of lieutenant general at the end of last year so that they would be at the top of the possible seniority of four-star promotions to be made in the next three years.

Three years later, in November 2025, many of these names will be considered for the posts of the new Army Chief and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, including Lt. Gen. Noman Zakaria, Lt. Gen. Syed Amir Raza, Lt. Gen. Ayman Bilal Safdar, Lt. The names of General Fayaz Hussain Shah, Lt General Raja Ahsan Gulriz, Lt General Shahid Imtiaz will be on top.