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"If we don't come back...tell them we have sacrificed our today for their tomorrow..."
The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), formerly called the Commander in Chief (C in C), is challenged with the responsibility of commanding the Pakistan Army. In 1994 this post was held by General Abdul Waheed. Currently, the chief of army staff is General Jehangir Karamat. The COAS operates from army headquarters in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. The four principal officers assisting him in his duties at the lieutenant general level include a Chief of General Staff (CGS), who supervises army intelligence and operations; the Master General of Ordinance (MGO); the Quartermaster General (QMG); the Adjutant General (AG); the Inspector General for Evaluation and Training (IGT&E); and the Military Secretary (MS). The headquarters function also includes the Chief of the Corps of Engineers, the Judge Advocate General, and the Comptroller of Civilian Personnel, all of whom report to the vice chief of the army staff.
There are two main branches in which the army can be categorized. The arms category includes infantry, artillery, armor, engineers and communications, whereas the services category encompasses the ordinance corps, maintenance and repair corps, electrical and mechanical engineering corps, education corps, military police corps, and the remount, veterinary, and farm corps. A Corps usually consists of two or more Divisions. It is commanded by a lieutenant general. Each division, being commanded by a major general, usually holds three Brigades including infantry, artillery, engineers and communications units in addition to logistics (supply and service) support to sustain independant action. It, however, does not include any armoured units. Those are attached once the need arises. The most major of all ground force combat formations is the infantry division. Such a division would primarily hold three infantry brigades. A Brigade is under the command of a brigadier and comprises of three or more Regiments of different units depending on its functionality. An independant brigade would be one that primarily consists of an artillery unit, an infantry unit, an armour unit and logisitics to support its actions. Such a brigade is not part of any division and is under direct command of a corps. Each regiment is commanded by a colonel and has roughly 600 soldiers under his command. This number varies depending on the functionality of the regiment. A regiment comprises of four batteries each under the command of a major and comprising of individual subunits called companies.
The army is organized into nine corps. All of it sums up to twenty Infantry & two Armoured Divisions. Each corp is commanded by a 3-star Lieutenant General sitting at Corps Headquarters. Their stations are:
I Corps (Mangla) II Corps (Multan) IV Corps (Lahore) V Corps (Karachi) X Corps (Rawalpindi) XI Corps (Peshawar) XII Corps (Quetta) XXX Corps (Gujranwala) XXXI Corps (Bahawalpur)
There is also the Northern Area Command, headquartered at Gilgit, directly responsible to army general headquarters.
Army's active strength is at 565,000 personnel with another 500,000 in the reserves. Reserve status lasts for eight years after leaving active service or until age forty-five for enlisted men and age fifty for officers. The statics regarding the arms, armament and organization of the units is as follows:
Main Battle tanks: 2000
Artillary pieces: 1700
Infantry Divisions: 20
Armoured Divisions: 2
Mech. Infantry Div: 1
Artillery Division: 1
Independent Armoured
Brigades: 6
Independent Infantry
Brigades: 6
Artillery Brigades: 9
Engineer Brigades: 7
Armoured Recce
Regiments: 1
Air Defence Brigades: 8
Special Services Group:
Brigades: 1 (comprising of)
Battalions: 3
Independant Counter-
Terrorism Company: 1
EQUIPMENT:
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MAIN BATTTLE TANKS
CHINESE: 200 T85II APs, 51 T-55s, 250 T-69s, 1200 T-59s, 100 T-60/63s
T-60/80 being produced at HMC Taxilla
AMERICAN: 450 M-47/48s (being withdrawn)
Work continues on MBT-2000 Al-Khalid
ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIERS:
820 M113s, 120 BTR 70s. M113s manufactured at HMC Taxilla
ARTILLERY PIECES:
1,566 towed and 240 Self-propelled artillery pieces.
AMERICAN: 105/150/255mm. Self Propelled and TOWED Howitzers.
CHINESE: 85mm/122mm. guns. Some Bofors.
Additional M-198 Howitzers being deliverd from the US
under the Brown Ammendment.
ARMY AVIATION
20 AH-1 COBRA Gunships, Mi-8s, French Alloute IIIs,
PUMAs, Mi-17s, UH-1s, Bell-47, Cassena O-1Es.
ARMY AIR DEFENCE
2000 AA guns ZU-23/33 30, 36, 37mm., SAMs CROTALEs,
400 RBS-20, SAM-7, 350 Stingers and Redeyes, 500 Anza mk II.
SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILES
Work Stopped on indegenous HATF-I,II Reportedly CHINESE M-11s acquired
clandestinely form China. Currently have 8 HATF missiles.
PAKISTANI OFFICER'S RANKS: ENLISTED RANKS:
Field Marshal (5-Star) Subedar Major General (4-Star) Subedar Lieutenant General (3-Star) Nayeb Subedar Major General (2-Star) Hawaldar Brigadier (1-Star) Lance Hawaldar Colonel Naek Lieutenant Colonel Lance Naek Major Sipahi Captain Jawan Lieutenant Second Lieutenant
The change in Afghanistan also helped in putting a large amount of reserves at the disposal of the Pakistan Army, a factor which has been significant in neutralising the otherwise Indian numerical superiority in ground forces. Pakistan, for instance, has 10 Divisions in reserves, including 8 infantry and 2 armoured divisions. These large reserves ensure that Pakistan today is better equiped to fight both offensive and defensive battles. Conversely, India has 18 divisions deployed on the borders with Pakistan, China and Bangladesh, while 16 are in reserve, out of which approximately 10 are deployed in counter insurgency operations in Kashmir, Punjab and Assam.
The second element which has been important for the Pakistan Army in recent years is the new doctrine of "offensive-defence" which was tested during the Pakistan Army's biggest-ever manoeuvres during late 1989, code-named "Exercise Zarb-e-Momin". Under this strategic concept, the Pakistan Army is viewed as a force capable of undertaking a strategic offensive on land, including the possiblity of taking the war into enemy territory, rather than waiting to be hit.
The Pakistan Army today is in better shape than before which is evident from the fact that it has 45 days of reserve ammunition and fuels in stocks as compared to 1965 when it only had 13 days of stocks.
Another element which has added to the Army's professional capability is the extreme stress on professional education, training and career planning. Priemier institutes like the Command and Staff College, Quetta, and the National Defence College are world renowned for their elaborate and contemporary curricula. About 200 officers from the Army are sent annually to foreign countries for training with 75% going to USA. Today, the Pakistan Army has more than 50 Ph.Ds.
Paramilitary organizations, which were mainly of symbolic importance, included the 185,000-member National Guard, comprising the Janbaz Force--locally recruited militia mainly charged with air defense--and two programs similar to the United States Reserve Officers Training Corps, the National Cadet Corps and the Women Guard. The Women Guard, unlike the National Cadet Corps, included individuals trained in nursing, welfare, and clerical work. There were also some women in the Janbaz Force, and a very small number of women were recruited into the regular service in limited numbers to perform medical and educational work.
Paramilitary internal security forces were organized on the provincial level but were subordinate to the Ministry of Interior and were commanded by seconded army generals. These forces were in effect an extension of the army for internal security duties. The Pakistan Rangers, headquartered in Lahore, dealt with unrest in Punjab, while the Mehran Force performed similar functions in Sindh. In 1994 their strengths were 25,000 and 24,000, respectively, divided into "wings" of approximately 800 men each. The Frontier Corps, with a strength of 65,000, was based in Peshawar and Quetta with responsibility for the North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan. The corps was responsible to both the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions and to army headquarters. The corps was divided into twenty-seven local units--fourteen in the North-West Frontier Province and thirteen in Balochistan--and included the Chitral Scouts, the Khyber Rifles, the Kurram Militia, the Tochi Scouts, the South Waziristan Scouts, the Zhob Militia, and the Gilgit Scouts. There was also a Coast Guard, subordinate to the Ministry of Interior and staffed by army personnel.
In times of natural disaster, such as the great floods of 1992, 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.
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