Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey

Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey, NI(M), SBt, HI, (born 1934), is a retired four-star admiral who was the 10th Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) of Pakistan Navy from 1986 to 1988. He was later invited by the former Prime minister Benazir Bhutto to take over as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee after the death of General Akhtar Abdur Rahman in the 17 August 1988 air crash.

A senior military officer in the Pakistan Defense Forces, Sirohey was the Supreme Commander of Pakistani Armed Forces, and also served as military advisor to the Prime minister from 1988 to 1991. He was the second four-star admiral to stay in this post to date after Admiral Mohammad Shariff. Eight years later, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Fasih Bokhari sought early retirement as he was denied the Chairmanship of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan by the Prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.

Education
Sirohey was born in Karachi, British Indian Empire to a respected Urdu-speaking family of Lucknow in 1934. The family moved to West-Pakistan after the Indian Partition in 1947. In 1952, Sirohey passed the university entrance test and enrolled in Karachi University's Department of Physics. In 1956, Sirohey graduate and gained B.Sc. in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. While in University, Sirohey joined the Pakistan Navy in 1955, and continued his studies until his graduation. Upon his graduation, Sirohey gained commissioned in the Navy as Midshipman (Ensign) in the Naval Weapon Engineering Branch (WEB). In 1959, Sirohey gained M.Sc. in War Studies from Naval War College. In 1962, Sirohey went on to attend the Army Command and Staff College where he gained another M.Sc. in Strategic studies in 1964.

Naval career
After completing his education, Sirohey was appointed as Staff officer at the Naval Combatant Headquarter, the NHQ. As Lieutenant, Ahmad actively participated in Indo-Pakistan September war. Ahmad was the Radar engineer officer of the PNS Babur that took participation in Operation Somnath. After the war, Sirohey was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander and served as the ADC to Commander of Pakistan Navy Syed Mohammad Ahsan and later served as ADC to Muzaffar Hassan. Sirohey would later go on to participated actively in Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the 1971 Indo-Pakistan Winter War. After the 1971 war, Sirohey was made Commander and served as Military staff member at the Naval Headquarter. In 1976, Sirohey was made principal staff officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Secretariat. In 1977, Sirohey was promoted to Captain and commanded the Ahsan Naval Base. Captain Sirohey overseeing the ending of the Balochistan military operation. As base commander, Sirohey was the main planner of the naval blockade of the Balochistan and the fallout of the conflict. In 1979, Sirohey was promoted to two-star, rear-admiral, and was shifted at the Northern Areas where he served as the Commander of Northern Naval Command. In 1983, Sirohey was promoted to three-star rank, vice-admiral, and was made Commander of the Naval Engineering Branch. While he was serving as the Commander of Engineering Branch, Sirohey selected the team of Naval engineers to be submerged with Special Works Development, a special unit involved with nuclear development. Sirohey played a major role in the nuclear development and provided his Branch's full support to SDW. On March 11, 1983, Vice-Admiral Sirohey was one of the few invitees to Kirana Test Site where he witnessed and observed the successful detonation of the nuclear device, codename Kirana-I, as part of Government Observant (GO). In 1984, Sirohey was made Commander of Southern Naval Command, or Commander Karachi (COMKAR). In 1985, he was appointed as Chief of Staff of Naval Operations (COS). As COS of the Navy, Admiral Sirohey had played an active role in Soviet War in Afghanistan, and one of the main proponent of supplying and shipping foreign weapons to Anti-Soviet Resistance. He also had prepared and established the clandestine units in SSG(N) to participate in conflict, though their involvement still remains classified. He was the first to established the special covert operation unit which is now known as Pakistan Navy Seals, tasked with the supervising and participating in the covert military operations.

Chief of Naval Staff
On 14 August 1986, Sirohey was promoted to four-star admiral in the Pakistan Navy, and was given the command of the Navy as he was made Chief of Naval Staff. His tenure saw the enhancement of Navy in terms of both manpower and military upgrades. Sirohey was the most-senior military officer in the Pakistan Defense Forces, and he was the second naval officer, after Admiral Mohammad Shariff, who was given the Command of Pakistan Armed Forces.

In 1988, he was made Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in 1988 by the Prime minister Benazir Bhutto. As chairman, Sirohey was the Supreme Commandant of the Pakistan Armed Forces, and also served as the military advisor to the Prime minister till his retirement in 1991.

After military retirement
After his retirement, Sirohey joined Sustainable Development Policy Institute in 1992. He later affiliated himself with The Institute of Strategic Studies in 1995 which he currently works there. He also founded the Foundation for the Advancement of Engineering Sciences and Advanced Technologies where he is its Chief Executive. He is also the author of his autobiography, Truth Never Retires (1996) Jang Publishers, Lahore.