Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)

Chief of General Staff, shortly abbreviated as CGS, is the most coveted position within the Pakistan Army. Although four-star Chief of Army Staff (COAS) is the nominal head of the land forces, CGS is the operational and intelligence lead of the institution. It is headed by a three-star lieutenant general.

Traditionally, the selection for COAS or Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) has a preference for Chief of General Staff posting. The last 13 four-star army generals had eight officers who did a tenure as CGS. Out of five who didn't, Pervez Musharraf and Ashfaq Parvez Kayani stayed as DGMO and Ehsan ul Haq stayed as DGMI, all two-star postings under the CGS.

The current Chief of General Staff is Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood since January 2013.

Organisation
The CGS heads the General Staff Branch of Army General Headquarters. He is also assisted by a Vice Chief of General Staff (VCGS) and Deputy Chief of General Staff), both two-star major generals. The critical directorates of Military Operations and Military Intelligence (headed by DGMO and DGMI respectively) also come under his purview.

Coup-maker
Historically, the CGS post, in addition to Commander X Corps, Rawalpindi, had 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 X Corps Rawalpindi.

Therefore, the army chief essentially positions most trusted aides for these two postings before making a routine reshuffle. General 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 Rawalpindi 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

 * 1) Maj Gen Akbar Khan 1950 – 1951
 * 2) Maj Gen Yusuf Khan 1951 – 1953
 * 3) Maj Gen Mian Hayaud Din 1953 – 1955
 * 4) Maj Gen Sher Ali Khan Pataudi 1955 – 1957
 * 5) Maj Gen Yahya Khan 1957 – 1962
 * 6) Maj Gen Malik Sher Bahadur 1962 – 1966
 * 7) Maj Gen Sahabzada Yaqub Khan 1966 – 1969
 * 8) Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) Gul Hassan Khan 1969 – 1971
 * 9) Maj Gen M. Rahim Khan 1972 – 1974
 * 10) Maj Gen Muhammad Iqbal Khan 1974 – March 1976
 * 11) Maj Gen Abdullah Malik March 1976 – 1978
 * 12) Maj Gen Sirdar Farooq Shaukat Khan Lodi 1978 – March 1980
 * 13) Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) Mirza Aslam Beg June 1980 – October 1985
 * 14) Lt Gen Muhammad Safdar 1987 – January 1988
 * 15) Lt Gen Mian Muhammad Afzal January 1988 – August 1988
 * 16) Lt Gen Shamim Alam Khan May 1989 – April 1991
 * 17) Lt Gen Asif Nawaz April 1991 – August 1991
 * 18) Lt Gen Farrakh Khan August 1991 – 1994
 * 19) Lt Gen Jehangir Karamat 1994 – January 1996
 * 20) Lt Gen Iftikhar Ali Khan January 1996 – May 1997
 * 21) Lt Gen Ali Kuli Khan Khattak May 1997 – October 1998
 * 22) Lt Gen Muhammad Aziz Khan October 1998 – August 2000
 * 23) Lt Gen Muhammad Yusaf Khan August 2000 – October 2001
 * 24) Lt Gen Shahid Aziz October 2001 – December 2003
 * 25) Lt Gen Tariq Majid December 2003 – October 2006
 * 26) Lt Gen Salahuddin Satti October 2006 – October 2008
 * 27) Lt Gen Muhammad Mustafa Khan October 2008 – April 2010
 * 28) Lt Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne April 2010 – October 2010
 * 29) Lt Gen Waheed Arshad October 2010 – January 2013
 * 30) Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood January 2013 – present