Chief of army Staff ( Pakistan ) - wikipedia Chief of army Staff ( Pakistan ) Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army COAS Flag of the Chief of Army Staff Incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa since 29 November 2016 Ministry of Defence Army Secretariat - I at MoD Abbreviation COAS Member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Reports to Prime Minister of Pakistan Minister of Defence Seat General Headquarters ( GHQ ) Rawalpindi Cantonment, Punjab, Pakistan Nominator Prime Minister of Pakistan Appointer President of Pakistan Term length 3 years Renewable only once Precursor Commander - in - Chief Formation March 3, 1972 ; 46 years ago ( 1972 - 03 - 03 ) First holder General Tikka Khan Succession On basis of seniority, subjected to the decision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Unofficial names Army Chief Deputy Chief of General Staff Vice-Chief of Army Staff Salary According to Pakistan Military officer 's Pay Grade ( apex Scale ) Website Official website The Chief of Army Staff ( Urdu : سربراہ پاک فوج ‬ ‎ ) ( reporting name : COAS ), is a military appointment and statutory office held by the four - star rank army general in the Pakistan Army, who is appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and final confirmation by the President of Pakistan. The Chief of Army Staff is a senior most appointment in the Pakistani military who is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, usually consulting with the Chairman joint chiefs to act as a military adviser to the Prime Minister and its civilian government in the line of defending the land borders of the country. The Chief of Army Staff exercise its responsibility of command and control of the operational, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the army, in contrast to the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. Due to its statue, the Chief of Army Staff have been instrumental in enforcing martial laws against the civilian government due to the meltdown of a civil - military relations in the past decades. The appointment, in principle, is constitutionally subjected to be for three years but extension may be granted from the approval and recommendations of the Prime Minister by the President. The Chief of Army Staff is based in the Army GHQ, and the current Chief of Army Staff is General Qamar Javed Bajwa, serving in this capacity since 29 November 2016 Contents 1 History 2 Martial law and turnover 3 Past Chiefs of Army Staff 4 Vice Chief of Army Staff 4.1 List of vice chiefs of army staff 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History Main articles : Commander - in - Chief, India ; Chief of the Army Staff ( India ) ; and Commander - in - Chief of the Pakistan Army Prior to creation of Pakistan from the partition of India on 14 August 1947, the senior military general officer commanding of the Pakistan Army were the ad - hoc appointments made by the Army Board of the British Army. The appointment was known as Commander - in - Chief who directly reported to the Governor - General who was also under British monarchs. The first commander - in - chiefs of the army were senior officers of the British Army who commanded the amalgamated army of British and Pakistani army officers from 1947 until 1951. In 1969, the title of the army command was changed from `` Commander - in - Chief '' to `` Chief of Staff '' with President Yahya Khan acting as Commander - in - Chief and General A.H. Khan as Chief of Staff. On 20 March 1972, the post was renamed as `` Chief of Army Staff '' ( COAS ) with Lieutenant - General Tikka Khan elevated to four star rank to be appointed as army 's first chief of army staff. The term of the superannuation was then constrained to three years in the office as opposed to four years and was made a permanent member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Since 1972, there has been 10 four - star rank army generals to be appointed as chief of army staff by statue. The Prime Minister approved the nomination and appointment of the Chief of Army Staff, with President confirming the Prime Minister 's appointed choosing and nomination. The army leadership is based in the Army GHQ whose functions are supervised by the Chief of Army Staff, assisted by the civilians from the Army Secretariat of the Ministry of Defence ( MoD ). The Chief of Army Staff exercise its responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands. There are several principle staff officers ( PSO ) that assists in running the operations of the Army GHQ : Engineer - in - Chief ( Eng - in - C ) Chief of General Staff Chief of Logistics Staff Inspector - General of Training and Evaluation ( IGT&E ) Inspector - General Communications and IT ( IGC&IT ) Inspector - General Arms ( IG Arms ) Military Secretary ( Mil Secy ) Adjutant - General Quartermaster General ( QMG ) Master - General of Ordnance ( MGO ) Judge Advocate General Corps Director - General EME ( DGEME ) Director - General Frontier Works Organisation ( DGFWO ) DG Combat Development Directorate Martial law and turnover Main articles : Martial law in Pakistan and Turnover ( employment ) Due to the powers granted by the Constitution of Pakistan to assist the civilian government led by popularly - elected Prime Minister to control and command the law and order, the chief of army staff has been instrumental in instigating and enforcing the coups d'état against the civilian government and the Prime Minister. In 1977, General Zia - ul - Haq was the first army chief who carefully planned a coup against Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto when the right wing opposition instigated popular demonstration after the general elections held in 1977. After the Pakistan Army 's performance in Kargil sector, Prime Minister Sharif terminated the commission of General Musharraf, as an army chief and chairman joint chiefs, but Musharraf refused to follow the orders by instigating and leading the military coup by turning over the government under his control on 12 October 1999. The army chiefs, including the previous army 's commanders - in - chiefs, had justified their course of actions by noting to attempt to control the worsening of the law and order situation in the country, as in the case of Yahya Khan ( 1969 ) and General Zia - ul - Haq ( 1977 ), or by attempting to revive the economic prosperity in a threat of financial crises, as seen in the case of General Ayub Khan ( 1958 ) and General Pervez Musharraf ( 1999 ). Past Chiefs of Army Staff Order Name Rank Portrait Appointment Date Retirement Unit of Commission Decorations 1. Tikka Khan General 3 March 1972 1 March 1976 2 Fd Regt Arty HJ, HQA, SPk 2. Muhammad Zia - ul - Haq General 1 March 1976 17 August 1988 13 Lancers 3. Mirza Aslam Beg General 17 August 1988 16 August 1991 16 Baloch NI ( M ), SBt 4. Asif Nawaz General 16 August 1991 8 January 1993 5 Punjab NI ( M ), SBt 5. Abdul Waheed Kakar General 11 January 1993 12 January 1996 5 FF NI ( M ), SBt 6. Jehangir Karamat General 12 January 1996 6 October 1998 13 Lancers NI ( M ), TBt 7. Pervez Musharraf General 6 October 1998 28 November 2007 16 ( SP ) Medium Regt Arty NI ( M ), TBt -- Ziauddin Butt General 12 October 1999 12 October 1999 ( Appointment lasted few hours ) Corps of EME HI ( M ) 8. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani General 29 November 2007 29 November 2013 5 Baloch NI ( M ), HI ( C ) 9. Raheel Sharif General 29 November 2013 29 November 2016 6 FF NI ( M ) 10. Qamar Javed Bajwa General 29 November 2016 Present 15 Baloch NI ( M ), HI ( M ) Vice Chief of army Staff See also : Chief of General Staff ( Pakistan ) The Vice Chief of Army Staff ( VCOAS ), is the post that is principle deputy and second - in - command ( S - in - C ) of the Pakistan Army, reporting under the Chief of Army Staff. The position was created in the existence of army chief is simultaneously the President of Pakistan, having taking over by imposing the martial law against the elected civilian government. The post is now nonexistence and no longer in commission with the army -- the Chief of General Staff now serves as the second - in - command in the army leadership. The function and scope of the vice army chief was to `` exercise and perform all the powers and functions vested in the chief of army staff under the law. rules, regulations, orders, and instructions for the time being in the force. '' The vice army chiefs are considered to be the principle commander of the army but not altogether, as the vice army chief has to report to the army chief, specifically in taking decisions regarding the promotions. The post of the vice army chief is a senior position and its officer is a four - star rank army general. List of vice chiefs of army Staff All persons mentioned below have served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff with distinction of General Abdul Hamid Khan who acted as the ' Chief of Staff of the Army ' ( COS ) under General Yahya Khan who was the President of Pakistan and also the holder of the title ' C - in - C of the Army '. Order Name Rank Photo Appointment Date Left Office Unit of Commission Decorations ± Abdul Hamid Khan General 25 March 1969 20 December 1971 10th Baloch HQA, SPk Sawar Khan General 13 April 1980 23 March 1984 1st ( SP ) Med Regt Arty ( FF ) NI ( M ) Khalid Mahmud Arif General 22 March 1984 29 March 1987 11th Cavalry ( FF ) NI ( M ), S Bt Mirza Aslam Beg General 29 March 1987 17 August 1988 16th Baloch NI ( M ), S Bt Yusaf Khan General 8 October 2001 6 October 2004 Guides Cavalry NI ( M ) 5 Ahsan Saleem Hayat General 7 October 2004 7 October 2007 33rd Cavalry NI ( M ) 6 Ashfaq Parvez Kayani General 8 October 2007 28 November 2007 5th Baloch NI ( M ), HI See also Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chief of Air Staff ( Pakistan ) Chief of Naval Staff ( Pakistan ) Chief of General Staff ( Pakistan ) References ^ Jump up to : MoD, Ministry of Defence. `` Organogram of MoD '' ( PDF ). mod.gov.pk/. Ministry of Defence Press. Retrieved 22 July 2017. Jump up ^ `` Lt Gen Raheel appointed as new COAS, Lt Gen Rashad as CJCSC ''. The News. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013. ^ Jump up to : Shabbir, Usman ( 2003 ). `` Command and Structure control of the Pakistan Army ''. pakdef.org. PakDef Military Consortium. Retrieved 24 July 2017. ^ Jump up to : Inc, IBP ( 2009 ). Pakistan Intelligence, Security Activities and Operations Handbook - Strategic Information and Developments. Lulu.com. p. 230. ISBN 9781438737225. Retrieved 24 July 2017. Jump up ^ `` New Pakistan army chief takes command ''. news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 16 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Will retire on November 29, Kayani confirms ''. The Express Tribune. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` General Bajwa takes charge as Pakistan 's 16th army chief ''. DAWN. 29 Nov 2016. Retrieved 29 Nov 2016. Jump up ^ `` Gen Bajwa assumes command as Pakistan 's 16th army chief ''. The Express Tribune. 29 Nov 2016. Retrieved 29 Nov 2016. Jump up ^ `` Pakistan : Army and Paramilitary Forces ''. www.factba.se. Retrieved 16 December 2013. Jump up ^ Lenze Jr ( 2016 ). Civil -- Military Relations in the Islamic World. Lexington Books. ISBN 9781498518741. Retrieved 21 July 2017. ^ Jump up to : Bajwa, Kuldip Singh ( 2003 ). `` Kashmir Valley Saved ''. Jammu and Kashmir war, 1947 - 1948 : political and military perspective ( google books ) ( 1st ed. ). New Delhi : Har - Anand Publications. p. 350. ISBN 9788124109236. Retrieved 24 July 2017. Jump up ^ Cloughley, Brian ( 2016 ). A History of the Pakistan Army : Wars and Insurrections. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781631440397. Retrieved 24 July 2017. ^ Jump up to : Singh, Ravi Shekhar Narain Singh ( 2008 ). `` Military and Politics ''. The Military Factor in Pakistan ( googlebooks ) ( 1st ed. ). London, UK : Lancer Publishers. p. 550. ISBN 9780981537894. Retrieved 24 July 2017. Jump up ^ `` The Army Chief 's ''. www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk. Retrieved 16 December 2013. Jump up ^ Zahra - Malik, Drazen Jorgic and Mehreen ( 26 November 2016 ). `` Pakistan PM Sharif names General Bajwa as new army chief ''. Reuters UK. Retrieved 26 November 2016. Jump up ^ Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal ( 2002 ). `` Defence Administration ''. The Armed Forces of Pakistan ( google books ) ( 1st ed. ). New York, U.S. : NYU Press. p. 225. ISBN 9780814716335. Retrieved 25 July 2017. Jump up ^ Tudor, Maya ( 2013 ). The Promise of Power : The Origins of Democracy in India and Autocracy in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107032965. Jump up ^ Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali. `` If I was assassinated '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ Burki, Shahid Javed ( 2015 - 03 - 19 ). Historical Dictionary of Pakistan. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442241480. Jump up ^ Crossette, Barbara ( 1999 - 10 - 13 ). `` COUP IN PAKISTAN -- MAN IN THE NEWS ; A Soldier 's Soldier, Not a Political General -- Pervez Musharraf ''. The New York Times. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 21. ^ Jump up to : Chitkara, M.G. ( 2003 ). Combating Terrorism. APH Publishing. ISBN 9788176484152. Retrieved 24 November 2017. Jump up ^ Hashwani, Sadruddin ( 2014 ). The Truth Always Prevails : A Memoir. Penguin UK. ISBN 9789351188322. Jump up ^ InpaperMagazine, From ( 8 October 2011 ). `` Flashback : The Martial Law of 1958 ''. DAWN.COM. Retrieved 24 November 2017. Jump up ^ Gupta, J.B. Das ( 2002 ). Islamic Fundamentalism And India. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata. ISBN 9788178710136. Jump up ^ Haqqani, Husain ( 2010 ). Pakistan : Between Mosque and Military. Carnegie Endowment. ISBN 9780870032851. Retrieved 24 November 2017. ^ Jump up to : Cloughley, Brian ( 2016 ). A History of the Pakistan Army : Wars and Insurrections. New York ( u.s ( : Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781631440397. Retrieved 21 July 2017. Jump up ^ `` General 's first gambit ''. The Indian Express. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2017. External links Official Pakistan Army website Inter-Services Public Relations PAF s ' Chief of the Air Staffs Pakistan Armed Forces Joint services and administrative Cabinet Committee on National Security Chief of General Staff Commander - in - Chief President of Pakistan Inter-Services Public Relations Inter-Services Selection Board Inter-Services Intelligence Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Joint Staff Headquarters Judge Advocate General Branch Military Lands and Cantonments Department Ministry of Defence Minister of Defence National Command Authority Missiles Nuclear doctrine Strategic Plans Division Force Weapons of mass destruction National Defence University National Security Council Army Army Museum Army ranks and insignia Chief of Army Staff replaced Commander - in - Chief of the Army Corps, commands and regiments I Corps II Corps IV Corps V Corps X Corps XI Corps XII Corps XXX Corps XXXI Corps Air Defence Corps Armoured Corps Army Strategic Forces Command Aviation Corps Azad Kashmir Regiment Baloch Regiment Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corps of Engineers Engineer - in - Chief Frontier Works Organisation Corps of Military Police Corps of Signals Force Command Northern Areas Frontier Force Regiment Medical Corps Military Intelligence Northern Light Infantry Regiment Punjab Regiment Regiment of Artillery Sind Regiment Special Services Group Education and training Army Medical College Army Public Schools and Colleges System Cadet colleges College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Command and Staff College Military Academy Military College of Engineering Military College of Signals Parachute Training School Equipment General Headquarters Hospitals Serving Generals Air Force Air Force Museum Air Force ranks and insignia Air Headquarters Aircraft Bases Chief of Air Staff Education and training Air Force Academy Air War College College of Aeronautical Engineering College of Flying Training Combat Commanders School Fazaia Schools and Colleges System Hospitals Squadrons and commands Air Force Strategic Command Air Intelligence Special Service Wing Squadrons Serving Air Marshals Navy Bases Ahsan Naval Base Akram Naval Base Hameed Naval Base Iqbal Naval Base Jinnah Naval Base Kalmat Naval Base Karachi Naval Dockyard Mehran Naval Base Qasim Naval Base Chief of Naval Staff Education and training Naval Academy Navy Engineering College Navy run basic education schools Navy School of Logistics and Management Navy War College PNS Karsaz Hospitals PNS Darmaan Jah PNS Rahat PNS Shifa Maritime Museum Naval Headquarters Naval ranks and insignia Squadrons and commands Marines Naval Air Arm Naval Intelligence Naval Strategic Forces Command Navy Hydrographic Department Navy Northern Command Navy Punjab Command Navy Western Command Special Services Group Navy Vessels Serving Admirals Paramilitary forces Airports Security Force Coast Guards Frontier Constabulary Frontier Corps Bajaur Scouts Chagai Militia Chitral Scouts Gilgit Baltistan Scouts Kharan Rifles Khyber Rifles Zhob Militia Maritime Security Agency National Guard Rangers Wars and conflicts India - Pakistan War ( s ) of 1947 - 1948 / 1965 / 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War 1967 Israeli - Arab war 1973 Israeli - Arab war Jordan - Palestine Liberation Organization conflict 1970s Baloch insurgency Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia seizure Soviet - Afghan war Siachen conflict 1991 Gulf War Kargil conflict War in North - West Pakistan Related Awards and decorations Defence Housing Authority Defence industry of Pakistan Air Weapons Complex Defence Science and Technology Organisation Heavy Industries Taxila Institute of Optronics Integrated Dynamics Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Khan Research Laboratories National Development Complex National Engineering and Scientific Commission Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Pakistan Ordnance Factories Wah Metallurgical Laboratory Military history Air Force history Foreign deployments of the Pakistan Armed Forces Involvement in UN peacekeeping missions Military coups Khyber Border Coordination Center Women in the Pakistan Armed Forces Army Air Force Navy Portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chief_of_Army_Staff_(Pakistan)&oldid=842158435 '' Categories : Chiefs of Army Staff, Pakistan Government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Army chiefs of staff Hidden categories : EngvarB from April 2014 Use dmy dates from April 2014 Articles containing Urdu - language text Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français سنڌي اردو Edit links This page was last edited on 20 May 2018, at 16 : 49. 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Question: the first chief of staff of pak army was
Answer: General A.H. Khan