# PAF Air War College

PAF Air War College Institute is the Pakistan Air Forces academic establishment located at PAF Base Faisal providing training and education primarily to mid-career officers of the air force as well as a limited number of officers from Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Army and allied forces. The college was affiliated with University of Karachi from 1980 to 2005, Air University Pakistan from 2005 to 2007, since then affiliated with the National Defence University, Islamabad along with other staff and war colleges of the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy.

## History

Established at PAF Station Drigh Road on 5 January 1959 with Commandant Air Commodore CBE Burt Andrews borrowed on Secondment from the Royal Air Force.
The college was housed in a converted hospital building at the station and was inaugurated by President of Pakistan Muhammad Ayub Khan. After conducting the initial courses, the RAF component of the faculty which comprised three officers reverted to their parent organization in December 1961. The college was then taken over entirely by the officers from Pakistan Air Force.
In 1980, the Bachelor of Defence Management Cell was created to offer Bachelor of Defence Management courses, affiliated with the Institute of Business Administration at Karachi University for awarding degrees. Due to rapid technological advancements in modern warfare, the PAF recognized the need for a specialized institution focused on the study of war-related matters. Consequently, the Staff College was elevated to the status of an Air War College in 1987 under Commandant Air Commodore Nasir Ali.
This transformation included significant changes to the curriculum, upgrading the 45-week course to an Air War Course. In 1989, officers from friendly nations were admitted for the first time, and the entire organization relocated to a newly constructed building in 1990. The new facility was inaugurated by President of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan on 8 December 1991. Officers from allied countries include Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Zimbabwe are regular participants of the Air War course.
In August 2007, the In-Service Education Scheme for mid-career officers got replaced by Officers' Military Education. This change brought the officers' training program under the authority of the college's Commandant. Consequently, the Basic Staff School and Junior Command and Staff School were combined into a single entity known as JC&SS at PAF Camp Badaber. As of August 2010, the institution has seen 28 Staff Courses, 54 Senior Command and Staff Courses, and 23 Air War Courses successfully graduate.

## Courses

The college offers two courses: the Air War Course (AWC) and the Senior Command and Staff Course (SC&SC). The AWC is designed to ready senior officers from the Pakistan Air Force and other countries for "senior command and staff roles," while the SC&SC is intended to "prepare mid-career PAF officers for taking on command and staff duties suitable for their rank and experience." After successfully completing the War Course, participants receive the 'fawc' symbol from the College and a Master of Science in War Studies from the National Defence University, Islamabad.

## Organization

Since 1996, the college is commanded by an Air Vice Marshal. Under the Commandant is a Deputy Commandant/Chief Instructor War Wing, which are both Air Commodores. In March, 2021, the College was upgraded to Institute (Degree Awarding Institute - DAI). Consequently, the 'Commandant' designation was replaced by the 'President' Air War College Institute. The Officer Commanding the Junior Command & Staff School is a Group Captain, who has a Chief Instructor Basic Staff Wing and Chief Instructor Junior Staff Wing under him.

## Mission

To educate senior air leaders in Doctrine, Policy, Strategy, Air power employment concept and prepare for war.

## Notable alumni

* Nur Khan, 3rd Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force
* Air Commodore Sajad Haider, 1965 War figure
* Zulfiqar Ali Khan, 2nd CAS of the PAF
* Anwar Shamim, 3rd CAS of the PAF
* Jamal A. Khan, 4th CAS of the PAF
* Farooq Feroze Khan, 6th CAS of the PAF
* Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi, 8th CAS of the PAF
* Mushaf Ali Mir, 9th CAS of the PAF
* Kaleem Saadat, 10th CAS of the PAF
* Rao Qamar Suleman, 12th CAS of the PAF
* Sohail Aman, 14th CAS of the PAF
* Mujahid Anwar Khan, 15th CAS of the PAF
* Zaheer Ahmad Babar, 16th CAS of the PAF
* Hifazat Ullah Khan, former Vice Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)
* Abdul Razzaq Anjum, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan) – (Training)
* Yastur-ul-Haq Malik, 6th Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan)
* Shah Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, 12th Chief of Air Staff (Bangladesh)
* Shaikh Abdul Hannan, 16th Chief of Air Staff (Bangladesh)
* Mohd Asghar Khan Goriman Khan, 20th Chief of Air Force (Malaysia)

## Air War College Institute

In March 2021, Arif Alvi inaugurated the PAF Air War College Institute in Karachi.

## List of Commandants/Presidents

| # | Name | Start of tenure | End of tenure |
| Commandant Air War College ||||
| 1 | Air Commodore CBE Burt Andrews | October 1958 | December 1961 |
| 2 | Air Commodore S.A. Yusaf | January 1962 | December 1964 |
| 3 | Air Commodore Abdul Qadir | January 1965 | May 1966 |
| 4 | Air Commodore Abdur Rahim Khan | May 1966 | June 1968 |
| 5 | Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Akhtar | September 1968 | June 1969 |
| 6 | Air Commodore Kamal Ahmed | December 1969 | April 1972 |
| 7 | Air Commodore Zafar Mahmud | February 1973 | October 1973 |
| 8 | Air Commodore Shamshul Huda Shah | October 1973 | September 1974 |
| 9 | Air Vice Marshal Eric G. Hall | October 1974 | June 1975 |
| 10 | Air Commodore Ayaz Ahmed Khan | September 1975 | July 1978 |
| 11 | Air Commodore Saeed A Ansari | August 1978 | August 1979 |
| 12 | Air Commodore Hamid Qureshi | August 1979 | August 1980 |
| 13 | Air Vice Marshal Nawabzada Rehmat Khan | October 1980 | May 1981 |
| 14 | Air Commodore S Masud Akhtar Hatmi | May 1981 | December 1983 |
| 15 | Air Commodore Farooq Umar | December 1983 | April 1985 |
| 16 | Air Commodore Altaf Sheikh | June 1985 | June 1986 |
| 17 | Air Commodore Nasir Ali | June 1986 | July 1988 |
| 18 | Air Commodore Aliuddin | July 1988 | December 1989 |
| 19 | Air Commodore Pervez I Mirza | January 1990 | June 1992 |
| 20 | Air Vice Marshal Shahid Zulifqar | June 1992 | April 1993 |
| 21 | Air Commodore Riffat Munir | April 1993 | December 1993 |
| 22 | Air Commodore Zulifqar Ahmed Shah | December 1993 | January 1996 |
| 23 | Air Vice Marshal Qazi Javed Ahmed | January 1996 | July 1997 |
| 24 | Air Vice Marshal Salim Arshad | December 1997 | January 2000 |
| 25 | Air Vice Marshal Masood Akhtar | January 2000 | December 2000 |
| 25 | Air Vice Marshal Saleem Akhtar Nawaz | July 2001 | December 2001 |
| 26 | Air Vice Marshal Maqbool Ali Shah | January 2002 | March 2003 |
| 27 | Air Vice Marshal M Ateeb Siddiqui | April 2003 | October 2003 |
| 28 | Air Vice Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman | October 2003 | October 2005 |
| 29 | Air Vice Marshal M Ateeb Siddiqui | October 2005 | October 2006 |
| 30 | Air Vice Marshal Tubrez Asif | November 2006 | November 2010 |
| 31 | Air Vice Marshal Azher Hassan | November 2010 | December 2012 |
| 32 | Air Vice Marshal Farooq Habib | December 2012 | March 2015 |
| 33 | Air Vice Marshal Pirzada Kamaluddin | October 2015 | July 2017 |
| 34 | Air Vice Marshal Abrar Ahmed | July 2017 | July 2019 |
| 35 | Air Vice Marshal Zulfiquar Ahmed Qureshi | July 2019 | March, 2021 |
| President Air War College Institute ||||
| 1 | Air Vice Marshal Zulfiquar Ahmed Qureshi | March, 2021 | July, 2021 |
| 2 | Air Vice Marshal Hussain Ahmed Siddiqui | July 2021 | Incumbent |

## List of Deputy/Assistant Commandants

| # | Name | Start of tenure | End of tenure |
| 1 | Group Captain S A Joseph | September 1958 | March 1959 |
| 2 | Group Captain Abdul Qadir | March 1959 | March 1960 |
| 3 | Group Captain Eric G. Hall | March 1960 | December 1961 |
| 4 | Group Captain R A Simpson (RAF) | December 1961 | December 1963 |
| 5 | Air Commodore Saeedullah Khan | January 1964 | September 1964 |
| 6 | Group Captain H M C Misra | June 1966 | September 1971 |
| 7 | Group Captain A Rashid Sheikh | September 1971 | July 1973 |
| 8 | Air Commodore Mahmood Choonara | October 1973 | June 1974 |
| 9 | Group Captain Shahid Hussain | June 1974 | December 1974 |
| 10 | Group Captain Kamal Masud Hasan | December 1974 | October 1975 |
| 11 | Group Captain K Anwar Mirza | October 1975 | August 1976 |
| 12 | Group Captain M M Sohail | August 1976 | June 1978 |
| 13 | Group Captain Imtiaz A Bhatti | June 1978 | August 1978 |
| 14 | Group Captain Ali Kazim | August 1978 | April 1979 |
| 15 | Group Captain Nasir Ali | April 1979 | July 1980 |
| 16 | Group Captain Farooq Feroze Khan | July 1980 | December 1980 |
| 17 | Group Captain Jaweed Ahsan | December 1980 | January 1982 |
| 18 | Group Captain Rashid A Bhatti | June 1982 | June 1984 |
| 19 | Group Captain Saeed Anwar | December 1984 | April 1986 |
| 20 | Group Captain Mushtaq A Laghari | April 1986 | July 1986 |
| 21 | Group Captain Javed Aslam | October 1986 | April 1987 |
| 22 | Group Captain Fareed A Shah | August 1987 | December 1987 |
| 23 | Group Captain Tanvir Afghan | December 1987 | July 1988 |
| 24 | Group Captain Khalid Sattar | October 1988 | July 1989 |
| 25 | Group Captain Pervez I Mirza | July 1989 | January 1990 |
| 25 | Group Captain Hameedullah Khan | February 1990 | February 1991 |
| 26 | Group Captain Ata ur Rehman | February 1991 | June 1991 |
| 27 | Group Captain Aurangzeb Azim | July 1991 | August 1992 |
| 28 | Air Commodore Riffat Munir | August 1992 | April 1993 |
| 29 | Air Commodore Javed Ishaq Khan | June 1993 | August 1994 |
| 30 | Group Captain M. Abdul Qadir Sargaana | August 1994 | July 1995 |
| 31 | Air Commodore M. Abdul Qadir Sargaana | July 1995 | July 1996 |
| 32 | Air Commodore Jamshed Afzal | July 1996 | July 1997 |
| 33 | Air Commodore Arshad H Siraj | July 1997 | November 1999 |
| 34 | Air Commodore Kaiser Tufail | July 2000 | January 2003 |
| 35 | Air Commodore M Ateeb Siddiqui | January 2003 | April 2003 |
| 36 | Air Commodore M Jamshed Khan | October 2003 | August 2004 |
| 37 | Air Commodore Kazim Ali Awan | August 2004 | June 2006 |
| 38 | Air Commodore Zaheer A Khan | June 2006 | October 2008 |
| 39 | Air Commodore M Shahid Khan | October 2008 | N/A |