# Chief of Defence Forces (Malaysia)

The Chief of the Defence Forces (Abbr.: CDF, Malay: Panglima Angkatan Tentera, Jawi: ڤڠليما اڠکتن تنترا‎) is the professional head of the Malaysian Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA; 'King of Malaysia'), the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence. The CDF is based at Wisma Pertahanan, Kuala Lumpur, nearby to the Ministry of Defence. The CDF is the highest rank in Malaysia Armed Forces only after the YDPA which holds the title Commander-in-Chief.
Also known as "Perintah Ulung" (transl. 'Superior Command'), the CDF is part of the Armed Forces Council together with the Minister of Defence, the YDPA's representative, the Chief of Army, the Chief of Navy, the Chief of Air Force, the Chief of Staff and so on. The CDF can be appointed from all three branches of the Malaysian Armed Forces—Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and Royal Malaysian Air Force.
The Panglima Angkatan Tentera (PAT; transl. Chief of Armed Forces) was formerly known as Ketua Turus Angkatan Tentera (KTAT; transl. Head of Armed Forces) until in the early 1980s.
The current CDF is General Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar having succeeded his predecessor, General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman on 31 January 2025.

## History

The United Kingdom governed Malaysia in its pre-independence days. Most of its military forces at the time were from Commonwealth nations. There were local military forces such as the Penang and Province Wellesley Volunteer Corps, and other similar units created in Singapore and the other Malay States, however, they were regarded as a territorial army than a federal army.
The Federal Council of the Federated Malay States passed the Malay Regiment Bill on 23 January 1933. With that, the first local federal military force, the Malay Regiment (now known as the Royal Malay Regiment) formed.
After World War II, with the Malayan Emergency conflict emerges, the Malay Regiment's size increased to seven battalions. One multiracial regiment and one armoured vehicle squadron were also formed. With this, the regiments merged into one single federal army, thus forming the Malayan Federation Army, the Malaysian Army predecessor. At that time, even with combinations with other branches (Navy and Air Force), the Malayan Armed Forces were relatively small. As the chief of the biggest branch of the armed forces, the Chief of Army was at the same time elected as the chief of the entire armed forces.
With Malaysia's formation on 16 September 1963, North Borneo (now known as Sabah), Crown Colony of Sarawak (now known as Sarawak) and Singapore military forces merged with the Malayan Armed Forces into one single force. Because of this, the Chief of Armed Forces separated from the Chief of Army for ease of administration of the larger army.

## List of Chief of Defence Forces

Until 2023, 22 people had appointed as the Chief of Defence Forces, including two from Royal Malaysian Air Forces and one from Royal Malaysian Navy.
| No. | Chief of Defence Forces | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
| 1 | Brook, FrankLieutenant General Tan Sri Sir Frank Hasting Brooke (1909–1982) | 11 June 1956 | 26 October 1959 | 3 years, 138 days | Malaysian Army |
| 2 | Moore, RodneyLieutenant General Tan Sri Sir Rodney Moore (1905–1985) | 27 October 1959 | 31 December 1963 | 4 years, 66 days | Malaysian Army |
| 3 | Osman, TunkuYang Mulia General Tan Sri Tunku Osman (1919–1994) | 1 January 1964 | 24 November 1969 | 5 years, 328 days | Malaysian Army |
| 4 | Bidin, AbdulGeneral Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bidin (1917–1995) | 25 November 1969 | 30 June 1970 | 218 days | Malaysian Army |
| 5 | Ismail, IbrahimGeneral Tun Ibrahim Ismail (1922–2010) | 1 July 1970 | 30 November 1977 | 7 years, 153 days | Malaysian Army |
| 6 | Ghaffar, Mohd SanyGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Panglima Mohd Sany Abdul Ghaffar (1927–2015) | 1 December 1977 | 19 January 1982 | 4 years, 50 days | Malaysian Army |
| 7 | Seth, Mohd GhazaliGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Sri Mohd Ghazali Mohd Seth (1929–2021) | 20 January 1982 | 31 October 1985 | 3 years, 285 days | Malaysian Army |
| 8 | Mat, Mohd GhazaliGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Panglima Mohd Ghazali Che Mat (1931–2021) | 1 November 1985 | 5 October 1987 | 1 year, 339 days | Malaysian Army |
| 9 | Ali, Mohamed HashimGeneral Tun Tan Sri Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali (born 1937) | 6 October 1987 | 10 April 1992 | 4 years, 188 days | Malaysian Army |
| 10 | Zain, YaacobGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Panglima Yaacob Mohd Zain (born 1935) | 11 April 1992 | 3 March 1993 | 327 days | Malaysian Army |
| 11 | Hamid, AbdulGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Panglima Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid (1938–2022) | 4 March 1993 | 31 January 1994 | 334 days | Malaysian Army |
| 12 | Ahmad, BorhanGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Borhan Ahmad (born 1939) | 1 February 1994 | 2 February 1995 | 1 year, 2 days | Malaysian Army |
| 13 | Omar, IsmailGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Ismail Omar (born 1941) | 3 February 1995 | 31 December 1998 | 3 years, 332 days | Malaysian Army |
| 14 | Zainuddin, MohdGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Mohd Zahidi Zainuddin (born 1949) | 1 January 1999 | 28 April 2005 | 6 years, 118 days | Malaysian Army |
| 15 | Nor, MohdAdmiral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor (born 1951) | 29 April 2005 | 31 January 2007 | 1 year, 278 days | Royal Malaysian Navy |
| 16 | Zainal, AbdulGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Abdul Aziz Zainal (born 1951) | 1 February 2007 | 31 August 2009 | 2 years, 212 days | Malaysian Army |
| 17 | Ariffin, AzizanGeneral Tan Sri Dato' Seri Azizan Ariffin (born 1953) | 1 September 2009 | 14 June 2011 | 1 year, 287 days | Royal Malaysian Air Force |
| 18 | Zin, ZulkifeliGeneral Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin (born 1956) | 15 June 2011 | 16 December 2016 | 5 years, 185 days | Malaysian Army |
| 19 | Noor, RajaYang Mulia General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor (born 1958) | 17 December 2016 | 19 June 2018 | 1 year, 186 days | Malaysian Army |
| 20 | Zainal, ZulkifliGeneral Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin (born 1960) | 20 June 2018 | 1 January 2020 | 1 year, 196 days | Malaysian Army |
| 21 | Buang, AffendiGeneral Tan Sri Affendi Buang (born 1962) | 2 January 2020 | 5 September 2023 | 3 years, 247 days | Royal Malaysian Air Force |
| 22 | Ab Rahman, MohammadGeneral Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman (born 1964) | 6 September 2023 | 30 January 2025 | 1 year, 147 days | Malaysian Army |
| 23 | Nizam Jaffar, MohdGeneral Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar (born 1966) | 31 January 2025 | Incumbent | 4 days | Malaysian Army |