The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) ( ur, ) is, in principle, the highest-ranking and senior most uniformed

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

, typically at four-star rank, in the

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

who serves as a Principal Staff Officer and a chief

military adviser Military advisors, or combat advisors, advise on military matters. Some are soldiers sent to foreign countries to aid such countries with their military training, organization, and other various military tasks. The Foreign powers or organizations ...

to the

civilian government Civil authority or civil government is the practical implementation of a state on behalf of its citizens, other than through military units (martial law), that enforces law and order and that is distinguished from religious authority (for exampl ...

led by elected

Prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Paki ...

and his/her

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

. The role of advisement is also extended to the elected members in the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and the Ministry of Defence. The Chairman leads the meetings and coordinates the combined efforts of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), ( ur, ); is an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unified Pakistan Armed Forces who advises the civilian Government of Pakistan, National Security Council, ...

(JCSC), comprising the Chairman, the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff,

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, DG

Coast Guards A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

and

Strategic Plans Division Strategic Plans Division Force or (SPD Force) ( ur, ) is Pakistan's agency responsible for the protection of its tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile and the strategic assets. It is the security branch of the National Command Author ...

, and commanders of the service branches in the

Civil Armed Forces The Civil Armed Forces (CAF) are a group of nine paramilitary, uniformed organisations, separate and distinct from the regular "military" Pakistan Armed Forces. They are responsible for maintaining internal security, helping law enforcement ag ...

and the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

. Even as the Principal Staff Officer (PSO), the Chairman does not have any authority over the command of the combatant forces. The individual service chiefs are solely responsible for the coordination and logistics of the armed and combatant forces. Due to this constraint, the chiefs of

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

are much in

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

of their respected commands. The Chairman's mandate is to transmit strategic communications to the combatant commanders from the

Prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

as well as allocate additional funding to the combatant commanders if necessary. The Chairman is nominated and appointed by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

; and is finally confirmed by the President. Unlike

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the appointment of Chairman does not need confirmation via majority vote by the

. Although, the appointment needs confirmation from the Prime minister. By statute, the Chairman is appointed as a four-star general, four-star air chief marshal and/or four star admiral. By law required, all four-star officers are required to have vast experience in joint uniformed services of Pakistan during their 40-year-long military careers. The post of CJCSC was created by former Prime minister of Pakistan

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

in March 1976, and the first Chairman was four star rank officer, General

Muhammad Shariff General Muhammad Shariff ( ur, ; 22 February 1921 – 6 August 1999) was a senior Pakistan Army general who was the first Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, serving in this post from 1976 until tendering his resignation in 1977 ov ...

. The current holder of the office is General

Sahir Shamshad Mirza General Sahir Shamshad Mirza ( ur, ) is a four-star rank general in Pakistan Army, currently serving as the 18th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committeeappointed to the post on 27 November 2022. Prior to his appointment as Commander of X Corp ...

appointed in 2022.

Appointment preferences

Despite the post of the chairmanship is bound constitutionally for the rotation, the

army general Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of genera ...

s are strongly preferred for such post, despite coming short of their qualifications, by the civilian prime ministers in a view of stabilizing the civil military relations. Unlike the American system where the balance is made between the branches of the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

, the majority of the chairmen are appointed from the department of the army, superseding the officers in the navy, marines, and the air force. In 1999,

Sharif notably refused to appoint the senior most officer, Admiral

Fasih Bokhari Admiral Fasih Bokhari (; 8 March 1942 – 24 November 2020) was a Pakistani admiral who served as the Chief of Naval Staff from 1997 to 1999. He was a well-known pacifist and a prominent political figure as the Chief of Naval Staff from 1997 ...

, to such post in favor of appointing junior-most officer, Gen.

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

. This action of Prime Minister Sharif led towards Adm. Bokhar revolting against this decision in public in 1999, creating strain in the relation between the civilian government and the military. The four-star admirals in the Pakistan Navy have been notably superseded by the junior army officers, in instances took place in 2005 when Adm.

Karim Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim Ab ...

was superseded by junior-most Lt-Gen.

Ehsan ul Haq General officer, General Ehsan ul Haq Nishan-e-Imtiaz, NI(M), Hilal-e-Imtiaz, HI(M) ( ur, ; b. 22 September 1949), is a retired four-star general, four-star rank Pak Fauj, army general in the Pakistan Army and a Public Official, public official, ...

and, in 2011 when Adm. Numan was bypassed in favor of Lt-Gen. Wynne. In 2014, the practice continued by the civil government when Adm.

Asif Sandila Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila (Urdu: محمد ﺁصف سندیلہ; born: 1954, ), is a retired four-star admiral in the Pakistan Navy who was the 14th Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy. Prior to this command appointment, Sandila brie ...

was bypassed and overlooked when the junior most officer, Lt-Gen.

Rashad Mahmood General Rashad Mahmood NI(M) ( ur, ), is a retired four-star army general in the Pakistan Army who served as the 15th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. He was appointed as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan by prime m ...

was eventually appointed as Chairman joint chiefs. Due to such preferential treatments given to army department, the retired admirals have given a strong criticism of such criterion, expressing their dissatisfaction towards the appointment processes.

List of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Branch of Service

Pervez Musharraf's Mercedes Benz in Pakistan

*Army - 14 *Navy - 2 *Air Force - 1

Notes

References

External links

Inter-Services Public Relations
{{Chief of military by country Military of Pakistan C

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...