The National Guard of Pakistan ( ur, ) is a
reserve military force and the component of the
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...
that is designed to act as a "second line of defense" in
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 ...
.
together with the
Pakistan Army Reserve, the
Frontier Corps
The Frontier Corps ( ur, , reporting name: FC), are a group of paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's borders with Afghanist ...
and the
Pakistan Rangers
The Pakistan Rangers ( ur, ) are a paramilitary federal law enforcement organization in Pakistan, operating under the authority of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan. Their primary purpose is to secure and defend sites of significance in th ...
.
History
The National Guard was established on 1 January 1948 as a reserve component of the Pakistan Army, first advertised as the volunteer corps later expanded as a Women's Guard.
[ ]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 ...
Liaquat Ali Khan appointed Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...
Syed Shahid Hamid as its first chief, and later delegated the command to Major-General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Akbar Khan.
Organization
The command and control of the National Guard is under the Chief of Army Staff,Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...
.[
The National Guard was initially authorised by the "Pakistan National Guard Ordinance, 1947" on 2nd November 1947,][ and was initially composed of infantry on 7-year contracts. It was expanded in 1972 in the aftermath of the secession of ]Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
. It is currently composed of two forces:
* The Mujahid Force
The Mujahid Force ( ur, ) is a paramilitary regiment and a component of the National Guard of Pakistan, normally under the command of the Pakistan Army.
History
The force was established in 1965, and was merged into the National Guard whe ...
, a paramilitary regiment of numerous battalions, which supports and supplements the regular Army during national emergencies and war.
* The Janbaz Force
The Janbaz Force ( ur, ) is a component of the National Guard of Pakistan, and a paramilitary force under the command of the Pakistan Army. It acts as a reserve force for the regular Army in times of national emergency or war. The force has ...
, which operates air defence batteries and infantry companies under the control of the provincial governments, and its members tend to serve close to their home districts.
The two current components are recruited, trained and deployed in their local areas, and are mainly charged with air defence and helping with national emergencies. Previously, the National Guard also included two other forces:
* National Cadet Corps (dissolved in 2002)Officers' Training Corps
The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...
. The National Cadet Corps was disbanded in 2002 by President Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez MuĊharraf; 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 t ...
, although there were calls for the Corps to be restored at a federal level in 2015,[ and at provincial level in 2019.][ The Guard included individuals trained in nursing, welfare, and clerical work. There were also some women in the Janbaz Force, and a very small number of women were recruited into regular service to perform medical and educational work.
]
See also
* Civil Armed Forces
References
Paramilitary forces of Pakistan
{{Pakistan-mil-stub