The PNS Qasim (also known as Marines Base Qasim) is a major marines base that serves as the headquarter of the Pakistan Marines for their administrative, operational and logistic requirements. PNS Qasim, the garrison of Pakistan Marines, is served as the logistic base for the Marines which is responsible for general administration and naval/military logistics requirements. The Pakistan Marines Corps structure is composed of five segments, and the PNS Qasim is part of the Eastern Naval Command of Pakistan Navy. The base is named after the legendary Muslim Arab general

Muhammad bin Qasim Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqāfī ( ar, محمد بن القاسم الثقفي; –) was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (part of modern Pakistan), inaugurating the Umayy ...

who conquered Daybul and the coastal areas of Sindh around 712 CE.

History

The Pakistan Marines were formed on June 1, 1971 to support the

riverine A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

and

Amphibious operations Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...

in Pakistani province of East-Pakistan. It was headquartered in PNS Dhaka under the command of then 2 star

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Mohammad Shariff Admiral Mohammad Shariff ( ur, ; 1 July 1920 – 27 April 2020), was a Pakistan Navy senior admiral, who served as the 2nd Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and a memoirist who was at the center of all the major decisions made in ...

. In 1974, Marine Corps were disbanded from the services of

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 ...

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 ...

, later elected

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 ...

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 ...

as the Service branch had completely failed to achieve any minor or major objectives in both the 1971 Winter War and the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali ...

. On April 14, 1990, the Marine Corps were recreated in the Pakistan's Pakistan Defence Forces, and is recognized as one of

her Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun she. Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music * H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer ** ''H.E.R.'' (album), 2017 * HIM (Finnish ...

seven uniformed services as of 2000. In 1990, Pakistan Navy decided to establish the first Marine Battalion at Qasim Fort which was at that time under the operational control of PNS Himalaya. On November 25, 1990, the PNS Qasim was given commissioned as the headquarters/logistic base of Pakistan Marines. The Commissioning Crew consisted of eight senior

flag rank A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

s, 67

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxiè ...

s and

Sailors A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

from general Service and 43 Marines office r. The base oversaw and witnessed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1999,

Atlantique Incident Pakistan Navy Atlantic shootdown happened on 10 August 1999, when a Breguet Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft of the Pakistan Naval Air Arm was shot down by a MiG 21 fighter of the Indian Air Force over the Rann of Kutch, on the border between ...

, 2002 Indo-Pakistani Standoff,

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

and Sir Creek Conflict.

Organisation

Marines Training Centre (MTC)

The Marines Training Centre (MTC) was established in 1990 to impart basic and advanced training for the Pakistan Marines (PM). During the 1990s, the Pakistan Army provided and trained the 1st Marine Offence Battalion as well as running the Training Centre. In 2000, the Pakistan Navy took control of the centre while the Army continued to train the Marines. In 2004, as Marines were given the status of one of the seven recognised uniformed services of the Pakistan Armed Forces, the PM took control of the Centre. As of today, there are large numbers of

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

and

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

personnel, as military advisors, providing training for the Marines.

Pakistan Naval Police

The MTC is also the headquarters of the Pakistan Navy Police (PNP), and conducts basic and refresher training for PNP personnel.

Creeks Battalion

The Creeks battalion was raised in April 1999 by the Pakistan Army with the objective to thwart external threat in creeks, through a forward presence and active surveillance in peacetime, as well as defending designated areas of responsibility during wartime. Sir Creek Battalion is commanded by an officer of Commander rank.

References

External links

PNS Qasim
{{Pakistani Armed Forces

Qasim Qasim, Qasem or Casim may refer to: * Qasim (name), a given name of Arabic origin and the name of several people * Port Qasim, port in Karachi, Pakistan * ''Kasım'' and ''Casim'', respectively the Ottoman Turkish and Romanian names for General To ...

Military installations in Karachi