The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is a position in the
Pakistani Army held by a
four-star general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
. As the highest-ranking officer, it is the most powerful position in the army.
This is the senior most appointment in the army who is a member of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, usually consulting with the
Chairman joint chiefs to act as a
military adviser to the
Prime Minister
A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
and its
civilian government in the line of defending the
land borders of the country.
The Chief of the Army Staff exercises responsibility of
command and control of the operational, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the army.
The appointment, in principle, is constitutionally subjected to be for 3 years after the approval by the
President on the recommendations of the Prime Minister.
The Chief of the Army Staff is based in the
GHQ, and the current Chief is
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, serving in this capacity since 29 November 2022.
Office of the Chief of the Army Staff
The designation of the Chief of the Army Staff was created from the previous title
Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army in 1972. Since 1972, there have been 10 four-star rank army generals to be appointed as chief of army staff by statute.
The
Prime Minister
A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
approved the nomination and appointment of the Chief of Army Staff, with
President confirming the Prime Minister's appointed choosing and nomination.
The army leadership is based in the
GHQ whose functions are supervised by the Chief of Army Staff, assisted by the civilians from the Army Secretariat of the
Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The Chief of Army Staff exercises the responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands.
There are several principle
staff officers (PSO) who assist in running the operations of the Army GHQ:
*
Chief of General Staff
*
Chief of Logistics Staff
*
Inspector-General of Training and Evaluation (IGT&E)
*
Inspector-General Communications and IT (IGC&IT)
*
Inspector-General Arms (IG Arms)
*
Engineer in Chief (E-in-C)
*
Military Secretary (Mil Secy)
*
Adjutant-General
*
Quartermaster General (QMG)
List of Chiefs of the Army Staff
See also
*
Malacca Cane
*
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
*
List of serving generals of the Pakistan Army
*
Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)
*
Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan)
*
Chief of the General Staff (Pakistan)
References
External links
Official Pakistan Army websiteInter-Services Public Relations
{{Chief of the army by country
*C
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
*