Women and religion in the Pakistan Army
Women and religion Pakistan Army
Since the establishment of the army in 1947, the women have been part of the Pakistan Army, and currently there are ~4,000 women are serving in administrative positions in the department of the army.[157] In the past, the women were inducted in the Women's Guard Section of the Army National Guard who were trained in medical works, welfare, and clerical positions but the combat positions have been opened to women due to shortage in the qualifications filled by males in the combat positions.[158]
In the Islamic world, Pakistan has a distinction of appointing and promoting women to the general officer ranks, the major-generals, in the army, and Major-General Shahida Malik was the first woman army officer and military physician by profession who was promoted to the two-star rank.[159] Major-General Shahida Malik, a military physician by profession, was Pakistan's first female two-star army general.[160] In 2015, Pakistan Army reportedly trained a sizeable contingent of women unit in infantry, airborne, and sniper missions, and are deployed in combat zone alongside the males.[161][162]
The military service with the army does not restrict to the Muslims but is open to other religions in Pakistan and Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Christians have served in the army at the commanding level positions.[163][164] The religious services in the military is provided by the Chaplain Corps for Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians.[88]
In 1993, Major-General Julian Peter was the first Christian to be appointed at the command position while Hercharn Singh became the first Sikh to be commissioned in the army.[164] Between 1947–2000, a policy of restricting Hindus prior enlisting in the Pakistan Army was in practice until the policy was reversed by the federal government.[165] In 2006, army recruiters began recruiting Hindus into the army and people of all faith or no faith can be promoted to any rank or commanding position in the army.[166][167]
Components and structure[edit]
Army components and branches[edit]
Since its organization that commenced in 1947, the army's functionality is broadly maintained in two main branches: Combat Arms and Administrative Services.:46[42]:570[168]:127[148] From 1947–71, the Pakistan Army had responsibility of maintaining the British-built Forts, till the new and modern garrisons were built in post 1971, and performs the non-combat duties such as engineering and construction.[6]
Currently, the Army's combat services are kept in active-duty personnel and reservists that operates as members of either Reserves and National Guard.[3] In addition, the workforce of the army is supported by the Frontier Corps (a paramilitary) and Rangers that performs military police duty within the state governments in Pakistan to help control and manage the law and control situation.[3]
The two main branches of the army, Combat Arms and Administrative Services, are also consists of into several branches and functional areas that includes the army officers, junior commissioned (or warrant officers), and the enlisted personnel who are classified from their branches in their uniforms and berets.[3] In Pakistan Army, the careers are not restricted to military officials but are extended to civilian personnel and contractors who can progress in administrative branches of the army.[169]
| Combat Arms | Insignia | Administrative Services | Insignia | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armoured Corps (AR) |  | Service Corps (ASC) |  | ||
| Air Defence Corps (AD) |  | Military Police (MP) | | ||
| Aviation Corps (AVN) |  | Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME) |  | ||
| Artillery Corps (Art) |  | Medical Corps (AMC) | _Badge.jpg){kind=icon} | ||
| Signals Corps (Sigs) |  | Education Corps (EC) | | ||
| Engineer Corps (EN) | | Remount Veterinary and Farms (RVF) | | ||
| Infantry Regiments (Inf) |       | Ordnance Corps (AOC) | | ||
| Special Forces (SSG) | .svg){kind=small} | Military Intelligence Corps (MI) | | ||
| Coast Guards (CG) | ' | Chaplain Corps (ChC) | | ||
| — | — | Dental Corps (DC) | |
Combat maneuvering organizations[edit]
In an events involving the large and massive foreign invasion by the Indian Army charging towards the Pakistan-side Punjab sector, the Pakistan Army maintains the Pakistan Army Reserves as a strategic reserve component for conducting the offense and defense measures against the advancing enemy.[170]
Infantry branch[edit]
Since its establishment in 1947, the Pakistan Army has traditionally followed the British regimental system and culture, and currently there are six organized infantry regiments.[171]
In the infantry branch, there are originally six regiments are in fact the administrative military organization that are not combat field formation, and the size of the regiments are vary as their rotation and deployments including assisting the federal government in civic administration.[172]
In each of original six regiments, there are multiple battalions that are associated together to form an infantry regiment and such battalions do not fight together as one formation as they are all deployed over various formations in shape of being part of the brigade combat team (under a Brigadier), division, or a being part of much larger corps.[173]
After the independence from the Great Britain in 1947, the Pakistan Army begin to follow the U.S. Army's standing formation of their Infantry Branch, having the infantry battalion serving for a time period under a different command zone before being deployed to another command zone, usually in another sector or terrain when its tenure is over.[173]
Infantry Branch[hide]
| The Infantry Regiments by seniority | Insignia | Activation Date | Commanding Regimental Center | Motto | War Cry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Punjab Regiment |  |
1759
| Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa | Urdu: نارا-یا-حیدری یا علی (English lit. Ali the Great) | |
| Baloch Regiment | |
1798
| Abbottabad, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa |
غازی یا شہید
(English lit. Honored or Martyr)
|
کی کی بلوچ
(English lit. Of the Baloch)
|
| Frontier Force Regiment |  |
1843
| Abbottabad, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa |
لبّیک
(English lit. Lucky)
| |
| Azad Kashmir Regiment | |
1947
| Mansar, Punjab | ||
| Sind Regiment | |
1980
| Hyderabad, Sindh | ||
| Northern Light Infantry Regiment | |
1999
| Gilgit, Gilgit Baltistan |
سبط قدم
(English lit. Consistent)
| |
| Other type of Regiments | Insignia | Activation Date | Regimental Center | Motto | War Cry |
| Regiment of Artillery | |
1826
| Rawalpindi, Punjab | ||
| Mujahid Force Regiment | |
1963
| Bhimber, Azad Kashmir | ||
| Regiment of Air Defense | |
1989
| Rawalpindi, Punjab |
Sources: Infantry Branch of Pakistan Army. For a description of the modern army, see: global context.
Special operations forces[edit]
The Pakistan Army has a military division dedicated towards conducting the unconventional and asymmetric warfare operations, established with the guidance provided by the United States Army in 1956.[174] This competitive special operation force is known as the Special Services Group (Army SSG, distinguishing the Navy SSG), and is assembled in eight battalions, commanded by the Lieutenant-Colonel, with addition of three companies commanded by the Major or a Captain, depending on the availability.[175]
The special operation forces training school is located in Cherat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan where the training and education on the philosophy of military arts and tactics takes place by the army instructors.[175]
Each battalion in the Pakistan Army Special Forces is specifically trained for a specific type of operation, and each battalion is a specialist in their nature of conducting the operation.[175] Due to their distinctive service headgear, the Army SSG is colloquially known as the Maroon Berets.[175] In 2000, the Pakistan Army established the Army Strategic Forces Command that is charged with overseeing the operational readiness and various deployment of the Army SSG, Special Forces, Special Support Group, Army Rangers, and the Strategic Plans Division Force— the CBRN defense component of the department of army.[175]
Besides the Army SSG and the Special Forces (SF), the Pakistan Army has trained a specific Rangers team that is especially trained in counter tactics, and is trained for carrying out the difficult counter-terrorism operation involving the civilian hostages in Karachi, and helping the state governments in Sindh and Punjab maintaining the law and order situation intact.[176]
Implementing the counterterrorism tactics in 2004, the Army has been training the specific Army Ranger company, known as the Rangers Anti-terrorist Force (ATF), alongside with the Army SSG company, often conduct training with the U.S. Army Ranger in terror and infantry tactics.[176]
Military philosophy[edit]
Combat doctrine (1947–2007)[edit]
In 1947, the Pakistan Army's war strategists developed a combat doctrine which was called "The Riposte", which featured a strategy of "offensive-defense".:310[177][178] In 1989, the first and official implementation of this strategy was refined and featured in the major military exercise, Exercise Zab-e-Momin, organized under Lt-Gen. Hamid Gul[179]– this combat doctrine was fully focused in engaging towards its primary adversary, Indian Army.:310[177]
In 1989–99, the JS HQ, working with the Army GHQ to identify several key factors considering the large conventional attacks from the better equipped and numerically advantage adversary, the Indian Army, derived the combat doctrine to assess the vulnerability of Pakistan where its vast majority of population centers as well as political and military targets lies closer to the international border with India.[180]
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The national security strategists explored the controversial idea of strategic depth in form of fomenting friendly foreign relations with Afghanistan and Iran while India substantially enhancing its offensive capabilities designed in its doctrine, the Cold Start Doctrine.[180] Due to the numerical advantage of Indian Army over its small adversary, the Pakistan Army, the Pakistani national security analysts noted that any counterattack on advancing Indian Army would be very tricky and miscalculated– the ideal response of countering the attacks from the Indian ground forces would be operationalizing the battle-ranged Hatf-IA/Hatf-IB missiles.[180] The Pakistan Army Reserves, supported by the Army National Guard, and India's Territorial Army would eventually forward towards the defensive positions and fortifications in less than 24 hours.[181] However, the Corps in both nation's commands with large stockpiles of ordnance will take between 24–72 hours for logistically mobilized its combat assets after the orders are authorized; therefore, both nation's armies will be evenly matched in the first 24 hours since the Pakistani units have to travel a shorter distance to their forward positions.[181]
The war doctrine of "offensive-defense" entailed Pakistan of not waiting to be attacked but instead launching an offense of its own, with an offense being a limited advance along with narrow fronts aiming towards occupying enemy territory near the border to a depth of 40–50 km.[181] Pakistani national security calculated that since Indian forces will not reach their maximum strength near the border for another 48–72 hours, Pakistan might have parity or numerical superiority against the India.[181] Earlier studies in "Offensive-defense" doctrine validated results of finding and keeping the enemy forces off-balance as the Indian Army engage in containing the Pakistan Army forces into its territory rather than concentrating towards launching an attack onto Pakistan's territory.[181] The strategic calculations by Pakistan Army's war strategists hoped that the Pakistan Army's soldiers would keep the Indian Army soldiers engage in fighting on the Indian territory, therefore the collateral damage being suffered by the Indian Army at most.[181] An important aspect in "offensive-defense" doctrine was to seize sizable Indian territory which gives Pakistan an issue to negotiate with India in the aftermath of a ceasefire brought about by international pressure after 3–4 weeks of fighting.[181]
Due to fortification of LoC in Kashmir and difficult terrains in Northern Punjab, the Army created the Pakistan Army Reserves in the 1990s that is concentrated in desert terrain of Sindh-Rajasthan sector, The Army Reserve South of the Pakistan Army Reserves is grouped in several powerful field-level corps and designed to provide a defensive maneuvers in case of war with the Indian Army.[181]
The limitation and constraint of the "offensive-defense" doctrine was eventually exposed by the Indian Army's performance in the Kargil war in 1999, as Indian Army decided to take an action with full offense that forced Pakistan Army to go into full defense. Without the synergy between the Air Force, Navy and Marines, the doctrine became redundant, and the Pakistan Army had to rely on international pressure on India to desist from an assault as it exactly happened, according to the Indian author, RSN Singh in 2011.[181]
Threat Matrix (2010 – present)[edit]
After the failure of the "Offensive-defense" in 1999, the national security institutions engaged in critical thinking to evaluate new doctrine that would provide a comprehensive grand strategy against the infiltrating enemy forces, and development began 2010–11 for the new combat doctrine.[182] In 2013, the new combat doctrine, the Threat Matrix, was unveiled by the ISPR, that first time, in its history, the army's national security analysts realized that Pakistan faces the real threat from within, a threat that is concentrated in areas along western borders.[182] The Threat Matrix doctrine analyze the military's comprehensive operational priorities and goes beyond in comprehensively describing both existential and non-existential threats to the country.[182]
Based on that strategy in 2013, the Pakistani military organized a massive four-tier joint-military exercise, code named: Exercise Azm-e-Nau, in which the aim was to update the military's "readiness strategy for dealing with the complex security threat environment" was evaluate simultaneously by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.[183] In successive years, the Pakistani military combined all the Army-Navy-Air Force-Marines military exercises into joint warfare exercise, in which, all four branches participating in the military exercise regardless of the terrain, platform, and the control of command of the military exercise.[183]
The objective of the exercise was to assess military tactics, procedures and techniques in the event of an emerging threat environment, and explore joint operations strategies in response to combating the threat with all four branches of the military: the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy.[183]
Corporate and business activities[edit]
According to the international news agencies and investigation reports by international financial regulatory institutions, the department of army controls, manages, and runs the large number of business enterprises and conglomerates, that is estimated to be revenue at US$ 20 billion in 2007–08.[184] One of the largest real estate conglomerate that is run by the army is known as the Defense Housing Authority (DHA), as well as the Army Welfare Trust (AWT), and out 46 housing schemes directly built by the armed forces, none of the scheme is for ordinary soldiers or civilian officers and personnel employed by the army.[185]
The Fauji Foundation (lit. Military Foundation) has shares in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and involves in manufacturing and selling the process meat, stud, and dairy farms meant for the military's own use while there are enterprises perform functions in local civilian economy such as bakeries, security and the banking services.[184] The army factories managed by the Fauji Foundation produces such goods such as sugar, Fauji Fertilizer, brass castings, and sells its products to civilian consumers albeit at prices higher than those charged from military personnel.[155] The Pakistani military has a largest shares in the PSX and has financial stakes in commercial banking, airlines, steel businesses, cement, telecoms, petroleum and energy, education, sports, health care and even chains of grocery shops and bakeries.[186]
Involvement in Pakistani society[edit]
The Pakistan Army has played an integral part in the civil society of Pakistan, almost since its inception.[187] In 1996, General Jehangir Karamat described Pakistan armed forces' relations with the society:
In times of national calamities and natural disasters, including the devastating earthquake in 2005 or the great floods in 2010, the army engineering corps, medical, logistical personnel, and other armed forces services have played a major role in area rehabilitation and reconstruction of cities and towns while distributing the relief goods and military rations to the affected civilians.[188] Since 1948, the army has been involved in providing power generation to affected areas, building dams, and construction of towns and cities, and conducting rescue operations for evacuations of general public and animals from endangerment.[188]
To coordinate and manage the proper relief operations, reconstructions, and rehabilitation, the federal government appoints the active-duty officers, as an external billets appointments, to lead federal agencies such as ERRA and the NDMA.[189] Besides relief activities in the country, the Pakistan Army has also engaged in other parts of the world such as coordinating and leading the relief efforts in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka after these countries were affected by the underwater earthquake that resulted in tsunami in 2004.[190]
Education and training[edit]
Schooling, teachings, and institutions[edit]
The Pakistan Army offers wide range of extensive and lucrative careers in the military to young high school graduates and the college degree holders upon enlistment, and Pakistan Army operates the large number of training schools in all over the country.[191] The overall directions and management of the army training schools are supervised and controlled by the policies devised by the Education Corps, and philosophy on instructions in army schools involves in modern education with combat training.[192]
At the time of its establishment of the Pakistan Army in 1947, the Command and Staff College in Quetta was inherited to Pakistan, and is the oldest college established during the colonial period in India in 1905.[193] The British officers in the Pakistan Army had to established the wide range of schools to provide education and to train the army personnel in order to raise the dedicated and professional army.[194] The wide range of military officers in the Pakistani military were sent to attend the staff colleges in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada who were trained and excelled in courses in armory, infantry, artillery, and ordnance in 1950–1961.:293[149]
The United States eventually took over the overall training programs in the Pakistan Army under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) but the U.S. coordination with Pakistan varied along with the vicissitudes of the military relations between two countries.:12[195] In the 1980s, the army had sent ~200 army officers abroad annually, two-thirds actually decided to attend schooling in the United States but the cessation of the United States' aid to Pakistan led the suspension of the IMET, leading Pakistani military officers to choose the schooling in the United Kingdom.:294[149]
After the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001, the IMET cooperation was again activated with army officers begin attending the schooling in the United States but the training program was again suspended in 2018 by the Trump administration, leveling accusations on supporting armed Jihadi groups in Afghanistan.[196]
During the reconstruction and reorganization of the armed forces in the 1970s, the army established more training schools as below:
Sources: Army Schools and Skills Schools of Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army's training schools are not restricted to the department of army only but inter-services officers and personnel have been trained and educated as part of the interdepartmental cooperation.[191] The Pakistan Army takes responsibility of providing the military training and education to Pakistan Marines at their School of Infantry and Tactics, and military officers in other branches have attended and qualified psc from the Command and Staff College in Quetta.[191] Officers holding the ranks of captains, majors, lieutenants and lieutenant-commanders in marines are usually invited to attend the courses at the Command and Staff College in Quetta to be qualified as psc.:9[50]
Established in 1971, the National Defense University (NDU) in Islamabad is the senior and higher education learning institution that provides the advance critical thinking level and research-based strategy level education to the senior military officers in the Pakistani military.[197] The NDU in Islamabad is a significant institution of higher learning in understanding the institutional norms of military tutelage in Pakistan because it constitutes the "highest learning platform where the military leadership comes together for common instruction", according to thesis written by Pakistani author Aqil Shah.:8[50] Without securing their graduation from their master's program, no officer in the Pakistani military can be promoted as general in the army or air force, or admiral in the navy or marines as it is a prerequisite for their promotion to become a senior member at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.:8–9[50]
Besides, the platform provided at the NDU in Islamabad represents a radical shift from the emphasis on operational and staff functions and the level of ranks are imposed as qualification to attend the master's program at the NDU, usually brigadiers, air commodores, and commodores, are invited to given admission in broad range of strategic, political, social, and economic factors as these factors affects the country's national security.:8–9[50] In this sense, the NDU becomes the critical thinking institution as its constitutes active-duty senior military officers corps' baptism into a shared ideological framework about the military's appropriate role, status, and behavior in relation to state and society, and shared values affect how these officers perceive and respond to civilian governmental decisions, policies, and political crises.:9–10[198] Admissions to the army's military engineering colleges and NDU is not restricted to military officials but the civilians can also attend and graduate from the NDU, allowing the civilians to explore the broader aspects of national security.:8–9[50]
Established in 1991, the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) has now absorbed and amalgamated the existing military engineering colleges of engineering, signals, aeronautical, and medicines, and is a counterpart institution in science and technology to that of the National Defense University (NDU) in Islamabad.[199]
The foreign military officials and students, including from the United States, have attended the Command and Staff College in Quetta and the National Defense University (NDU) in Islamabad but the American instructors and observers have penned critical analysis by reporting the curriculum offered by the Command and Staff College in Quetta to be narrow focus and failure to encourage speculative thinking or to give adequate attention to less glamorous subjects, such as logistics.:293[149]:518[200][201]
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