A farewell to arms

Even though this took some doing for an SSG officer, that Pervez Musharraf never heard a shot being fired in anger before, during or after any of our wars and semi-wars was no fault of his. That his postings put him at the wrong place at the wrong time in both 1965 and 1971 is a fact that continues to weigh heavily on his mind and actions thereof. As CoAS Musharraf's promotions beyond Brigadier's rank studiously avoided promoting those with combat experience (except in Lieutenant General Masood Aslam's case), loyalty being preferred over merit. This badly compromised the capability of the senior military hierarchy. Combat veterans have a bad habit of speaking up, Musharraf was simply putting his own survival before the professionalism vital at that level. Or was it simply a matter of an inferiority complex? Musharraf never visited his troops fighting in the field as CoAS in Swat and Fata from 2003 to 2007. I will be more than happy to apologise if I am wrong.
Correcting this glaring anomaly and barring some dishonourable exceptions, General Kayani as CoAS selected good officers on merit for two- and three-star rank, giving preference to those with combat experience. To bolster the lot of the poor forgotten common soldier an across-the-board effort was made. Pragmatic training took priority, entire units were trained in counter-insurgency operations before being thrown into the cauldron beginning 2009. His re-appointment as CoAS (there being no such thing as an "extension for 3 years") meant we lost the services of quite a few outstanding military professionals in the hierarchy. Among the many who lost out because of Kayani's "extension" was Lieutenant General Khalid Nawaz Janjua, very much "Chief" material.
Barely seven years ago, at the end of Musharraf's several "extensions" as CoAS, the army had become so unpopular that off-duty servicemen were advised not to wear their uniform in public. The regaining of the public trust started in post-2008. Today the Army is once more the darling of the populace. This adulation obtained by the blood, sweat and tears of the rank and file. Kayani began this process. Unfortunately he reportedly failed to control the greed of his two brothers. The four three-star generals retiring on October 5, 2015 represent the transformation from an army reduced in effectiveness and having its reputation in the depths to a battle-hardened force successfully fighting militants like no other Army in the world has. Mark Antony in his famous funeral speech after Caesar's assassination said: "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." And, so let it be with Kayani. Knowing three of the three-star personally, one feels duty bound to list the "good" they have done for the nation on what is technically their last day in uniform.
During the first battle in Swat (Operation Rah-e-Haq) to dislodge Mullah Fazlullah and his bloodthirsty lot, Major General Nasir Janjua's division was in the thick of combat. On promotion to Lieutenant General, Nasir took over the National Defence University (NDU), carrying on the excellent work of his predecessor Lieutenant General Umar Farooq in changing the curricula and the "Lal Kurti" mindset to reflect modernity in warfare, combining the National Security and War Course into one course instead of two overlapping ones. Commissioned into 32 Punjab from 59th PMA, Nasir has served as Director Military Operations (DMO) and Vice Chief of General Staff (VCGS). Humble and friendly by nature he visibly displays his enormous passion for the country. Diligently following in the policies of Lieutenant General Alam Jan Khattak on taking over as Commander Southern Command in 2013, history will record that this has drastically changed the rebellious Baloch human scope for the better. Both kept to the principle that internal strife cannot be solved by military means alone, that the local population must be brought in from the cold to become genuine stakeholders in the country's present and future.
Commissioned from 61st PMA into 10 Punjab Lieutenant General Naveed Zaman, presently the Commander of 4 Corps, was the winner of the coveted Sword of Honour, Naveed's tremendous professional career includes stints as Instructor in PMA, Infantry School and Command and Staff College. He also commanded the prestigious "Siachen Brigade". An intellectual soldier with tremendous integrity, Naveed Zaman is humble and unassuming in nature. After successfully commanding an infantry division in combat in Fata, he became Chief Instructor (CI) in the NDU before being promoted to Lieutenant General. His brother-in-law Brigadier Moin Shaheed, a tremendous soldier in all respects, was killed by terrorists in Islamabad. Universally considered "Chief" material, Moin was from my unit 4 Sindh.
It is an honour and privilege to know Lieutenant General Ejaz Chaudhry as an outstanding soldier and a man of great integrity with a single-minded devotion to duty. Commissioned from 60th PMA, this artilleryman has been an Instructor in Command & Staff College and later on did a stint as Chief Instructor (CI). Ejaz successfully commanded an infantry division in combat in South Waziristan. My own unit 4 Sindh, which served in his formation during South Waziristan operations, is living witness of his being a calm presence in the fluid frontline with the insurgents during the heat of battle. When Ejaz took over as DG Rangers Sindh, Karachi was a city under internal siege, ruled by target killers and party militant wings. Whipping the Rangers into shape, he redirected their "mission statement", reorganising and retraining his force to regain their effectiveness in the urban area combat role required from them. Above all he built up their morale and sense of duty. Under instructions from the Supreme Court (SC), Ejaz started clearing the city of militants in 2011, for reasons best known to former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, SC stopped the process after 3 months. Luckily for this city, on promotion Ejaz took over as Corps Commander 5 Corps, he and his successor as DG Rangers Major General (now Lieutenant General) Rizwan Akhtar maintained the momentum. Inheriting a fully honed fighting machine, Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar and Major General Bilal to their credit have relentlessly continued cleansing this city of militants.
Those who have worn the uniform with pride take great satisfaction in seeing these three outstanding generals say "a farewell to arms", their honour and dignity not only intact but having substantially contributed to nation-building. They truly represent the transformation of the Pakistan Army post-2008 when Kayani took charge from Musharraf. This has since accelerated rapidly post-2013 once Raheel Sharif became CoAS.