Notably, it played a major role in rescuing trapped American soldiers who had requested the assistance of a quick reaction force during Operation Gothic Serpent in Somalia.
: 1–2 [4] The Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee (AFRC) under the chairmanship of British Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck had devised the formula to divide the military assets between India and Pakistan with ratio of 2:1, respectively.: conts.
: 60 [37] As early as 1953, the Pakistan Army became involved in national politics in a view of restoring the law and order situation when Governor-General Malik Ghulam, with approval from Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin, dismissed the popularly-mandated state government of Chief Minister Mumtaz Daultana in Punjab in Pakistan, and declared martial law under Lt-Gen. Azam Khan and Col. Rahimuddin Khan who successfully quelled the religious agitation in Lahore.
[54] On the night of 6 September 1965, India opened the front against Pakistan when the Indian Army's mechanized corps charged forwards taking over the control of the Pakistan-side of Punjab, almost reaching Lahore.
[56] In contrast, the Indian Army's armor had outdated in technology with Korean war-usage American M4 Sherman and World War II manufactured British Centurion Tank, fitted with the French-made CN-75 guns.
[61][63][page needed][64][65] With diplomatic efforts and involvement by the Soviet Union to bring two nation to end the war, the Ayub administration reached a compromise with Shastri ministry in India when both governments signed and ratified the Tashkent Declaration.
[64][65] According to the Library of Congress Country Studies conducted by the Federal Research Division of the United States: The war was militarily inconclusive; each side held prisoners and some territory belonging to the other.
: 59–60 [51] In light of the Supreme Court's judgement, the army held the publicly televised conference when President Yahya Khan announced to hold the nationwide general elections in 1969–70.
[81] The intervention in East Pakistan further grew when the Operation Searchlight resulted in the overtaking of the government buildings, communication centers, and restricting the politicians opposed to military rule.
: 2–3 [88] The Yahya administration is widely accused of permitting the army to commit the war crimes against the civilians in East and curbing civil liberties and human rights in Pakistan.
[89][90] Since the general elections in 1970, the army had detained several key politicians, journalists, peace activists, student unionists, and other members of civil society while curbing the freedoms of movement and speech in Pakistan.
[95] Commenting on the defeat, the military observer in the Pakistan Army, Major A.H. Amin, reported that the war strategists in the army had not seriously considered a full-fledged invasion from India until December 1971, because it was presumed that the Indian military would not risk intervention by China or the United States, and the high command failed to realize that the Chinese would be unable to intervene during the winter months of November to December, due to snowbound Himalayan passes, and the Americans had not made any real effort to persuade India against attacking East Pakistan.
[112] The political instability increased in the country when the conservative alliance refused to accept the voting turnout in favor of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after the general elections held in 1977.: 25–26 [98] The army, under Gen. Zia-ul-Haq–the army chief, began planning the military takeover of the federal government under Prime Minister Zulfikar Bhutto, eventually leading the coup d'état that suspended the writ of the Constitution amid responding to the call from one of the opposition leader of threatening to call for another civil war.
[82] After the aviation accident that resulted in passing of President Zia in 1988, the army organized the massive military exercise with the Pakistan Air Force to evaluate the technological assessment of the weapon systems and operational readiness.
[129] In 2013–16, the homegrown far-right guerrilla war with the Taliban, Afghan Arabs, and the Central Asian fighters took the decisive turn in favor of the army under Sharif administration, eventually gaining the control of the entire country and established the writ of the constitution in the affected lawless regions.
[citation needed] The JCOs are single-track specialists with their subject of expertise in their particular part of the job and initially appointed (NS1) after risen from their enlisted ranks, receiving the promotion (SM3) from the commanding officer.
: 292 [137] Most enlisted personnel had come from the poor and rural families with many had only rudimentary literacy skills in the past, but with the increase in the affordable education have risen to the matriculation level (12th Grade).
: 292 [137] Enlisted personnel usually serve for eighteen to twenty years, before retiring or gaining a commission, during which they participate in regular military training cycles and have the opportunity to take academic courses to help them advance.
: 31 [9] After 1971, the Bhutto administration introduced the Quota system and drastically reduced the officers and enlists from Punjab and gave strong preference to residents in Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and such policy continue to exists to maintain an ethnic balance in the army.
[citation needed] The Pakistan Army has introduced arid camouflage patterns in uniform and resized qualification badges which are now service ribbons and no longer worn along with the ranks are now embroidered and are on the chest.
[134][failed verification] Established and organized in March 2000, the Army Strategic Forces Command is exercise its authority for responsible training in safety, weapons deployments, and activation of the atomic missile systems.
[178] 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 possible ceasefire brought about by the international pressure after 3–4 weeks of fighting.
"[180] The objective of such exercises is to assess tactics, procedures, and techniques, and explore joint operations strategies involving all three branches of the military: the Army, Air Force, and Navy.
[181] 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.
[189] 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.
[138] The Pakistan Army builds major civil engineering landmarks in the country, including the Karakoram Highway, Skardu Airport, and the national security sites in Kahuta.
[191] The Pakistan Army's landmark civil engineering projects included the Lyari Expressway in Karachi, Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan and the Khanpur Dam in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
[194] In 1996, General Jehangir Karamat described Pakistan armed forces' relations with the society: In my opinion, if we have to repeat of past events then we must understand that Military leaders can pressure only up to a point.
[195] 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.
News agencies and investigations by financial regulators allege the military controls a vast network of business enterprises and conglomerates, with estimates suggesting a total revenue of US$20 billion in 2007-2008.