Military Career
He was commissioned in the Punjab Regiment on 31 March 1957 in the 15th PMA Long Course and received his initial training from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was one of the last Sandhurst-trained soldier (Pakistan Military Academy was started later on) and known as a soldier's soldier with no political ambition. He spent most of his career in the field, holding command positions during the 1965 and 1971 wars with India. From 1982 to 1985 he commanded a division in Peshawar and then headed the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul until 1988. From April 1988 to March 1991 he was Corps Commander, Karachi, in charge of three army divisions. In April 1991 he became Chief of General Staff and was appointed Chief of Army Staff in August 1991 with a tenure of three years.
He took over the command from the retiring General Mirza Aslam Beg at a time when Pakistan's relations with the United States were at an all-time low because of Washington's suspicions about Islamabad's nuclear weapons program.
Read more about this topic: Asif Nawaz
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