Staff Appointments
In 1952, he was promoted to Commander and was made the Deputy Director of the Naval Intelligence, and played an integral and major role in formulating the policies and institutional set up of the Naval Intelligence and the directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). At the end of December 1952, Major-General Robert Cawthome, Director-General of Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), sent a priority report to Commander Ahsan, and asked for detailed discussions with Pakistan Armed Forces personnel on the basic principles of the ISI. During this meeting with ISI officials, Ahsan concluded that East Pakistan mustn't be ignored and should be given equal status with West Pakistan. Ahsan feared that not carrying our such actions might result in the partition of East and West Pakistan. In 1958, he was made Captain, and was made staff officer and also served as the principal military secretary to Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, wife of former Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan. In 1960, he was promoted to one-star rank as commodore, and was situated in the Naval Combatant Headquarters (NHQ) in Karachi. Ahsan established the Logistics Command as Pakistan Navy had suffered logistics problems in both East and West Pakistan. He established the Karachi Naval Logistic base, known as COMLOG, and served as its first commander. In 1957, he was made Commander of Pakistan Fleet (COMPAK). As commander of COMLOG, he also supervised other navy-led projects and the construction of Naval Operation Headquarters in Karachi. However in 1961, Ahsan was made Director-General of the Naval Intelligence and established the naval intelligence unit within the navy. In 1964, Ahsan was promoted to the two-star rank of rear admiral and was situated in Ayub Khan's Presidential office. He was the principal military secretary to Ayub Khan, Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army and President at the same time. In a short time, Rear-Admiral Ahsan gained influence on President Ayub Khan and advised him on important military issues. Ahsan attended every meeting chaired by President Ayub Khan and played a major role in Ayub Khan's decisions on military affairs. Ahsan also played an influential role in the establishment of Pakistan's Eastern Military High Command. Ahsan was opposed to any military action against East Pakistan and prevented Khan taking military actions in East Pakistan despite calls for them.
Read more about this topic: Syed Mohammad Ahsan
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