Chief of the Army Staff (Pakistan)

The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is a position in the Pakistani Army held by a four-star general. As the highest-ranking officer, it is one of the most powerful positions in the army.

This is the senior most appointment in the army who is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, usually consulting with the Chairman joint chiefs to act as a military adviser to the Prime Minister and its civilian government in the line of defending the land borders of the country. The Chief of the Army Staff exercises responsibility of command and control of the operational, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the army.

The appointment, in principle, is constitutionally subjected to be for three years but an extension may be granted after the approval by the President on the recommendations of the Prime Minister. The Chief of the Army Staff is based in the GHQ, and the current Chief is General Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, serving in this capacity since 29 November 2022.

Office of the Chief of the Army Staff
The designation of the Chief of the Army Staff was created from the previous title Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army in 1972. Since 1972, there have been 10 four-star rank army generals to be appointed as chief of army staff by statute. The Prime Minister approved the nomination and appointment of the Chief of Army Staff, with President confirming the Prime Minister's appointed choosing and nomination.

The army leadership is based in the GHQ whose functions are supervised by the Chief of Army Staff, assisted by the civilians from the Army Secretariat of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The Chief of Army Staff exercise responsibility of complete operational, training and logistics commands.

There are several principle staff officers (PSO) who assist in running the operations of the Army GHQ:


 * Chief of General Staff
 * Chief of Logistics Staff
 * Inspector-General of Training and Evaluation (IGT&E)
 * Inspector-General Communications and IT (IGC&IT)
 * Inspector-General Arms (IG Arms)
 * Military Secretary (Mil Secy)
 * Adjutant-General
 * Quartermaster General (QMG)