Hilal Hussain

Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain is a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army who is 32nd and current defence secretary of Pakistan. Proceeded by Lieutenant General Ikram Ul Haq, he was appointed to the post on 24 August 2020 by the government of Pakistan. Before retiring from the military service, his last assignment included commander of Army Strategic Forces Command.

Military career
Hussain graduated from the Command and Staff College and the National Defence University, in addition to obtaining his education from Army Command and Staff College.

He was commissioned in the Pakistan Army with posting to 3 (SP) Medium Regiment Artillery in 1982. He served as a major while stationed at Siachen Glacier. During his career as lieutenant colonel, he commanded 44 (SP) Medium Regiment he was posted at the Line of Control (LoC), and brigade commander for operational areas with additional charges to command western border.

Prior to his appointment as commander of the Army Strategic Force Command in September 2015, he was appointed to I Corps as its commander succeeded by Umar Farooq Durrani in October 2015. His instructional assignments includes military advisor to Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations and military secretary to the president of Pakistan. Before commanding infantry brigade in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), he served as director general of Pakistan Rangers at Punjab and director general for Military Training at the General Headquarters.

Other works
In 2017, he was elected president of Pakistan Golf Federation for the term of four years which ended in 2020 before serving as defence secretary.