Muzaffar Usmani
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Lieutenant General (retd) Muzaffar Hussain Usmani is a retired Pakistani general who was the Corps Commander Karachi at the time of 1999 coup, which brought General Pervez Musharraf to power. He along with other senior generals including Lieutenant General Muhammad Aziz Khan and Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmad refused to accept Nawaz Sharif's appointment, Lieutenant General Ziauddin Butt, the then director general Inter-Services Intelligence to replace General Pervez Musharraf as the army chief.
Usmani was commissioned in the Frontier Force Regiment of the Pakistan Army, and was the senior most general after Musharraf when he was made DCOAS. Lt. Gen. Usmani was commissioned in 1966 in an Armoured Infantry Battalion. After years of Regimental duties, he was posted to School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta, as Instructor. In 1974, he was posted to Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, as Platoon and Company Commander. After promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he commanded two Armoured Infantry Battalions, including a battalion in Saudi Arabia. As Brigadier, he commanded an Infantry as well as a Mechanized Brigade. On promotion to the rank of Major General, he commanded an Infantry Division.
As Lieutenant General, he commanded two corps, one in Bahawalpur and the other in Karachi, from where he has been designated as the DCOAS. In addition to his command experience, he has also served on various staff appointments. He has served as Director General Military Training, Inspector General Training and Evaluation and Vice Chief of General Staff at GHQ, in addition to his appointments as Directing Staff at Command and Staff College and National Defence College.
Lt. Gen. Usmani, in addition to graduation from Command and Staff College, Quetta, has also attended Royal College of Defence Studies, UK, and Senior Officers Defence Management Course, USA.
After the successful coup, General Usmani was made the deputy chief of the army staff in May 2001, a post he held till October 2001. On the onslaught of US Invasion of Afghanistan, General Usmani was replaced by General Mohammad Yousaf, who was made the new vice chief (a new post, which replaced the deputy chief) and given the rank of 4-star general. Lieutenant General Muzaffar Usmani retired from Pakistan Army in 2001.
[edit] References
- Strategic Affairs Analysis
- Dawn: Usmani takes over as Deputy Chief of Army Staff
- Lt. Gen Usmani Deputy COAS (The Nation)
