A Tribute To ACM Mujahid Anwar Khan

[The Eagle]

I do not dispute that argument, my point is that the phliosophy behind putting the best young pilots into F-16s does not mean that they will become the best CAS 30 years later.

My friend,

Back in the day, there was nothing top notch like F-16 as per our need & requirement. There's no philosophy of to select an F-16 jockey to be the leader as such except that there was no other choice. Our generation needs to understand and see things in broader aspect.

F-16 wasn't just a fighting machine for PAF/Pakistan. It brought a lot of opportunities to get at par with western war fighting psych, introduced us to modern world warfare, got us a reach to western weaponry, to be able to learn & study modern administration, to be able to get knowledge about maintenance & supply chain management, provided us experience on level of modern day air forces by way of overseas training, to get the know how of advance military application of modern machine & employment of tactics by way of training & learning from abroad, office administration & management and last but not least, provided an opportunity of decision making capability based upon learning the situation along with polishing the future leadership for the institute.

Whatever weapon is hanged under F-16 has its own different area of details & provided a whole set of information & knowledge. From ground crew to the pilots, the maintenance engineering to the marketing, the operation capability to leadership; it contains the wholesome package for PAF. These are the reasons that I see in short that why such psych had the favour above all. No other platform provided us with bonuses and a whole new school of Air Force ideology & opportunity to become one of the top Air Forces. This is how we need to look at it for a platform back in the day.

Now, the times changed and we are moving towards self reliance. Now, the tactics changed, technology evolved, AI taking the center stage, EW playing its part in war fighting capability, the machine is not alone the force but so many factors are now deciding results for a capable & top notch Air Force. Therefore, slowly & by the time, criteria of new leadership will be changed. The change will come after induction, application & successful deployment of new tactics due to new technology & new warfighting machines mixed in a whole new warfare & strategies. We need to look into top air forces and their transition of selecting the leadership. A leader must have gone through all the domains, hurdles, sweating & even ready to pay with blood so he/she can be successful to lead the force because, the person knows everything from ground to top as what to do, what needs to be done, how it should be done & what's next to get done.

These Viper Riders have gone through every rugged situation & hardship to polish their skills not just to be a pilot but a leader. That is the reason why PAF is among the top Air Forces given its professionalism & discipline as well as the criteria to live in the family. The F-16 may not be here after 30 years or so and there will be a totally different war fighting style as well as the machines but F-16s really provided to what was needed for today & may be a decade to come. The F-16 provided everything as explained above to keep us at par with modern air forces, to get rid of challenges, the employment of skills to deter any threat & provided the best of leadership given the access to Western World psych/education/learning which will remain plausible for a decade to come at-least.

My humble submission is that, we shall not be quick to issue conclusive remarks & statements as such without looking deep into the course of action and factors behind that. It is just easy for people to taunt & merely refer to alleged sanctions in future or fear that F-16s are gone but due to the pilot attachment, it may not let us choose any other machine. PAF leadership is not just a Viper pilot but he has a long yet busy & roughed up past to get to the point with an ambition & aim to take the same force to the next level. There is no philosophy or ideology that a PAF pilot being riding the F-16 will not advance or transit or wouldn't let it happen if became leader. It is just a myth created by people that wants every flying machine to be inducted after an year. Just the fanboys of Air Crafts. However, F-16 is being appreciated & still regarded as top notch which doesn't mean any PAF professional is unable to see beyond the same. It's just disrespectful in my opinion & like downplaying the capability & quality of Pakistan Air Force.

Regards,

 

[Yasser76]

My friend,

Back in the day, there was nothing top notch like F-16 as per our need & requirement. There's no philosophy of to select an F-16 jockey to be the leader as such except that there was no other choice. Our generation needs to understand and see things in broader aspect.

F-16 wasn't just a fighting machine for PAF/Pakistan. It brought a lot of opportunities to get at par with western war fighting psych, introduced us to modern world warfare, got us a reach to western weaponry, to be able to learn & study modern administration, to be able to get knowledge about maintenance & supply chain management, provided us experience on level of modern day air forces by way of overseas training, to get the know how of advance military application of modern machine & employment of tactics by way of training & learning from abroad, office administration & management and last but not least, provided an opportunity of decision making capability based upon learning the situation along with polishing the future leadership for the institute.

Whatever weapon is hanged under F-16 has its own different area of details & provided a whole set of information & knowledge. From ground crew to the pilots, the maintenance engineering to the marketing, the operation capability to leadership; it contains the wholesome package for PAF. These are the reasons that I see in short that why such psych had the favour above all. No other platform provided us with bonuses and a whole new school of Air Force ideology & opportunity to become one of the top Air Forces. This is how we need to look at it for a platform back in the day.

Now, the times changed and we are moving towards self reliance. Now, the tactics changed, technology evolved, AI taking the center stage, EW playing its part in war fighting capability, the machine is not alone the force but so many factors are now deciding results for a capable & top notch Air Force. Therefore, slowly & by the time, criteria of new leadership will be changed. The change will come after induction, application & successful deployment of new tactics due to new technology & new warfighting machines mixed in a whole new warfare & strategies. We need to look into top air forces and their transition of selecting the leadership. A leader must have gone through all the domains, hurdles, sweating & even ready to pay with blood so he/she can be successful to lead the force because, the person knows everything from ground to top as what to do, what needs to be done, how it should be done & what's next to get done.

These Viper Riders have gone through every rugged situation & hardship to polish their skills not just to be a pilot but a leader. That is the reason why PAF is among the top Air Forces given its professionalism & discipline as well as the criteria to live in the family. The F-16 may not be here after 30 years or so and there will be a totally different war fighting style as well as the machines but F-16s really provided to what was needed for today & may be a decade to come. The F-16 provided everything as explained above to keep us at par with modern air forces, to get rid of challenges, the employment of skills to deter any threat & provided the best of leadership given the access to Western World psych/education/learning which will remain plausible for a decade to come at-least.

My humble submission is that, we shall not be quick to issue conclusive remarks & statements as such without looking deep into the course of action and factors behind that. It is just easy for people to taunt & merely refer to alleged sanctions in future or fear that F-16s are gone but due to the pilot attachment, it may not let us choose any other machine. PAF leadership is not just a Viper pilot but he has a long yet busy & roughed up past to get to the point with an ambition & aim to take the same force to the next level. There is no philosophy or ideology that a PAF pilot being riding the F-16 will not advance or transit or wouldn't let it happen if became leader. It is just a myth created by people that wants every flying machine to be inducted after an year. Just the fanboys of Air Crafts. However, F-16 is being appreciated & still regarded as top notch which doesn't mean any PAF professional is unable to see beyond the same. It's just disrespectful in my opinion & like downplaying the capability & quality of Pakistan Air Force.

Regards,

I do not dispute any of the above at all, but all I am saying is that at a very senior level of leadership there are skills required that involve many other factors.

Granted a large exposure to US style management philiosophy and training will add to these if one has worked on and flown F-16s for a long time, however what about the skill sets of pilots on other machines?

I am not saying none of the qualified people for the post of ACM do not deserve it, by God's grace we have had awesome senior leadership, but my point is at a very young age we select officers based on pilot skill to fly the F-16, and this gives them a head start above other very competent officers who may not have as good pilot skills but can go on to become great leaders.

Put another way, take for example Microsoft. I know this analogy may not be 100% correct, but MS rarely makes it's best software engineers CEOs. A software engineer can of course go on to become CEO, but should not get an artificial helping hand just because he was in the engineering department.

Also a software engineer may be more inclined to see every problem as being solved by software as opposed to by say, sales or marketing etc

You get my point? By no means will Paracha or Ali be unfamiliar with all systems in PAF, but they may well have a bias with western training, tactics and equipment. I am not saying this is wrong, but we often complain on this forum about PAF "obsession" with F-16, and I feel this may continue

 

[TsAr]

I do not dispute that argument, my point is that the phliosophy behind putting the best young pilots into F-16s does not mean that they will become the best CAS 30 years later.

your point is valid, a good pilot does not warrant a good leader, CAS needs to be a good leader in command

 

[Mir Shahzain]

So who is going to replace him. Any idea ?

I wish Air Marshal Haseeb Paracha replace him.... Insha Allah

 

[Yasser76]

I wish Air Marshal Haseeb Paracha replace him.... Insha Allah

This is my point, Paracha did a great PR job as he was in command during Swift Retort, but can you explain why he is any better then the other candidates?

 

[khanasifm]

This is my point, Paracha did a great PR job as he was in command during Swift Retort, but can you explain why he is any better then the other candidates?

Acm is political appointment so anyone of the candidates who all qualify can be appointment

In the past many surprises but with ik expect merit

 

[Mir Shahzain]

This is my point, Paracha did a great PR job as he was in command during Swift Retort, but can you explain why he is any better then the other candidates?

Air Marshal Haseeb Paracha was the one who lead Ops Swift Restort, the first air battle which took place after 1971 war. If you watch the videos and pictures before 27 February, he was aide with COAS in all high level meeting with military leadership and also with Prime Minister. True leadership proves in difficult times and he proved himself as a leader

. So IMO he deserves this post.

Air Marshal Haseeb Paracha was the one who lead Ops Swift Restort, the first air battle which took place after 1971 war. If you watch the videos and pictures before 27 February, he was aide with COAS in all high level meeting with military leadership and also with Prime Minister. True leadership proves in difficult times and he proved himself as a leader

. So IMO he deserves this post.

 

[S A L M A N.]

To add to the discussion, we have to understand that the PAF's system of performance evaluation and eventually, promotion is designed in such a way that only the all-rounders make it to the top.

You need to be a great leader with all the 'soft' skills, the intellect and the ability to inspire confidence that that entails.

You need to be a solid strategist who can see the bigger picture, who can see opportunities in challenges.

You need to be a brilliant tactician who can put himself in the shoes of the man behind the gun.

You need to be an academic with a solid understanding of the theory, the science and the art of war.

As Napolean said,
"There is nothing connected with the art of war that I cannot do with my own hand: power, siege engines, artillery"

Those who are the best in all of the above eventually make it to the top brass. And from that top brass, the best becomes Chief.

The PAF will be in good hands regardless of who among the 4-5 candidates is selected.

 

[wasileo80]

What do you mean 2 months?? Haseeb paracha retirement date is 1.5 years after the other 3.



Is he retired or still serving? When did he retire?

All top 4 candidates for CAS have due retirement in 2022. but only SIr Haseeb Paracha's retirement date will be in September 2022 but other 3 have retirement date on July 2022.

1973 service rules. I had to throw some options and not to fix debate on one name.


F-16 riders will remain on tiop since their seniority from the days of Vipers in PAF as compare to Thunder or any other front line AC. The argument is unfair to say like that please. The machine at the top in class, provided the best pilots so that's the case.

But i think ACM Rao Qamar Salman didnt have F-16s experience. He was a Mirage Pilot.

 

[wasileo80]

Makes sense for purposes of continuation, if both CAS and VCAS retire at same time then their replacements will have a lot to start relearning

No Not the case as every department of Air Force is headed by Deputy Chief of Air Staff like Operations, Support, Personnel, Training, Air Defence and etc. Vice Chief of Air Staff is jus the supplement of Chief in case of he is out of country on visit or leave. But VCAS has been retired in September or may be in October last year.

 

[wasileo80]

This is my point, Paracha did a great PR job as he was in command during Swift Retort, but can you explain why he is any better then the other candidates?

He was in command because he was Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations). So other Air Marshalls also appointed on this post as well. Even AM Jawad Saeed and Air Marshal Amir Masood appointed on this post perhaps. So Every Air Marshall can spend two years on the post so if an ACM promoted to Air Marshal and he have 6 years of his service left then he may appoint at 3 different position of Deputy Chief of Air Staff domains or may be as VCAS.

 

[Raider 21]

All top 4 candidates for CAS have due retirement in 2022. but only SIr Haseeb Paracha's retirement date will be in September 2022 but other 3 have retirement date on July 2022.

But i think ACM Rao Qamar Salman didnt have F-16s experience. He was a Mirage Pilot.

He did a check out in the F-16 during his time as air chief in the Block 52+ D model but not operational. First air chiefs who were operational in F-16s were Mushaf Ali Mir and Tanvir Mehmood Ahmed. The latter flew the B-model from the front-seat at the 2008 March 23rd parade.

 

[Dreamer.]

All top 4 candidates for CAS have due retirement in 2022. but only SIr Haseeb Paracha's retirement date will be in September 2022 but other 3 have retirement date on July 2022.

But i think ACM Rao Qamar Salman didnt have F-16s experience. He was a Mirage Pilot.

Oh, it seems you are correct. I somehow misread the date for the others as july2021 instead of july2022.

 

[Tps43]

I'm hopeful for Jawad Saeed as well. Team oriented, and an excellent fighter pilot from what I've heard.

He is good but due to different stuff his chances are quite dim It’s either zaheer babar , haseeb paracha or nouman

 

[Raider 21]

He is good but due to different stuff his chances are quite dim It’s either zaheer babar , haseeb paracha or nouman

One way or another, the current crop are all excellent candidates for the position.