Nadeem Raza

Personal life and education

Nadeem Raza was born on 23 June 1965 in Wah Cantonment. He completed his matriculation in 1981 from Sir Syed High School Wah Cantt and later joined Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul through 72nd PMA Long Course.

General Raza is a graduate of Command and Staff College, Quetta, and National Defence University, Islamabad. In 1994, he attended the Infantry Company Command Course in Germany.

His father served at Pakistan Ordnance Factory and Wah Cantt. He is the youngest among his siblings. His two brothers also served in the armed forces, one retired as a lieutenant colonel while the other retired as a squadron leader. He is married and has four children.

Military Career

On September 1985, Nadeem Raza was commissioned in the Infantry Division of the 10 Sindh Regiment. During his military career, he has varied experience of command, staff and instructional appointments.

He has served as the brigade major of an infantry brigade, general staff officer (Grade 1) at the Military Operations Directorate, and chief of staff of a Strike Corps.

He was promoted directly to Brigadier from Lieutenant Colonel in 2009. In August 2013, he was promoted to the rank of Major General.

He also served as Chief of Staff of I Corps (Pakistan) and brigade commander of 2 AK Brigade situated at Rawalakot. He has commanded an infantry battalion and infantry brigade along the Line of Control and an infantry division in South Waziristan.

On the instructional side, Nadeem Raza has served on the faculty of the School of Infantry and Tactics, Command and Staff College, Quetta, and National Defence University.

Nadeem Raza served as Commandant of the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul from October 2014 to December 2016.  In December 2016, he was promoted to the rank of three-star Lieutenant General while he was serving as the Commandant of PMA.

Corps Commander Rawalpindi

Lt Gen Nadeem Raza commanded X Corps based in Rawalpindi from December 2016 to September 2018. He replaced Lt Gen Malik Zafar Iqbal and was succeeded by Lt Gen Bilal Akbar. In October 2017, Raza was appointed as 1st Colonel Commandant of the Mujahid Force.

In August 2018, Nadeem Raza was appointed as the Chief of General Staff at the General Headquarters, considering the most influential post after the army chief.

He assumed the position on 10 September 2018 replacing Lt Gen Bilal Akbar and served until November 2019 when he was succeeded by Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza.

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

In November 2019, Nadeem Raza was promoted to four-star rank and appointed as the 17^th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) of the Pakistan Armed Forces. He assumed the coveted position on 27 November 2019, replacing Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat.

The CJCSC, in principle, is the highest-ranking military officer across the armed forces. He serves as the government’s top adviser on matters related to national defence and security. He also works for cross-service cooperation in all military processes.

According to the seniority list, General Nadeem Raza is scheduled to retire on 29 November 2022. Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa will also retire on the same day.

Awards

Gen Nadeem Raza is a highly decorated officer of the Pakistan Army. He has been awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) and Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) for his meritorious military services.

He was awarded the Nuth al-Markat (Combat Medal) by Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War 1991. He has been deployed twice and received a medal in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Congo (MONUC).

In April 2021, the Turkish Armed Forces awarded Gen Nadeem Raza the Legion of Merit award in “recognition of his outstanding services for promotion of Pakistan-Turkey defense ties.”

In June 2021, Gen Nadeem Raza was awarded Jordan’s highest military award the “Order of Military Merit of the First Grade” on behalf of His Majesty King Abdullah II in recognition of his efforts to further bilateral relations.