Ahsan Saleem Hyat

Ahsan Saleem Hayat
General Saleem Hayat in a Pakistan Army Parade
Born	10 January 1948 Sargodha, Punjab Province, Pakistan
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Army
Years of service	1968–2007
Rank	General
Service number	PA – 9572
Unit	Army Armoured Corps
Commands held	Vice Chief of Army Staff V Corps, Karachi DG Operations Planning at the GHQ Secretariat Chief Instructor at the National Defence University Quarter-master General
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff War in North-West Pakistan
Awards	Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military)

General Ahsan Saleem Hayat (Urdu: احسن سلیم حیات; born 10 January 1948), is a retired four-star general who served as the vice chief of army staff of the Pakistan Army from 2004 until his retirement in 2007. Prior to that, he served as the operational field commander of the V Corps in Sindh Province and was a full-tenured professor of war studies at the National Defence University. He was succeeded by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on 8 October 2007.

Army career

He was a military brat and came from a military family. Through his parents recommendations, he attended the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)-operated PAF High School in Sargodha, Punjab Province.^[1] Upon graduation, he went on to attend the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in the 11th War Course. He was given commission as the second lieutenant in the Pakistan Army Armoured Corps in 1968 and actively participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 on the western fronts.

As a brigadier general, he commanded the elite 3rd Independent Armored Brigade based in Lahore from 1991–1993. In 1993, he was posted as Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor of Command and Staff College, Quetta. He also served as DG Planning at the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Secretariat. He also served as the Chief Instructor of the Armed Forces War College at the then National Defence University in Islamabad before being promoted to lieutenant general in December 2000.^[2]

Assassination attempt

Before being appointed vice chief, he was the commander of the V Corps at Karachi. This formation's area of operation covers almost the entire territory of the province of Sind. During this period, he survived an assassination attempt when his convoy was attacked by militants from the terrorist outfit Jundallah (Army of God). At least 11 men in his escort were killed, but he survived.^[3]

Vice chief of army staff

He was commander of V Corps at the time of his promotion to four-star general, and he replaced General Yusaf Khan as the vice chief of army staff whose term expired in October 2004. Hyat was fourth in seniority when he ascended to the post. Lieutenant generals Hamid Javaid, Javed Hassan, and Munir Hafiez were senior to him; hence standing superseded once Hyat was promoted. His term expired in October 2007. He was replaced by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who became the country's new army chief once General Pervez Musharraf retired from the army.

General Ahsan later became the colonel-in-chief of the Armoured Corps at the Armoured Corps Regimental Center, Nowshera on 5 May 2005, succeeding General Yusaf Khan.^[4]

Notes

1. 'PAF Public School Sargodha Alumni'
2. "Chief Instructors Gallery" National Defence University, Islamabad accessed 6 October 2009
3. 'Appointment of new CJCSC and VCOAS'
4. "Armed Forces fully capable to perform Task: Musharraf" The Pakistan Times, 3 May 2005