Pakistan grants Army chief command over all three armed forces

Pakistan’s Parliament has, for the first time in the country’s history, legally placed the army, navy and air force under the command of a single officer.

The Defence Forces of Pakistan Act, 2026, cleared by the National Assembly in late August, created the post of Chief of Defence Forces (CDF). Field Marshal Asim Munir has become Pakistan’s first CDF, while continuing to serve as the country’s army chief.

No previous law has given one officer such formal authority over all three armed services, making the legislation the most significant restructuring of Pakistan’s military command since 1976.

Until now, the closest equivalent was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, established in 1976 to coordinate between the three services. However, the post did not have legal authority to command the navy or air force. The last time it was held by a non-army officer was in 1997.

The new CDF position differs fundamentally from the previous arrangement. It gives the office statutory operational command over all three services and places it directly under the federal government, with the authority to enforce decisions that the former coordinating post could not.

A retired three-star general based in Rawalpindi told Al Jazeera that the new law establishes, for the first time on paper, a clear chain of command running from the prime minister to military units on the ground. Retired general Naeem Khalid Lodhi described the CDF as a “real commander”, unlike the previous coordinating role.

The CDF replaces the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, which had primarily served as a coordinating mechanism without direct command over the navy or air force. Munir is the first officer to hold the new post while also retaining his position as army chief.

Analysts are divided over the implications of the restructuring for Pakistan’s military balance. The law requires the head of the nuclear forces command to be an army officer. Analyst Majid Nizami said this formally rules out the possibility of the navy or air force holding a position that they could technically have occupied previously.

A retired three-star general based in Rawalpindi described the new system as “unmistakably army-centric”, while a former strategic planning official warned that career decisions within the navy and air force would now pass through an army-led command structure.

Retired general Naeem Khalid Lodhi, however, welcomed the change, saying the CDF has the authority to enforce decisions and is therefore a “real commander”, unlike the post it replaced.

Lawyer and former officer Colonel Inam Raheim said the CDF can now dismiss officers through a letter alone, without the cabinet summary that was previously required. Karachi-based lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii argued that the legislation makes one service chief subordinate to another despite the three chiefs being formally equal. He also said Pakistan lacks a sufficiently independent court to test that question.

Not all experts believe the restructuring goes too far. Supreme Court advocate Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmad Khokhar compared the arrangement with similar legislation in the UK, Canada and Australia. However, in those countries, the equivalent position rotates among the armed services rather than being permanently held by the army chief.

Pakistan has said the restructuring is aimed at achieving three key objectives: improving coordination across land, air, sea, cyber and drone operations; ending the previous system in which the three services largely operated independently; and speeding up decision-making during crises by giving a single officer the authority to direct all three services.