The Traditions of Pak Army

[Aamir Hussain]

Another tradition handed down from the British is that when in ceremonial dress -- with swords, the President of the mess keeps his sword indoors, others leave them at the door. This is a Brit tradition that continued and, if due to drinking, a brawl breaks out amongst the officers, there are no lethal weapons used in the fight, but only the President of the mess, to keep things in order (and he is not allowed to drink) keeps his sword indoors.

 

[544_delta]

Hmm... But we must remember that at the moment ISPR is simply trying to increase support of army amongst the public... Most civs don't understand the importance of regt traditions and shall criticize either way...

Public support for the army is at its peak currently and it doesn't get better than this in my humble opinion.....also the citizens (specially like me who are nuts about all things military) would really love to know the army a bit better....we need writers like Tom Clancy....his guided tours series is an awesome read and covers everything from special forces to marines to navy to armored corps to air campaign during gulf war...we need something like that....detailed accounts and information based on facts and professional journalism rather than cheesy songs that have gotten too old.....

Another tradition handed down from the British is that when in ceremonial dress -- with swords, the President of the mess keeps his sword indoors, others leave them at the door. This is a Brit tradition that continued and, if due to drinking, a brawl breaks out amongst the officers, there are no lethal weapons used in the fight, but only the President of the mess, to keep things in order (and he is not allowed to drink) keeps his sword indoors.

surely we don't face the drinking or the brawling problems..right?

 

[Xeric]

In some units a newly passed-out officer is made to live with soldiers as a soldier for a certain duration, and is only allowed to wear his officer rank once he is able to convince his seniors that he know his men, their living conditions and hardships.

 

[fatman17]

@fatman17 Perhaps some input on 1 Punjab?

my late father was a 1st Punjabi. at the time of independence he was a Capt. in the unit as it was awarded to the nascent Pakistan army. it was the senior-most unit in the new Pakistan army. he continued to serve in the 1st Punjab regt. until 1956 or thereabouts when the officers and jawans were amalgamated into other units as the army went into a expansion mode. my father joined the 5th Punjab regt. (Sherdils) as 2IC to then Lt.Col A.A.K Niazi (later of BD crisis fame or infamy). 5th Punjab was Gen. Ayub Khans regt. and he wanted it to be the senior most regt. in the army (so there was some politics involved there). after 2 years my father was posted to Staff College Quetta as DS for training junior officers in Infantry tactics. he got his own command in 1960 as CO of 7th Punjab Regt. stationed at Sialkot but responsible for the area around the CFL near Kotli. BTW 7th Punjab nowadays is part of the V Corps strike element.
the 1st Punjab was a typical British Indian Army regiment with a rich culture of camaraderie amongst the English, hindu, Sikh and musalmaan officers ( aka as Indians) . at the time of independence the CO was Lt.Col AT Murray MC who decided to opt for the Pakistan army instead of staying back in India of going back to England. the officers mess was regaled with trophies and the regimental china and silver (used for the barra khanas). I must say here that the army of that period was not outwardly religious (even though musalmaans prayed freely as did officers and men of other religions). there was a lot of emphasis on excelling in sports and winning trophies for the regiment. such traditions continued in the Pakistan army upto 1971 when ZABhutto decided to change the organizational structure of the tri-services and then Gen. Zia went on his islamization mode in 1977 onwards. the army we see today is a 360* change from those early days, some for the better, others not so. there are a lot more opportunities now for the officer cadre then in the past (to train and educate). the army is moving more and more and adopting traditions / fashions of the US military. The uniform changes, the changes in the shoulder ranks esp. of the air force and navy and so on. the army ranks are more politicized today than in the past.

 

[Signalian]

i thought the naval academy would be as tough as PMA

I meant MCS/EME etc. Risalpur and Naval are tough too.

P.S: theres a question i would like to ask can i PM you(if its not too much bother)?

sure.

 

[Dom]

Thanks for the detailed posts on the previous pages. Anything else anyone can tell about traditions and culture? Anything else to know? Especially how to treat seniors etc? Can I ask two specific questions - are seniors ever allowed to actually beat juniors? Or do they use abusive language with cadets?

 

[SSGcommandoPAK]

 

[Neptune]

I really enjoyed reading all the posts one by one learning even more about how others do.

In some units a newly passed-out officer is made to live with soldiers as a soldier for a certain duration, and is only allowed to wear his officer rank once he is able to convince his seniors that he know his men, their living conditions and hardships.

Quite interesting in deed, in our case 4 years of basic officer training is filled with internships at different time periods with different ranks of NCOs and a junior officer role at the last of the internships.

At the academy the senior cadet at the table sets the pace to eat. He starts off and then others follow and whenever he finishes other have to finish as well, even if they did not have their fill.

The meal starts with "Gentlmen Bismillah" and ends at "Gentlemen Al Hamdolillah." One can not start eating before or continue after the two prayers.

We start together, we end together.

In our case, every cadet was taking his meal and sitting at his located table. The day's guard officer or sometimes the most senior midshipman rises and says these words to be repeated by the entire academy at the hall
"Thank goodness for God,
Attention!"

Then the school commander (Captain at cadet school, rear admiral at academy) rises and says bon appetite. Then we gotta say thanks and start eating. But in academy the admiral joins this only at important days, the ceremony is carried out by the watch officer.

If I recall correctly one thing I had heard from a Pakistani cadet at lunch was that they were also doing meal prayings at the table or something like that, maybe it was what you wrote.

 

[Xeric]

Quite interesting in deed, in our case 4 years of basic officer training is filled with internships at different time periods with different ranks of NCOs and a junior officer role at the last of the internships.

That's interesting. But what i dont understand is that officers are made to role play as NCOs during training? Please elaborate.

 

[ThE-ShOwStOpPeR]

In some units a newly passed-out officer is made to live with soldiers as a soldier for a certain duration, and is only allowed to wear his officer rank once he is able to convince his seniors that he know his men, their living conditions and hardships.

Not some most of the units specially in armored cores.

 

[Bossman]

I have question for those who are familiar with the training regimes in Pakistan Regimental Training Centers for recruits. Is corporal punishment similar to the one being used in the video below a common practice at the Pakistani recruit training centers?

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

I've noticed a trend of facial hair in all branches of the military.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

I've noticed a trend of facial hair in all branches of the military.

very practical and time saving on the field.. time and money saver and protection against the sun burn .. less part of the face is exposed to the scotching heat and clean shaven face with few cuts doesnt go well in dealing with infections and cuts in the field.


following are some American examples in the hot theatres

 

[Xeric]

I have question for those who are familiar with the training regimes in Pakistan Regimental Training Centers for recruits. Is corporal punishment similar to the one being used in the video below a common practice at the Pakistani recruit training centers?

This isnt punishment, but humiliation.

 

[war&peace]

One way to learn about tradition of army in more fun way is to watch Pakistani dramas about army e.g. Alpha Bravo Charlie...one of my all time favorites and I have on DVDs but I heard it was telecasted on some local TV also. It is available on Youtube though in low quality upload

very practical and time saving on the field.. time and money saver and protection against the sun burn .. less part of the face is exposed to the scotching heat and clean shaven face with few cuts doesnt go well in dealing with infections and cuts in the field.


following are some American examples in the hot theatres

MashaAllah, the sunnah of Holy Prophet (ﷺ) has a lot of benefits in addition to the virtues of following