Mercenaries for hire: Pakistan Army

Its official now! Pakistan Army is biggest contributor to the UN Peace Missions around the globe. But is it all good?
Every few months Pakistan Army sends some of its finest men (and most probably women soon) to the world’s worse conflict hit zones. From Kosovo to Burundi, Pakistan Army has been taking care of things. Maintaining a dumb peace stance.
I often wonder what kind of a peace keeping is it where you are not allowed to intervene even until you are fired upon! Pakistan Army had to see slaughter in the Rawanda and yet it couldn’t do anything until they were fired upon. Luckily for the Hutu and Tutsi they were intelligent enough to not point their guns and press trigger at the same time when they saw the blue helmets…but did the peace restore? No…I have yet to see peace being restored without some kind of a deal being made in the middle.
According to the most recent stats, Pakistan Army is the biggest contributor to the UN peacekeeping missions. Followed by India and Bangladesh. The fourth contestant is Jordan, less than half of the size of troops committed by Pakistan. Lets take another look at the graph. How many countries are there? 22 (Twenty Two). Out of these 22 how many are developed? China, France, Germany, Italy and Spain (5 countries). How many are developing? Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Uruguay (11 countries). Therefore left6 countries are under developed countries!
Now just sum up the contribution of all the developed countries to even that of Jordan! They are just little higher when combined!
What does this proves or what did I try to prove? You can see for yourself.
Why soldiers and policemen are eager to go? They get a good salary package! They can make homes, send children to good schools and earn a respect amongst the colleagues of served abroad. The package they get once abroad:
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$1,028 for pay and allowances
$303 supplementary pay for specialists
$68 for personal clothing, gear and equipment
$5 for personal weaponry
Summing up the above it means one Captain rank officer can get around 1400 USD per month which is roughly equal to 84,000 PKR! Which is considerable giving that a Captain in Pakistan gets around 20,000 PKR (330 USD) pay.
While remember this is not exactly the all, there is an equal amount of money which the sending country and in our case Army gets from the UN.
But lets get to the other side of the fence. People in support of the thing can say that this keeps Army at its best with the interaction with international forces they gain experience and thus this practice of Peacekeeping not only is a Prophetic calling, but also Professional booster and International image polisher. But is it?
Recently there has been widespread news of UN Peacekeepers abusing minors, from Kosovo to Haiti. Even some Baloch nationalist leaders used it against Pakistan Army that they were involved. But doggy UN internal inquiry didn’t spill out a word over who is to be blamed and the blot remained there! There were even wide spread rumors that our soldiers at peacekeeping were also involved in prostitution which were later proved to be wrong.
Anyway looking at things in a wider perspective, maybe its ok. After all if we are soldier for hire by West in Afghanistan and inside our own Tribal Areas, we can go to Africa too if need arises! After all its about how good we will be paid. I suggest Pakistan Army setting up a marketing company under Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) and look for protection of Oil Rigs and other Private company projects too because just sometime back Indonesia has banned its Army from engaging in such activities and has also further banned them from owning any corporate entity. So I am sure we can catch that business easily!

Pak Army at a Glance

Pakistan is a poor country riven with ethnic and religious tensions. Pakistan enjoys close ties with China and shares an antipathy and distrust of India. Half of Pakistan disappeared following its disastrous 1971 war with India.
The Pakistan Army a total strength of 520000, larger than that of the United States, with a reserve element of 500,000 who have a reserve obligation up to the age of 45 years.
Since the founding of Pakistan, the army has been key in holding the state together, promoting a feeling of nationhood among disparate peoples and providing a bastion of selfless service in the midst of a venal government system. All too frequently, the Pakistan Army has felt the need to take over the government, cleanse it of corruption and try to reform its bureaucracy before returning it to civilian control. Army control of the government has all too often led to a corrupt military regime that eventually collapsed. Currently, the army is once again in charge of the government of Pakistan.
The key holder of power in the armed forces and, along with the president and the prime minister, one of the triumvirate that runs the country is the chief of the army staff (COAS)--formerly called the commander in chief. The COAS operates from army headquarters in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. From this position, Ayub Khan, Zia and Musharef all seized power.
Other senior staff positions, at the lieutenant general level, include a chief of general staff, who supervises army intelligence and operations; the master general of ordnance; the quartermaster general; the adjutant general; the inspector general for evaluation and training; and the military secretary. The headquarters function also includes the chief of the Corps of Engineers, the judge advocate general, and the comptroller of civilian personnel, all of whom report to the vice chief of the army staff.
The 20 Infantry & 2 Armored Divisions are grouped under 9 different Corps headquarters commanded by 3-star Lieutenant Generals. These are:
I Corps (Mangla)II Corps (Multan)IV Corps (Lahore)V Corps (Karachi)X Corps (Rawalpindi)XI Corps (Peshawar)XII Corps (Quetta)XXX Corps (Gujranwala)XXXI Corps (Bahawalpur)
There is also the Northern Area Command, headquartered at Gilgit, directly responsible to army general headquarters.
Active army strength in 1994 was 520,000. In addition, there were 300,000 reserve personnel. Reserve status lasted for eight years after leaving active service or until age forty-five for enlisted men and age fifty for officers.
Paramilitary organizations, which were mainly of symbolic importance, included the 185,000-member National Guard, comprising the Janbaz Force--locally recruited militia mainly charged with air defense--and two programs similar to the United States Reserve Officers Training Corps, the National Cadet Corps and the Women Guard. The Women Guard, unlike the National Cadet Corps, included individuals trained in nursing, welfare, and clerical work. There were also some women in the Janbaz Force, and a very small number of women were recruited into the regular service in limited numbers to perform medical and educational work.
Paramilitary internal security forces were organized on the provincial level but were subordinate to the Ministry of Interior and were commanded by seconded army generals. These forces were in effect an extension of the army for internal security duties. The Pakistan Rangers, headquartered in Lahore, dealt with unrest in Punjab, while the Mehran Force performed similar functions in Sindh. In 1994 their strengths were 25,000 and 24,000, respectively, divided into "wings" of approximately 800 men each. The Frontier Corps, with a strength of 65,000, was based in Peshawar and Quetta with responsibility for the North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan. The corps was responsible to both the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions and to army headquarters. The corps was divided into twenty-seven local units--fourteen in the North-West Frontier Province and thirteen in Balochistan--and included the Chitral Scouts, the Khyber Rifles, the Kurram Militia, the Tochi Scouts, the South Waziristan Scouts, the Zhob Militia, and the Gilgit Scouts. There was also a Coast Guard, subordinate to the Ministry of Interior and staffed by army personnel.
In times of natural disaster, such as the great floods of 1992, army engineers, medical and logistics personnel, and the armed forces played a major role in bringing relief and supplies. The army also engaged in extensive economic activities. Most of these enterprises, such as stud and dairy farms, were for the army's own use, but others performed functions beneficial to the local civilian economy. Army factories produced such goods as sugar, fertilizer, and brass castings and sold them to civilian consumers.
Several army organizations performed functions that were important to the civilian sector across the country. For example, the National Logistics Cell was responsible for trucking food and other goods across the country; the Frontier Works Organization built the Karakoram Highway to China; and the Special Communication Organization maintained communications networks in remote parts of Pakistan.

Life of a Pakistani Army Soldier

The life of a Pakistani soldier is very disciplined and demanding, yet compensated by a handsome salary, accommodation, free medical facilities, free messing, routine leave policy and air/rail passage at concessional rates. Above all the respect earned is unimaginable.
The present Army has dynamically turned into one of the best war machines in the world. Today Pakistan Army has developed and acquired the latest technological advancements in weaponry besides attaining the Nuclear Power status. In recognition to its meritorious gallantry, UNO has commissioned Pakistan Army in different UN missions around the globe, and has commended their performance with rich tributes. So if you think you have the burning spirit in you, join Pakistan Army to make it invincible.