The I Corps is a field corps of the Pakistan Army currently headquaretered in the Mangla Cantonment, Dina Tehsil in Pakistan. Formed in 1957 as one of the tenth deployment and maneuver strike corps, it is a major ground formation and has seen deployments in the wars between India and Pakistan from 1965 to 1971.
Currently, it is commanded by Lieutenant-General Nauman Zakaria.
Brief history Formations, deployments, and war service After fighting battles briefly with the Indian Army in Kashmir during the Indo-Pakistani War, there was need for discipline and control of the military units from local headquarters than the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi.
Initially, it was established in Abbottabad Cantonment in 1957 with Lt-Gen. Azam Khan becoming its first field commander with an objective to maneuver the ground formations more effectively against the larger opposing force. Later headquartered in Mangla Cantonment in Azad Kashmir to strengthen the national defense lines, it is the first field corps in order of precedence of the Pakistan Army.
In 1965, the I Corps, under Lt-Gen. Bakhtiar Rana, was deployed and fought against the approaching Indian Army's advances during the war in 1965, almost commanding the entire Pakistan army's troops in Punjab and Kashmir.
In 1971, the I Corps, now under the command of Lt-Gen. Irshad Ahmed, saw its military deployments in Shakargarh sector and was supported with two infantry divisions and an armoured brigade to support the defenses of Pakistan's eastern border, the Punjab.Gill, An Atlas of the 1971 India-Pakistan War, NESA (NDU). The 15th Infantry Division was on the left side of the Corps' frontage around Sialkot with the 8th Infantry Division on the right, and 8th Armored Brigade in support. Further back, the Corps was additionally supported by the Pakistan Army Reserves, enforced by the 6th Armored Division and 17th Infantry Division. The Indian Army planned a major attack in the sector, which was managed by I Corps, but when the war broke out, the lead Indian Army's formation, 54th Infantry Division, only managed to advance a few kilometers—a total of in two weeks of operations.
Meanwhile, while the Indian army's attacks went on, the reserve formations did very little to respond to such attacks with the 6th Armored Division remaining near Pasrur waiting for orders, while 17th Infantry Division had significant detachments sent off to 23rd Infantry Division on the left and IV Corps on the right.
Yet the fighting in Shakargarh, while ultimately successful as the Indian army's aims were thwarted, resulted in 8th Armoured Brigade's heavy loss of armour and some territory was also lost.Brian Cloughly, A History of Pakistan Army As a result, its commander, Lt-Gen. Irshad Ahmed, was recommended for court martial and, later dismissal from his service.
After the 1971 war with India, the I Corps has not seen military actions, and has been stationed in Mangla ever since and is well trained for forest warfare techniques. As Pakistan's military strategic reserve, it was also not sent on overseas deployments under the United Nations with the allies.
Structure Since 1971, the I Corps has not seen the military action but has supported through its units to enforce the Line of Control, on secondment to Northern Command. The I Corps is an integral in forming the Pakistan Army Reserves, and the other military units in supporting the I Corps are organized in formation known as the Army Reserves North.
Its order of battle (ORBAT) is:
Corps I Commander, ManglaLt.Gen Nauman Zakaria StructureAssigned UnitsUnit BadgeUnit HQ6th Armoured Division Gujranwala17th Infantry DivisionKharian37th Mechanized Infantry DivisionKharian Independent Infantry Brigade U/I LocationIndependent Armoured Brigade U/I LocationIndependent Artillery Brigade U/I LocationIndependent Air Defence Brigade U/I LocationIndependent Signal Brigade U/I LocationIndependent Engineering Brigade U/I Location
List of commanders #NameStart of tenureEnd of tenure1Lt Gen Azam KhanJuly 195719582Lt Gen Bakhtiar Rana195819663Lt Gen Abdul Hamid Khan1966March 19694Lt Gen Tikka KhanMarch 1969August 19695Lt Gen Attiqur RahmanAugust 1969February 19706Lt Gen Irshad Ahmed KhanFebruary 197019727Lt Gen Abdul Ali Malik197219748Lt Gen Azmat Baksh Awan1974March 19769Lt Gen Ghulam Hassan KhanMarch 1976March 198010Lt Gen Hafiz Ayan AhmedMarch 1980April 198111Lt Gen Shah Rafi AlamApril 1981April 198212Lt Gen Shamsur Rahman KalluApril 1982April 198613Lt Gen Mohammad Aslam ShahApril 1986May 198814Lt Gen Zulfikar Akhtar NazMay 1988May 199215Lt Gen Khalid Latif MughalMay 1992October 199516Lt Gen Pervez MusharrafOctober 1995October 199817Lt Gen Saleem HaiderOctober 1998September 199918Lt Gen Tauqir ZiaSeptember 1999April 200119Lt Gen Ghulam MustafaApril 2001April 200220Lt Gen Javed Alam KhanApril 2002April 200621Lt Gen Sajjad AkramApril 2006April 200822Lt Gen Nadeem AhmadApril 2008April 201023Lt Gen Mohammad Mustafa KhanApril 2010October 201024Lt Gen Tariq KhanOctober 2010October 201425Lt Gen Hilal HussainOctober 2014September 201526Lt Gen Umar Farooq DurraniSeptember 2015April 201727Lt Gen Azhar Saleh AbbasiApril 2017October 201828Lt Gen Nadeem Zaki ManjOctober 2018November 201929Lt Gen Shaheen Mazhar MehmoodNovember 2019September 202230Lt.Gen Ayman Bilal SafdarSeptember 2022May 202431Lt Gen Nauman ZakariaMay 2024Incumbent
References
Further reading
External links GlobalSecurity.org, Global Security Website about the I Corps This shows the Formations Insignia