The following information was extracted from the annual Staff College yearbook, The Review, in the year indicated below:
1. 1987
The College Seminar was on Land-Air Warfare and consisted of the following panel of officers (appointments were not given): Lieutenant General Muhammad Iqbal, Air Vice Marshal Amjad H.
Khan, Major General Abdus Sami, Major General Aga Masood Hasan, and Brigadier Askari Raza Malik.
No description of major exercises was included in the yearbook.
2. 1989
The College Seminar was on “Management.” There was a preparatory week with several guest speakers followed by a week in which students were split into research groups and given a live problem of management in field formations. Their work was then presented during the formal
“management” week to the entire course. Speakers included: Major General Agha Masood Hasan, Mr. Zia Shafi Khan, Habib Group of Companies; Mr. Arshad Abdullah, on Intro to Modern Techniques of Management; Dr. Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, on Concept of Modern Management; Mr. Muhammad Hanif Aurakzai, on Modern Management Techniques; and Mr. Muhammad N. Hussain, on Effective Time Management.
No description of major exercises was included in the yearbook.
3. 1990
The College seminar was held on 10-12 November on the topic of Pakistan Army in the Year 2000.
Speakers included General (ret) K.M. Arif, former Vice Chief of Army Staff, on Characteristics and Environments of the Future War; Major General Jehangir Karamat, Director General Military Operations, on Indian Military Strategy; Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, Commander 2 Corps, on LandAir Warfare (paper read by his Chief of Staff, Brig Saleem Haider); and Major General Moinuddin Haider, former Director Military Training, on Training System and Development of Leadership for a Future War.
No description of major exercises was included in the yearbook.
4. 1993
The College seminar was on Training in the Pakistan Army and consisted of the following panel of officers: Lieutenant General Syed Tanvir Hussain Naqvi, a former Staff College Commandant, and two serving division commanders, Major General Muhammad Arshad Chaudhry and Major General Muhammad Maqbool.
There were two additional panel presentations, “mini” seminars, on Air Defence Operations. This featured a joint presentation by the heads of the Army Air Defence Command and the Pakistan Air Force Air Defence Command. The second was on India, featuring presentations by Mr. Abdul Sattar, a former Foreign Secretary, and Brigadier (ret) Bashir Ahmed, on the Indian psyche, the Indian armed forces, and India’s goals and ambitions in the region.
Description of major exercises:
• Exercise Night Sentinel. A five day war-game conducted as a one-sided battle involving division and brigade-sized units in a Punjab terrain environment with Control acting as the Foxland enemy. Information was passed to the players by telephone messages, exercise narratives, and (apparently for the first time) emails.
• Exercise Koh Shikan Kayani. A four day war-game conducted as a two-sided battle involving division and brigade-sized units in a mountainous terrain (the first time such a game had been played at the SC). Control adjudicated the moves developed by each team of players.
• Exercise Tri Brachial. A three day joint services exercise that has been conducted annually since at least 1982. Although a tactical exercise, it featured three seminars on air, ground, and naval operations and final “exchange of views” by the service components afterward.
• Exercise Sand Storm. No duration was given for this defensive exercise set in desert terrain with Blue land (Pakistan) defending against a Foxland (India) offensive operation. According to the yearbook description, “the exercise gave a foretaste of a split second nuclear age decision-making when one of the Blueland commanders was given only a few minutes to launch the divisional reserves. The Blueland corps reserves which throughout the exercise hung like the ’Damocles’ Sword’ over Foxland forces finally flashed with a vengeance to end the exercise.”
• Exercise Ravi Blitz. Of unknown duration, this was another traditional SC exercise conducted in the setting of a Blueland offensive operation in the Ravi-Beas Corridor (RBC) east of Lahore on Indian Territory. It featured the planning for bridgehead operations over a major water obstacle, the induction of armor forces in the bridgehead, and a breakout battle afterward.
The Student recalls the allied students were not allowed to participate in this exercise probably because it might have had a nuclear component.
5. 2002
There were two major seminars:
• The Threat to Pakistan’s Security featured a panel of the Commandant, the Chief Instructor, Major General Khalid Jaffrey (GHQ), Brigadier Waqar Durrani (ISI), Air Commodore Aftab Iqbal (PAF), and Captain Javed Arshad (PN). It focused on “the nature and specifics of the external, land, naval, and air threat to Pakistan’s security.”
• Limited War featured a panel from GHQ consisting of Lieutenant General Ahsen Saleem Hayat, Quartermaster General, and Major General Ashraf Saleem, Commander 4 AD Div. It focused on “various aspects of limited war and ways to meditate on a response for emerging challenges.”
The year’s major exercises were described as follows:
• Exercise Night Post. Defensive telephone battle exercise set near Pishin. Involved physical terrain recce. Foxland aggressor.
• Exercise Zarghun Heights. Mountain warfare TEWT set in the vicinity of the Sleeping Beauty area.
• Exercise Chinar Wadi. Mountain Warfare telephone battle set in a Kashmiri environment.
• Exercise Vulcan Stithy. Movement and logistics exercise. One-sided exercise against a controller team inputting various incidents that required movement changes and adjustments.
• Exercise Sand Storm. Two-sided exercise in a desert environment.
• Exercise Ravi Blitz II. Armor offensive operations with Foxland defending against a Blueland armor thrust.
• Exercise Tri-Brachial. The traditional joint exercise with participation from the Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy Staff Colleges.
6. 2008-2009
There were two major seminars:
• Threat to Pakistan’s Security (Land, Air, Naval, and Internal) with panelists Major General Mustapha Khan, Director General (Analysis), Inter-Services Intelligence; Air Vice Marshal Asim Suleiman, Director General Air Intelligence; Brigadier Khalid Mahmud, Director, Office of the Director General Military Intelligence; and Commodore Abdul Hamid Meer, Director of Naval Intelligence.
• Future Challenges for Pakistan Army (Leadership, Environment, and Training) with panelists Lieutenant Generals (ret) Tariq Waseem Ghazi and Muhammad Sabir, and Major General Sardar Mehmood Ali Khan, Director General Military Training.
Major Exercises:
• Exercise Dewar-E-Aahan. Weeklong one-sided defensive scenario in a corps setting against Foxland.
• Exercise Chinar Wadi--Two week two-sided exercise in a mountain warfare scenario.
• Exercise Vulcan Stithy. Follow-on exercise to several tutorial exercises, this involved the planning and calculations for logistic support to a corps.
• Exercise Sand Storm III. Eight day (not counting initial preparation) two-sided war-game in a desert setting with a Foxland opponent.
• Exercise Fading Shadows. Weeklong LIC two-sided exercise with students playing against a
“miscreant” opponent.
• Exercise Tri-Brachial. The annual tri-service seminar/war-game.
7. 2011-2012
College Seminars:
• Threat to Pakistan’s Security: Panel composed of Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Director General ISI; Commandant Staff College; Director General Military Intelligence;
Director General Air Intelligence; Director General Naval Intelligence. Discussion of the land, air, naval, and internal security threats to Pakistan.
• Unconventional Threats to Pakistan’s Security: Panel consisting of Dr. Riffat Hussain, National Defence University; Mr. Muhammad Ashraf Janjua, Institute of Business Management.
Discussion of the ideology of Pakistan, weak economy, poor governance, and the connection to national security
• Air Defence Seminar. Panel of Staff College students from the Army, PAF, and PN Air Defence forces
Major Exercises:
• Exercise Al Maroos. One-sided telephone battle set in plains of the Punjab. Blueland was initially on defense, stabilized the front after a Foxland offensive, and prepared to launch a counterattack.
• Exercise Chinar Wadi II. Set in mountain terrain. Again, Blueland stopped a Foxland offensive operation well short of the objective.
• Exercise Vulcan’s Stithy. Primarily an exercise designed to determine how to logistically support the movement and sustainment of a corps, with students playing the role of the commander Corps Logistics against student control organizations.
• Exercise Sandstorm IV. Two-sided telephone battle with a student control organization set in a desert environment.
• Exercise Fading Shadows. Two-sided war-game with student controllers set in low-intensity conflict environment. Featured students playing regular Army units mixed with paramilitary forces fighting militants in a Federally Administered Tribal Areas setting.
• Exercise Tri-Brachial. The typical tri-service orientation featuring capabilities briefings from all services and set along the coast of Pakistan. Followed by sports tournaments and social activities between the three participating staff colleges.
• Exercise Ravi Blitz II. Set in the Ravi-Beas Corridor (RBC), this was an armor exercise of crossing a water obstacle, building up armor forces in a bridgehead, and launching a counterattack against Foxland forces now on the defensive.
8. 2013-2014
College Seminars:
• Threat to Pakistan’s Security. Panel composed of Major General Naveed Mukhtar, Director General (Counter-terrorism) Inter-Service Intelligence; Major General Sarfraz Sattar, DGMI;
Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar, DGNI; and Air Commodore Asim Anwar, DDGAI.
• Air Defence Seminar. Aim was to develop a better understanding about the air threat posed by our adversary (India) through its numerical preponderance, technological advancements in air power, and the importance of air defence in Pakistan’s operational environment. The panel was headed by Wing Commander Azim Qasim. Other members were Wing Commander Amjad Mehmood, Wing Commander Masood Hussain, Lieutenant Commander Mansoor Ali, Major Khalid Khan Lodhi, and Major Farrukh Altaf.
• Civil-Military Relations: Challenges and Responses. The panel was composed of Mr. Javed Jabbar, Dr. Hasan Askari Rizvi, and Dr. Hussain Shaheed Soherwordi. Dr. Soherwordi established the linkage between C-M relations and the contemporary security environment and Mr. Jabbar highlighted the neglected areas of Pakistan.
Major Exercises:
• Exercise Al Maroos. The exercise was conducted in four stages conforming to the defensive operational cycle to the employment of corps reserves. The DS sponsor was Lt Col Salman Nazar, Punjab. Four student GOCs (general officers commanding a division) were selected, as were four student chief controllers.
• Exercise Chinar Wadi. This was a mountain warfare exercise set in the terrain along the Line of Control (LOC) with India. All aspects of mountain warfare were included, and the exercise ended following the launching of the corps reserves. Like the previous exercise, it had four student GOCs and four student chief controllers. The DS sponsor was Lt Col Ikram Ul Haque, FF.
• Exercise Vulcan’s Stithy. This was a logistics exercise set in a Pro-active Operations environment (shallow attacks along the international border with India designed to keep below Pakistan’s perceived nuclear threshold). The primary focus was on the preparatory phase of operations with staff checks for the movement and assembly of forces, logistical support to a deployed corps, and contingency plans. The exercise “mentor” was Brigadier Asim Iqbal, Commander Corps Logistics, Headquarters 30 Corps. Four students served as exercise CC Logs, and four were chief controllers.
• Exercise Sandstorm IV. Two-sided war game with a student control organization set in a desert environment. Lt Col Adman Sultan, AC was the DS sponsor. The exercise setting was Indian Pro-active Operations and Pakistan’s “New Concept of War Fighting.” The game spanned a period of three weeks. Bravo Division acted as Blueland (friendly forces), Alpha and Delta Divisions acted as Foxland (enemy), and Bravo Division acted as control. According to The Review, The exercise buzzword was “seamless fusion,” which was rarely found other than in the student lounge during tea breaks.
• Exercise Fading Shadows. Two-sided war-game with student controllers set in low-intensity conflict environment. Lt Col Habib Nawaz, Baloch was the DS sponsor. The exercise explored the complete Sub-conventional warfare operational cycle from the employment of the Frontier Corps to kinetic and then stability operations, including the planning of non-kinetic operations designed to win the hearts and minds of the local populace. The control organization included two assistant chief controllers (miscreants).
• Exercise Tri-Brachial. The traditional tri-service orientation featuring capabilities briefings from all services and set along the coast of Pakistan. Followed by sports tournaments and social activities between the three participating staff colleges.
• Exercise Ravi Blitz II. This exercise was the final exercise of the year. Lt Col Yahya Adman, Arty was the DS sponsor. Set in the Ravi-Beas Corridor (RBC), this was a two-sided offensive armor exercise that included planning for crossing a water obstacle, building up armor forces in a bridgehead, and launching a counterattack against Foxland forces now on the defensive.