KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel Forces Lt Jen Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar (pic) has been appointed the 23rd Chief of Defence Force.
Mohd Nizam, 59, took over the position from Jen Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman, who completed his service, at a handover ceremony yesterday witnessed by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin at Wisma Pertahanan.
Chief of Army Jen Datuk Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan, Chief of Navy Admiral Datuk Zulhelmy Ithnain and Chief of Air Force Jen Tan Sri Mohd Asghar Khan Goriman Khan also attended the ceremony, Bernama reported.Mohd Nizam, who was also promoted to the rank of General at the ceremony, is an Army officer who received his promotion to Lieutenant General on Feb 23 last year and had served in many important positions.
This includes, as commandant of the National Defence College, the Malaysian Army Training and Doctrine Command training management director and commander of the 2nd Malaysian Army Infantry Brigade.
The Johor Baru native began as a platoon leader in the 19th Royal Malay Regiment (Mechanised) and was entrusted with various responsibilities.
It includes serving as Aide-de-Camp to the Deputy Chief of Army from 1989 to 1990, to the Chief of Defence Force (1990 to 1992), and to the 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (2011-2016).
Mohd Nizam is a graduate of the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, England, and has attended various courses, local and foreign.
He also completed his studies at the National Defence College, the National Centre for Defence Studies in Putrajaya.
He was awarded the National Resilience College (NRC) Award by the NRC Directing Staff Council.
He also has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Nottingham and is a Fellow Scholar at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia.
He made history as the first senior Army officer to be selected to attend the Global Peace Operations Initiative Peace Support Operations Contingent Commander Course in Monterey in the United States before being appointed as the Commander of the Malaysian Battalion 2 peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
