Principal Staff Officer (Bangladesh)

Head of Armed Forces Division

Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division

সশস্ত্র বাহিনী বিভাগের প্রিন্সিপাল স্টাফ অফিসার

Crest of Bangladesh Armed Forces

Flag of Bangladesh Armed Forces

Incumbent
Lieutenant General SM Kamrul Hassan

since 21 August 2024

Bangladesh Armed Forces
Status| Executive head of the Armed Forces Division.
Abbreviation| PSO
Member of| National Committee on Security Affairs
Armed Forces Division
Reports to|  President
Chief Adviser
Minister of Defence
Residence| Sena Bhaban, Dhaka Cantonment
Seat| Prime Minister's Office
Appointer| The Chief Adviser
with President advice and consent
Term length| 3 years, or at the age of 60, whichever is earlier.
Formation| 1972; 52 years ago (1972)
First holder| Brigadier General Abul Hasanat Md Abdullah
Salary| ৳116080 (US$970)
per month
৳1392960 (US$12,000)
annually (incl. allowances)
Website| Official website

The principal staff officer, abbreviated as PSO, is the head of the Armed Forces Division, a ministry level joint forces headquarters under Chief Adviser's office. It acts as the high command of the national armed forces. It is currently held by a three-star rank lieutenant general.

## Role and functions

[edit]

The principal staff officer is the head of Armed Forces Division, which is part of the Chief Adviser's office. He is assisted by a PS (acting PSO) and five departmental heads each one star rank military officer from Bangladesh Armed Forces.[1]

Under the direct supervision and guidance of the Chief Adviser he has the authority, direction, and control over all operational and administrative services. He also, as per government notification, performs the duties of a full-fledged secretary with full administrative and financial authority as that of a secretary in any other division or ministry.

## Appointees

[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2016)

|

The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of principal staff officer.

Portrait  | Principal Staff Officer | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

| Abdullah, Abul Hasanat MdBrigadier General
Abul Hasanat Md Abdullah| 1972| 1975| 3–4 years| [2]

| Islam, NurulMajor General
Nurul Islam Shishu| 19 January 1976| 11 December 1980| 4 years, 327 days| [3]

| Ali, Mir ShawkatLieutenant General
Mir Shawkat Ali
(1938–2010)| 12 December 1980| 30 June 1985| 4 years, 200 days| [4]

| Chowdhury, ImamuzzamanMajor General
Imamuzzaman Chowdhury| 18 December 1990| 11 September 1996| 5 years, 268 days

| Salam, AbdusMajor General
Abdus Salam
(born 1942)| 15 September 1996| 10 January 1999| 2 years, 117 days| [5]

| Bhuiyan, ShubidMajor General
Shubid Ali Bhuiyan
(born 1945)| 12 January 1999| 12 April 2004| 5 years, 91 days| [6]

| Nur, A.I.M.Major General
A. I. M. Mostofa Reza Nur Psc| 12 April 2004| 6 June 2006| 2 years, 55 days

| Chowdhury, JahangirMajor General
Jahangir Alam Chowdhury Ndc, psc
(born 1953)| 8 June 2006| 5 June 2007| 362 days| [7]

| Chowdhury, MasudLieutenant General
Masud Uddin Chowdhury Ndu, psc
(born 1954)| 5 June 2007| 2 June 2008| 363 days| [8]

| Mubeen, MdLieutenant General
Md Abdul Mubeen Ndc, psc
(born 1955)| 4 June 2008| 12 June 2009| 1 year, 8 days| [9]

| Wadud, AbdulLieutenant General
Abdul Wadud Ndc, psc| 13 June 2009| 1 January 2013| 3 years, 203 days

| Huq, ShafiulLieutenant General
Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Haque Ndc, psc
(born 1958)| 1 January 2013| 24 June 2015| 2 years, 174 days

| Islam, MoinulLieutenant General
Mainul Islam Afwc, psc
(born 1959)| 1 July 2015| 31 January 2016| 214 days| [10]

| Rahman, MdLieutenant General
Md Mahfuzur Rahman Rcds, ndc, afwc, psc, PhD
(born 1961)| 1 February 2016| 24 November 2020| 4 years, 298 days| [11]

| Rahman, MdLieutenant General
Waker-uz-Zaman
(born 1966)| 24 November 2020| 29 December 2023| 3 years, 35 days| [12]

| Lieutenant General
Mizanur Rahman Shamim
(born 1968)| 29 December 2023| 6 August 2024| 221 days

| Lieutenant General
SM Kamrul Hassan| 21 August 2024| present| 94 days

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Division, Armed Forces. "Officer's in AFD". www.afd.gov.bd. Archived from the original on 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
2. ^ "History of AFD". Armed Forces Division. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
3. ^ Ahmed, Moudud (1995). Democracy and the Challenge of Development: A Study of Politics and Military Interventions in Bangladesh. Vikas Publishing House. p. 142\. ISBN 0706997263.
4. ^ Hossain, Urmee (2012). "Ali, Lt General Mir Shawkat". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
5. ^ Khanam, Rashida (2008). The Nature of Legitimacy and the Crisis of Bangladesh Politics 1972-1990. A H Development Publishing House. p. 244.
6. ^ "Bio". Shubid Ali Bhuiyan. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
7. ^ Ved, Mahendra (June 2007). "Bangladesh upgrades Top Brass". India Strategic. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
8. ^ "Gen Masud made NDC chief in army changes". bdnews24.com. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
9. ^ "Lt Gen Mubin new army chief". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
10. ^ "Lt Gen Moinul Islam takes over as new Armed Forces Division PSO". bdnews24.com. 1 July 2015.
11. ^ "Lt Gen Mahfuzur Rahman appointed as new Armed Forces Division PSO". bdnews24.com. 1 February 2016.
12. ^ "Lieutenant General Wakar made PSO". New Age. 30 November 2020.

* v
* t
* e

Bangladesh Armed Forces

Bangladesh Army Bangladesh Navy Bangladesh Air Force

Organization|

* Armed Forces Division
* Bangladesh Forces
* Ministry of Defence
* Directorate General of Forces Intelligence
* Inter-Service Public Relations
* Army formations
* Military installations
* East Bengal Regiment
* Senior Tigers
* Bangladesh Infantry Regiment
* UN Peacekeeping Force
* Armed Forces Day

Leadership|

* Commander-in-chief: President of Bangladesh
* Chief of Air Staff
* Chief of Army Staff
* Chief of Naval Staff
* Principal Staff Officer
* serving Generals
* serving Marshals
* serving Admirals

History and wars|

* Military history
* Bengal Army
* Bengal Regiment
* Bangladesh Liberation War
* Gulf War
* Chattogram Hill Tracts conflict
* 2001 Bangladesh–India border clashes
* 2015 Bangladesh–Arakan Army border clash

War leaders|

* M.A.G. Osmani
* Ziaur Rahman
* Khaled Mosharraf
* Khademul Bashar
* Muhammed Abul Manzur
* Shafaat Jamil
* Kazi Nuruzzaman
* Abu Osman Chowdhury
* Muhammad Hamidullah Khan
* Abu Taher
* Mohammad Abdul Jalil

Decorations|

* Bir Shreshtho
* Bir Uttom
* Bir Bikrom
* Bir Protik

Personnel and
equipment|

| Ranks|

* Military ranks of Bangladesh

|

Training|

* ARTDOC
* National Defence College
* Defence Services Command and Staff College
* School of Infantry and Tactics
* BUP
* BAIUST
* BAUET
* BAUST
* BIPSOT
* Military Academy
* Air Force Academy
* Naval Academy
* AFMC
* AFMI
* MIST
* National Cadet Corps
* Cadet Colleges

Equipment|

* Army equipment
* Active Military aircraft
* Historic Military aircraft
* Navy ships
* active
* historic

Special ops|

* President Guard Regiment
* SSF
* Para-Commandos
* SWADS
* Counter Terrorism and Intelligence Bureau

* v
* t
* e

Chiefs of defence by country

Chief of Defence

Africa|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Benin
* Botswana
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Comoros
* DR Congo
* Republic of the Congo
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Eswatini
* Ethiopia
* Gabon
* Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* Kenya
* Lesotho
* Liberia
* Libya
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Mali
* Mauritania
* Morocco
* Mozambique
* Namibia
* Niger
* Nigeria
* Rwanda
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Senegal
* Seychelles
* Sierra Leone
* Somalia
* South Africa
* South Sudan
* Sudan
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

states with
limited recognition|

* Somaliland

former|

* Biafra
* Bophuthatswana
* Ciskei
* British Egypt
* Ethiopian Empire
* Rhodesia
* Transkei
* Venda
* Zaire

Americas|

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Argentina
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Cuba
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* El Salvador
* Guatemala
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Secretariat of National Defense
* Secretariat of the Navy
* Nicaragua
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Suriname
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Asia|

* Afghanistan
* Bahrain
* Bangladesh
* Bhutan
* Brunei
* Cambodia
* PR of China
* East Timor
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* AJA
* IRGC
* Iraq
* Israel
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kazakhstan
* North Korea
* South Korea
* Kuwait
* Kyrgyzstan
* Laos
* Lebanon
* Malaysia
* Maldives
* Mongolia
* Myanmar
* Nepal
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Philippines
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* Sri Lanka
* Syria
* Tajikistan
* Thailand
* Turkmenistan
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan
* Vietnam
* Yemen

states with
limited recognition|

* Republic of China (Taiwan)

former|

* Democratic Kampuchea
* Imperial Japan
* Mengjiang
* Manchukuo
* South Vietnam

Europe|

* Albania
* Armenia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Georgia
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Italy
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* Vatican

states with
limited recognition|

* Abkhazia
* Artsakh
* Kosovo
* Northern Cyprus
* South Ossetia
* Transnistria

former|

* Austria–Hungary
* Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Independent State of Croatia
* Czechoslovakia
* Prussia
* Imperial Germany
* Nazi Germany
* East Germany
* Ottoman Empire
* Russian Empire
* Republika Srpska
* Republic of Serb Krajina
* Soviet Union
* Yugoslavia

Oceania|

* Australia
* Fiji
* New Zealand
* Papua New Guinea
* Tonga
* Vanuatu

Supranational|

* European Union
* NATO

former|

* Warsaw Pact

*[Ref.]: Reference(s)
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