Taking charge of the newly appointed army chief

General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, OSP, NDU, PSC assumed charge as the newly appointed Army Chief on Thursday.

He took over from former Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed, SBP (Bar), BSP, BGBM, PBGM, BGBMS, PSC, G, Ph.D.

After taking charge, the newly appointed Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed paid tribute to the memory of the members of the armed forces who were martyred in the Great Liberation War of 1971 by laying wreaths at Anirban.

He was then given a 'Guard of Honour' by a smart contingent of the army at Senakunj and planted a tree sapling there. Earlier in the morning in the presence of Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Chief of Navy Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal and Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Sheikh Abdul Hannan presented the rank badge of "General" to the newly appointed Army Chief.

General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed was born on 01 December 1963 in a noble Muslim family of Khulna district. His father, the valiant freedom fighter Professor Sheikh Mohammad Rokan Uddin Ahmed served as a public representative in Eknagar for two years before independence.

General Shafiuddin Ahmed was commissioned on 23 December 1983 with the 9th Long Term Course from Bangladesh Military Academy. After his commission, he started his military career by joining the East Bengal Regiment in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area of operations.

He completed his graduation from Defense Services Command and Staff College, Masters in Defense Studies from National University and MPhil in Development and Security Studies from Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) with first class distinction.

Currently he is studying for his PhD under BUP. General Shafiuddin Ahmed obtained first rank and MIST Gold Medal with MBA degree from Dhaka University.

He successfully completed Defense and Strategic Studies Course from National Defense University (NDU) China and Army Staff Course from Defense Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur in 2010. He also completed his graduation from NDU, Washington.

During his illustrious career, he commanded the Training and Doctrine Command, the only logistics formation of the Bangladesh Army, and the 19th Infantry Division as the General Officer Commanding (GOC).

He also held command assignments as Brigade Commander of an Infantry Brigade, Battalion Commander at the Bangladesh Military Academy and Commander of an Infantry Battalion in the Counter Insurgency Operation Area in Chittagong Hill Tracts.

He held command assignments as Brigade Commander of an Infantry Brigade, Battalion Commander at the Bangladesh Military Academy and Commander of an Infantry Battalion in the Counter Insurgency Operation Area in Chittagong Hill Tracts. He also served as the Director General of Bangladesh Institute of International Studies (BIIS).