We are delighted to share that the Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel Services, Lieutenant-General Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar, has been appointed the 23rd armed forces chief, effective 31 January 2025. He succeeds General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman, whose tenure ended on the same date.
Nizam did his MBA with University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) and graduated in 2003, making him one of the first of our alumni! Nizam’s appointment is a historic departure from tradition due to the armed forces chief not being selected from the current chiefs of the army, navy, and air force.
This appointment as the military’s top leadership is then followed by his promotion from Lieutenant-General to General, which was witnessed by Defense Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin in a pinning of ranks ceremony at Wisma Pertahanan.
Among those present were Army chief General Tan Sri Hafizuddeain Jantan, Royal Malaysian Navy chief Admiral Datuk Zulhelmy Ithnain, Royal Malaysian Air Force Chief General Tan Sri Mohd Asghar Khan Goriman Khan, Joint Forces Commander Lieutenant General Datuk Zahani Zainal Abidin, and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Datuk Arman.
On 7 November 2024, Nizam had been appointed to the rank of Lieutenant-General. He had held a myriad of positions prior to this appointment, including the commandant for the National Resilience College, Army Training and Doctrine Command Headquarters Training Centre management director, and commander for the Army’s 2nd Infantry Brigade.
It is an incredible milestone, seeing as his military career had begun with him as a platoon commander in the 19th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (Mechanised) before he was entrusted as an aide-de-camp to the deputy army chief. He then held the same position as the aide-de-camp to the then Chief of Defence Forces, General Tan Sri Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali. Furthermore, he was entrusted to serve as the aide-de-camp to the 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
On a global sector, Nizam marked his place in history as the first senior army officer selected to attend the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) Peace Support Operations Contingent Commander Course in Monterey, United States, before he was appointed as the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt) Two commander in Lebanon.
At UNM, we are more than proud of the achievements of our alumni. We would like to extend our congratulations to Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar on his success.
Posted on 23rd July 2025