Mushaf Ali Mir

Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir (5 March 1947 – 20 February 2003) was an influential statesman and a four-star rank air officer who served as the ninth Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), appointed on 20 November 2000 until his accidental death in a plane crash on 20 February 2003. He belonged to a lower middle class family and was of Kashmiri descent. The family practiced Shia Islam. Mushaf's oldest sister, Surayya Jabeen, was married to Yunus Hussain, who died in the 1965 war.

Mushaf's father, Farzand Ali Mir, was a calligrapher who died when Mushaf was still young. He attended Govt. Wattan Islamia High School in Lahore. Upon his matriculation from a local school in Lahore, Mir initially attended the Government College University but joined the Pakistan Air Force in 1966 which directed him to attend the famed Pakistan Air Force Academy in Risalpur, after the second war with India.

Personal life Mushaf married Bilquis and they had two sons, Nabeel and Maseel.

Career in the Air Force

After the war in 1971, Flt. Lt. Mir attended the Air War College where he attained his master's in War studies, and later went on to attend the National Defence University where he graduated with a master's in Strategic studies.

War and command appointments in the military

In the 1970s, Mir joined the Combat Commander's School, first serving as a student before joining its faculty, eventually commanding an Aggressor squadron composing of Dassault Mirage IIIER to act as an Indian IAF's MiG-29M. Wing-Commander Mir was a commanding officer of the No. 33 Wing attached at the Northern Air Command and later took over the command of the Southern Air Command as its AOC.

In 1994–95, Air commodore Mir, as an ACAS (Plans) at Air AHQ, visited Poland to hold discussions to acquire the Russian Su-27 Flanker but returned since the aircraft was not available.

In 1995, AVM Mir was appointed as Project-Director of Project Green Flash, aiming to acquire Mirage 2000-V from France, and begin his lobbying to acquire the aircraft after test piloting the fighter jet.

At the time of promotion to the four-star appointment, there were six senior air marshals who were in the race which included in seniority: Air-Mshl. Farooq Qari – Vice Chief of Air Staff at Air Headquarters (AHQ) in Islamabad.

Despite the agitation and criticism, Air Chief Marshal Mir eventually assumed the command of the air force as its chief on 20 November 2000.

During his tenure, the PAF's F-6 aircraft were retired from service, and were transferred to Bangladeshi Air Force. During the military standoff with the Indian Army, ACM Mir placed the air force at war level command, issuing orders for targeting the Indian military posts.

Death in the air crash 1=right |2=This is a very sad day for me. I have lost a very good friend. This is a sad day for the whole nation. The death of Mushaf Ali Mir is a great loss for the country. |3=President Musharraf, 2003 Among the casualties were other high-ranking officials of the Pakistan Air Force, including three Principal Staff Officers – Air Vice Marshal Abdul Razzaq Anjum, DCAS (Training & Evaluation) and Air Vice Marshal Saleem Nawaz, DCAS (Administration) – and Air Commodore Rizwan Ullah Khan, Personal Staff Officer and the air crew.

Upon his accidental death, the Pakistan government give him a state funeral, with many foreign dignitaries attending his funeral and was buried in Mominpura cemetery in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

The Air Force Flight Safety and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ruled out the "act of sabotage" and termed the incident as an accident.

Further military insights revealed at the parliamentary committee noted that the aircraft was in fact faulty, as it was first identified as such by the Navy's inspection team as early as 1993. The Navy purchased the aircraft for its reconnaissance missions before it was transferred to Army Aviation in 1993, which then transferred the plane to Air Force in 1994, which never reviewed the inspection protocol to assess the performance of the aircraft.

Several American authors of counterterrorism studies have suspected him of having advanced intelligence knowledge on the planning of the terrorist attacks in the United States by al-Qaeda, during his time when Mir was serving in the ISI as its spymaster.

Subsequently, Posner and his American colleagues have claimed that Osama bin Laden and other Afghan Arabs had struck a deal with Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) through Mir in 1996 to get protection, arms, and supplies for Al-Qaeda. The meeting was blessed by the Saudi royal family through Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud — the Saudi intelligence chief.

In 2015, the Air Force's Flight Inquiry Board and the CAA dismissed the claims of sabotage when they submitted their year long investigation reports to the Public Accounts Committee of the Pakistan Parliament, citing the poor maintenance of the aircraft.

Awards and decorations

PAF GD(P) Badge RED (More than 3000 Flying Hours)Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military)

(Order of Excellence)Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military)

(Crescent of Excellence)Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military)

(Star of Excellence)Sitara-e-Basalat (Star of Valour)Sitara-e-Harb 1965 War (War Star 1971)Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War (War Star 1971)Tamgha-e-Jang 1965 War (War Medal 1965)Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War (War Medal 1971)Tamgha-e-Baqa (Nuclear Test Medal)

(100th Birth Anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah)

1976Hijri Tamgha (Hijri Medal)

1979Tamgha-e-Jamhuriat (Democracy Medal)

1988Qarardad-e-Pakistan Tamgha (Resolution Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1990Tamgha-e-Salgirah Pakistan (Independence Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1997UAE Defence Forces Unification Medal

(UAE)Abu Dhabi Defence Forces Service Medal

(UAE)Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey (Turkey)Military Merit Order 1st Class

(UAE)Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander)

(USA)

Foreign decorations Foreign AwardsUAE Defence Unification MedalAbu Dhabi Defence Forces Service MedalTurkish Legion of MeritMilitary Merit Order - 1st ClassThe Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander)