New Malaysian Chief of Defence Force

MALAYSIA received a new Chief of Defence Force (CDF) today, following the retirement of the incumbent, General Mohammad Abdul Rahman who has held the Malaysian Armed Forces’ (MAF) top job since September 2023.

During a handover ceremony at the Ministry of Defence, Gen Mohammad handed over the reins to Lt Gen Mohd Nizam Jaafar, attaining his fourth star and control of the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). The handover ceremony was presided over the defence minister, Khaled Nordin.

Gen Nizam is the 23rd CDF of Malaysia, and is one of the very few appointed as CDF without first being the service chief. Traditionally, the CDF is selected from among the three service chiefs.

Gen Nizam has been the assistant chief of staff for personnel services for the MAF since last November. He had also previously served as the commandant of the National Resilience College, management director of the Army Training and Doctrine Command Headquarters Training Centre and commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Brigade. -shp/adj/dl (Pix:MINDEF)