General Zia-ul-Haq was born in Jalandhar (India) on 12 September 1924. He was commissioned in the British Army on 12 May 1943. At Pakistan's independence, he joined Pakistan Army as a Major. He got trained in the United States 1962 to 1964 at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. On 1 April 1976, he was appointed Chief of Army Staff.