LAHORE: Urging young men of the right type to come forward in sufficient numbers to join the officer ranks in the Army, Sir Douglas Gracey, Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army, asked the Press to make these young men feel that their acceptance as officers was the greatest honour their country could pay them. He was addressing this afternoon [Nov 11] here a … Press conference to which were also invited heads of educational institutions. Sir Douglas stressed the need of having “the very best” officers and said: “If you have a poor or even average administrator you may lose money or your civil administration will be poor or both, but neither of these is vital. If you have poor or only average officers, you will certainly lose men unnecessarily and lose your battle.”

Strongly emphasising that the efficiency of the Armed Forces … was in direct proportion to the efficiency of its leaders, General … Gracey, said: “Do much to get the education of our youth right, to … give [our] youth the finest chance to develop into the type we require not only in the armed forces but also in all the other … professions… .”

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2024