About NDU

In 1962, Major General (later on Lieutenant General) Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Commandant Army Staff College, known for his military genius and intellectual acumen, was asked to plan a war course to be run at Command and Staff College Quetta.

The first Army War Course, comprising twelve participants (including one each from Navy and Air Force) commenced on 1st May 1963 under the auspices of Army Staff College Quetta. In 1965, the strength of the course was raised to 16. Owing to Pak-India war of 1965, there was no course in 1966. Realizing the need for a separate institution, National Defence College (NDC) was established at Lalkurti Rawalpindi on 28th May 1970, in the old National Assembly Building, known as Ayub Hall. Later on, a permanent building of NDC was built, where the College remained located for next 25 years. Major General Abdul Hamid Khan, SQA, was the first Commandant of NDC, whereas, Brigadier Muhammad Ahmed, SJ, was the Chief Instructor (War Wing).

In 1971, Army War Course was re-designated as ‘Armed Forces War Course’ and the strength of the course was raised to 20, including three officers each from Navy and Air Force. In 1975, on the directions of the then Prime Minister Mr Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the College was affiliated with Federal University of Islamabad (now Quaid-i-Azam University), for the award of Degrees of MSc (War Studies) to the participants of Armed Forces War Course. Owing to scarcity of space for expansion of the College in Lalkurti, the then President, General Muhammad Zia Ul Haq, took the decision in February 1980 to shift the College to Islamabad. The College was accordingly shifted to newly constructed building in Islamabazd on 14th August 1995.

In 2007, NDC was upgraded to University level and War College was awarded the status of Armed Forces War College within the University. At present, the College functions as a component part of National Defence University, as the university stands chartered since March 2007. In February 2009, the decision was taken in a conference of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to merge War Course and National Defence Course into one integrated course, re-designated as ‘National Security and War Course’. The course consists of two terms: National Security (NS) Term and Military Strategy (MS) Term.