Zulkifeli Mohd Zin

Zulkifeli bin Mohd. Zin (born 14 June 1956) is the 18th and the former Chief of Defence Forces of Malaysia.^[1]

Quick Facts 1st Director General of National Security Council, Monarchs ...

Yang Berbahagia General (Rtd) Tan Sri Dato' Seri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin PGAT PMN PSM PJN SPMK SPMS SPMP SPKK SSDK SSAP SIMP DPPN SPDK SUMW SPMT SPTS SSTM PNBS DHMS DCSM PSAT DGMK DPKK DMSM DSDK PMW PAT JMN SDK KMN AMK ASK PPS PPA PJM PKN DPKT DUBC PM NI(M)
General Zulkifeli in 2013

1st Director General of National Security Council
In office 15 August 2016 – 31 August 2018
Monarchs	Abdul Halim Muhammad V
Prime Minister	Najib Razak Mahathir Mohamad
Succeeded by	Engku Hamzah Tuan Mat
18th Chief of Defence Forces
In office 15 June 2011 – 16 December 2016
Monarchs	Mizan Zainal Abidin Abdul Halim Muhammad V
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Minister of Defence	Ahmad Zahid Hamidi Hishammuddin Hussein
Preceded by	Azizan Ariffin RMAF
Succeeded by	Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor
23rd Chief of Army
In office 21 May 2010 – 14 June 2011
Preceded by	Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin
Succeeded by	Zulkifli Zainal Abidin

Personal details
Born	(1956-06-14) 14 June 1956 (age 69) Pasir Mas, Kelantan, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
Nationality	Malaysia
Spouse	Umi Kalsom Wan Awang
Alma mater	Sultan Ismail College Sandhurst Military Academy
Occupation	Senior military officer, senior civil servant
Military service
Allegiance	Malaysia Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Branch/service	Malaysian Army
Years of service	1974–2016
Rank	General
Commands	Army Field Headquarters 3rd Infantry Division Commander of IMT Mission - Mindanao 8th Infantry Brigade Commandant of Army Combat Training Centre
Awards	Courageous Commander of the Order of Military Service (PGAT)
Mission	IMT Mission - Mindanao 2013 Lahad Datu Standoff

Remove ads

Education

He was educated at Sultan Ismail College (SIC) in Kelantan. In 1974, upon completion of his cadet training in Sandhurst, he was first commissioned as a second lieutenant to the 2nd Royal Malay Regiment as a platoon commander on 9 August 1974.

He holds a Master of Science degree from the National Defense University.

He is also a graduate from the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College (MTAT) and the Malaysian Armed Forces Defence College (MPAT). Both colleges have since been consolidated as one under the National Defense Studies Centre (Puspahanas).

Remove ads

Military career (1974–2016)

Summarize

Perspective

Throughout his military career, he has held various positions ranging from platoon commander to commanding officer.

He also held staff positions in the Army Headquarters and Training Institute. This included stints as Staff Officer of the Army Headquarters as well as the Trick Trainer at the Army Training Centre of Johor Bahru. Between 1999 and 2000, he was the Infantry Director of the Army Headquarters.

During his rank of colonel, he was the commandant of Army Combat Training Centre (PULADA) and Resource Colonel in the Army Headquarters.

He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 2002 had been hold the office of assistant commander of Reserve Services Division. He also commanded 8th Infantry Brigade (8 Bgd) from 2003 to 2004 in Kelantan. He was then promoted as the rank of major general and was entrusted by the military high command to lead the International Monitoring Team Mission – Mindanao as the commander of the Monitoring Team between 9 October 2004 and 31 August 2005.

Then, he was the 3rd Infantry Division (3 Div) Commander from 17 October 2005 to 31 January 2007. He was the commander of Army Field Headquarters from 2 January 2007 to 1 June 2008.

As a dedicated leader, he was appointed deputy army commander on 2 June 2008 – serving until 20 May 2010 upon which he was appointed Chief of Army (Malay: Panglima Tentera Darat — PTD).

Due to high confidence in him, he was appointed as the 18th Chief of Defence Forces effective on 15 June 2011.^[2]

He retired on 16 December 2016.^[3]^[4]

Remove ads

Director General of National Security Council (2016–2018)

He was appointed as the 1st Director General of National Security Council (NSC; Malay: Majlis Keselamatan Negara — MKN) on 15 August 2016, when he still holding the post of Chief of Defence Forces.^[5] He has been the first-ever with military background appointed to the seat.^[6] Before this, the title for NSC chief is 'Secretary General' and given only to Senior Civil Servant in Malaysian Government.^[7] He was replaced by Engku Hamzah Tuan Mat as director general of NSC beginning 1 September 2018.^[8]