In 1969 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was appointed commanding officer (CO) of the First East Bengal Regiment (his own battalion). From 1970–71 he served in the most coveted position of his rank as the General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO-1 or G-1) of an independent army division (the 16th Division of the Pakistan Army) in Quetta, Pakistan which bordered Afghanistan's Kandahar province.