Lieutenant General Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar, who previously held the position of Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel Services at the Malaysian Armed Forces Headquarters, has been appointed as the 23rd Chief of Defence Forces, effective today. The official handover ceremony took place at Wisma Pertahanan, presided over by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

At 59 years old and hailing from Johor Bahru, Mohd Nizam is a distinguished graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England. He takes over from General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman, who is retiring today.

Before stepping into his new role, Mohd Nizam served as the Commander of the Malaysian Battalion in Lebanon (MALBATT) and was promoted to the rank of four-star General during the ceremony, enabling him to assume the Chief of Defence Forces position. He was elevated to Lieutenant General on February 23 of the previous year and has held several significant roles, including Commandant of the National Defence College, Director of Training Management at the Army Training and Doctrine Command Headquarters, and Commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade.

As a Sandhurst graduate, Mohd Nizam has participated in various international military courses, including the Junior Command and Staff College in Bangladesh, the Mid-Career Management Course in Pakistan, the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in the United States, and Le Collège Interarmées de Défense in France. Notably, he was the first senior Malaysian Army officer selected for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) Peace Support Operations Contingent Commander Course in Monterey, United States.

The 23rd Chief of Defence Forces has served in several significant roles within the Malaysian Armed Forces, such as Aide-de-Camp to the Deputy Army Chief and Aide-de-Camp to the Chief of Defence Forces from 1990 to 1992. He commenced his military journey as a Platoon Leader in the 19th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (Mechanized).