be among the brightest members of the Air Force in its early years. On 21 January 1948, Bhatti submitted an application to the Ministry of Defense (MoD), asking to be transferred to the Pakistan Army, which was approved and Bhatti was directed to attend the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul in 1948. There, he distinguish himself in studies and athletics among his classmates, and passed out from the academy at the top of his class in the class of the first PMA Long Course, in 1950. He was awarded the Sword of Honor and the Norman gold medallion by the ceremony's chief guest, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. He was commissioned as the 2nd-Lt. in the 4th battalion of the 16th Punjab Regiment (4/16th Punjab Regiment). He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1951 and to captain in 1953. In 1956, Aziz was sent to Canada to attend the staff course at the Canadian Army Command and Staff College where he remained until graduation from strategic studies courses in 1960. Upon returning to Pakistan, Capt. Aziz was posted with the 17th Punjab Regiment as a General Staff Officer (GSO) until 1962. After being promoted as Major in the Army in 1962, Maj. Aziz was taken in the faculty of the School of Infantry and Tactics in Quetta, which he remained until 1964. Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 From January 1965 till May 1965, Maj. Bhatti served as the General Staff Officer (GSO) of the 17th Punjab Regiment, but was later posted as the commander of the two military companies after the Indian Army's launching the invasion by crossing the international borders in September 1965. Leading the military companies, Maj. Bhatti was initially deployed on the forward positions of the BRB Canal near the Burki area that falls in the vicinity of the Lahore District in Pakistan-side Punjab. Official engagement with the Indian Army took place between 7–10 September when the Indian Army begin its push of capturing the Burki sector through artillery and armory in a view of entering in Lahore. Despite Indian Army's efforts of relatively easily capturing of the Burki sector through the BRB Canal, the outnumbered military companies under Major Bhatti had forced the Indian Army to engage in hand-to-hand combat during the night of the 7/8 September 1965, and the fighting continued till the next three days despite Indian Army having numerical advantage. Although the defense of the