Min
Aung Hlaing basically grew up in the middle of Rangoon. His father U
Khin Hlaing, worked as an engineering
official for the Government Construction Corporation and they used to
live in a large comfortable apartment directly opposite the Central Fire
Station on the Sule Pagoda Road in Central Rangoon.
After
his matriculation from the Central Boys High in March 1972 he became a
Law major student in RASU (Rangoon Arts and Science University). While
he was a Third Year Law student and a seasoned Corporal of UTC
(University Training Corps) he was admitted into the Intake 19 of DSA
(Defense Services Academy) in May Myo (Pyin-oo-lwin Town) in January
1974. He graduated from DSA in December 1977 and became a Second
Lieutenant in Myanmar Army.
His
early postings as a junior officer and later a mid-ranking officer were
mostly in the infantry battalions of famous LID-88 (Light Infantry
Division 88). The Divisional Commanding Officer of LID-88 in early 1980s
was Colonel Than Shwe who eventually became the Senior General and the
Chairman of SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) which was
renamed later SPDC (State Peace and Development Council).
Min Aung Hlaing has always had the reputation as a brave
fighter and a no-nonsense straight talker. He truly is a battle-hardened
warrior of brutal Myanmar Army. He is also a serious scholar and a
gentleman too.
He
finally became a Brigadier General and the Commanding Officer of LID 44
based in Kyaikhto in Mon State. August 2003 saw him transferred to DSA
as the 19th Rector. After three years in DSA he was promoted
to a Major General and the CO of Myanmar Army Western Regional Command
(Na-pa-kha) controlling the Arakan State bordering Bangladesh.
He
was moved to the hot spot of Golden Triangle as the Commanding Officer
of Triangle Regional Command in 2008 and eventually promoted in early
2009 to a Lt. General and Chief of the Second Bureau of Special
Operations (BSO 2) controlling three Regional Army Commands
(Northeastern, Eastern, and Triangle regional military commands).
There
he led the successful military operations against the National
democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) in the Kokang area of Shan State in
August 2009.
He
became the acting joint chief of staff of the army, navy, and air force
in June 2010 and now he is the General Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar
Armed Forces.
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