Brian Cloughley joined the British Army in 1959 and transferred to the Australian Army in 1970. He saw active service in Borneo and Cyprus and was attached to the Jordan Desert Police Force. He served in Vietnam. He was deputy head of the UN mission in Kashmir and, later, Australian Defence Attaché in Islamabad (1988-1994). He was appointed to the Order of Australia . He has been involved in analysis of sub-continent affairs since the late 1970s and has written extensively on the region. His earlier book A History of the Pakistan Army is in its third edition.