Trained at the British Royal Military College, Ayub Khan fought in World War II as a colonel in the British Indian Army before deciding to transfer to join the Pakistan Army as an aftermath of partition of British India in 1947. His command assignment included his role as commander of the 14th Division in East-Bengal and elevated as the first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army in 1951 by then-Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. From 1953 to 1958, he served in the civilian government as Defence and Home Minister and supported President Iskander Mirza's decision to impose martial law against Prime Minister Feroze Khan's administration in 1958. Two weeks later, he took over the presidency from Mirza after the meltdown of civil-military relations between the military and the civilian president.