General Hafez al-Assad, the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, was born in 1930 in the city of Qocha Kardaha and completed his primary education at the city’s public school. Then he went to the city of Latakia to continue his education and completed his secondary education at the city’s public high school. Hafez al-Assad graduated from the Syrian Air Force Officer Training School in 1952 at the age of 22 and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1955, he won the first prize in Syrian air aerobatics. Hafez al-Assad continued his military education in other countries and in 1962 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and became the commander of the air defense. Two years later, in 1995, he was transferred to the Air Force Headquarters and served there until he was honored with the rank of major general in 1968. Hafez al-Assad has been faithful to his political ideology throughout his life and has continued to strive for his goals. During the years of World War II and the occupation of Syria, he began animal husbandry activities against the occupiers and warmongers and played a major role in fighting them: membership in the Latakia Students Protection Committee from the position of chairman, which is considered one of the relics of this period of Hazrat Hafez Al-Assad’s political activities. He has always considered the legitimate rights of the Arab nations and the rights of the Palestinian people, and by taking every political step, he is thinking of realizing this goal.
Hazrat Hafez Al-Assad became a member of the Baath Socialist Party in 1946 and then accepted membership in the Syrian National Secret Society. After a while, under their management and the exemptions of General Hafez Al-Assad, he became an Arab national figure, which led to his promotion to the highest regional and national position of the Baath Party and his becoming a member of the Baath Party’s Central Committee.