Passing out from Pakistan Military Academy with the 38th PMA Long Course, he got commission in 1967 in the 14th Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment, Pakistan Army. As Lieutenant, Aurakzai had led a Guerrilla company during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In 1976, as Major, he served as the Forward observer in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In 1983, he served as the Aerial observer and intelligence observer in the Pakistan's western border. He is graduate of Command and Staff College, and was posted in Generals Headquarter in 1985. He served there as an intelligence analyst for the Pakistan Army. Throughout the 1980s, Aurakzai had served as an intelligence and military advisor at The GHQ. Aurakzai later served as the Commander Force Command Northern Areas, Gilgit as a Major-General. In 1998, as Major-General, he was the Vice Chief of General Staff at the GHQ. Court-martial Lieutenant-GeneralZiauddin Butt held Aurakzai, as he was Vice Chief of Generals Staff, responsible for coup d'état against Former Prime minister Nawaz Sharif. In April 1999, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and shifted as Adjutant-General, Pakistan Army Generals Headquarter. On October 2001, he was made "Corps-commander" of XI Corps, and served as the Commander of Western Military Command. During his military career, he was the leading and most experience general who served under General Pervez Musharraf Administration. Following the collapse of Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Aurakzai was made the commander of Western Military Command. As commander, he oversaw the extensive military operations led by the United States special operations forces. He responded with deploying hundreds of Mountaineering and Infantry battalions to guard the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, many of whom were redeployed as a result of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. In December 2003, he led the XI Corps, and several supported administrative divisions of XII Corps. He served as the principal commander of the Pakistan's Western Military Command, and had supervised the Pakistan Army's quick deployment in Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Under his command, the military saw the action Battle of Wana and, which concluded with Pakistani success. In March 2004, he was given honourable retirement from the Army. He was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Masood Aslam, who became the principle commander of Western Military Command of Pakistan Defence Forces.
Post-military career
Soon after the conflict, Aurakzai received an honourable discharge from the Army. Soon after his retirement, Prime minister Shaukat Aziz appointed him as the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. According to the BBC, as governor, his assignment was to bring stability and security to the FATA region. To complete this task, he sought many peace deals with the local tribal leaders. However, the deals were violated and the violence began in the FATA region. Soon, a bloody tribal conflict between the Pakistan Armed Forces ended the peace deals. A new war in tribal areas ensued. As the conflict grew momentarily, he resigned as the governor. He was replaced by Owais Ahmed Ghani, a former Governor of Balochistan Province. A tribal Pashtun and belong himself to FATA, the appointment of Lt. General retired Ali Jan Aurakzai as new Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a big relief for tribesmen in FATA and a dream come true for them. The tribal leaders were expressed positive reviews as they had personally knew Aurakzai. Aurakzai sought to end the violence in Khyber and FATA regions. He was one of the pioneers and strongly advocated the Waziristan Accord. According to him, it was a breakthrough and if the treaty proved successful, similar treaties would be signed with tribes in other agencies, Governor Aurakzai concluded.
