Dr Arshad Mahmood joined Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul in 1984 and served on different command and staff appointments before his retirement in 2015 as Colonel.He is a graduate from Command and Staff College (C&SC), Quetta and PhD in International Relations from National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad. He has also been on visiting faculty of NDU. As a prolific writer, he has been contributing in various journals and newspapers on diverse subjects related to geo-strategic and geo-political concerns.
Arshad is also an avid golfer.