 He served in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and participated in the conflict as a captain, during which he was permanently injured on the right cheek.As a special service officer, Rashid was promoted as a Brigadier-General and was later sent to Siachen where he along with then-Brigadier-General Parvez Musharraf, participated in the conflict.In 1995, he was promoted as a major-general and was made commandant of his unit.