Mohammad Asif Sandila (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: ; born: 1954), is a retired four-star

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

in the

Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...

who was the

19th 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics Nineteen is the eighth prime number. Number theory 19 forms a twin prime with 17, a cousin prime with 23, and a sexy prime with 13. ...

Chief of Naval Staff of the

. Prior to this command appointment, Sandila briefly tenured as the Vice Chief Naval Staff in the Pakistan Navy which he assumed in 2010. In 2011,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

, on the request of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Yousaf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairman Gilani served as the acti ...

, promoted Sandila to four-star admiral and appointed him as the Chief of the Naval Staff on 7 October 2011 upon retirement of the then Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir.

Biography

Early life and education

Asif Sandila was born into a

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

Jat family in a village at the

Sangla Hill Sangla Hill is a city in the Nankana Sahib District of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. It lies 103 km from the provincial capital of Lahore and 47 km from Faisalabad. Until 2005, it was part of Sheikhupura Sheikhupura (Punjabi language, Punj ...

located in

Sheikhupura District Sheikhupura District (; ), is a district located in Lahore Division of Punjab Province, Pakistan. Sheikhupura is the headquarters of Sheikhupura district. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the district had a population of 3,321,029 of ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1954. After his

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

from a local high school in 1967, Sandila went to attend Cadet College Kohat where he secured his FSc, and went to join the

in 1972. He was selected to attend the

Pakistan Naval Academy The Pakistan Naval Academy (PNA), PNS Rahbar, Manora is a federal military academy located in Manora, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in Manora, Karachi, under Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan in 1970, it is one of the technologicall ...

, initially focusing on

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, and was directed to attend the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

in Dartmouth in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1974. In

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, he was trained in

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

and qualified as a

surface warfare officer The surface warfare insignia is a Military badges of the United States, military badge of the United States Navy which is issued to U.S. Navy personnel who are trained and qualified to perform duties aboard United States surface warships. There ...

in 1975. Upon returning to

in 1975, he was gained commissioned as S-Lt. in the Naval Operations Branch, and was trained in

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...

operations on PNS ''Jehangir'' in 1976–77. S-Lt. Sandila was further trained in torpedo operations and navigation at the PNS ''Badr'' in 1977–79. He served on various surface warships as principle warfare officers throughout his career in the Navy. He later attended, and is a graduate of the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, and attended the staff course in

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...

's Naval Staff College. He later went to attend the National Defence University where he graduated with MSc in

War studies War studies, sometimes called polemology, is the multi-disciplinary study of war. It pertains to the military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfa ...

Career in the military

War and command appointments in the Pakistan Navy

After joining the

Midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in 1972, he served on the PNS ''Jahangir'' and PNS ''Badr'' as navigation and torpedo officer from 1977 until 1980. In 1985–88, Lt-Cdr. Sandila was affiliated with the Institute of Strategic Studies of the

Quaid-i-Azam University Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), founded as the University of Islamabad, is a public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to postgraduate study, but later expande ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, where he instruct courses on

Strategic studies Strategic studies is an interdisciplinary academic field centered on the study of peace and conflict strategies, often devoting special attention to the relationship between military history, international politics, geostrategy, international ...

. He was later posted at the

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

where he instruct courses on military navigation. In 1988–91, Cdr. Sandila was taken to be serve as aide-de-camp to Adm.

Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey (; 1934 – 6 March 2025) was a Pakistani Four star rank, four-star-rank Four star admiral, admiral, strategist, and a memoirist who was at the time of his death tenuring his fellowship at the The Institute of Strategic S ...

, the Chairman joint chiefs. In 1990s, Capt. Sandila later commanded , a

guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

, and did a

tour of duty For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...

when he visited

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and the

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In 2003–04, Cdre. Sandila took over the command of the

25th Destroyer Squadron The 25th Destroyer Squadron (DESRON-25) is one of the two destroyer squadrons in the Pakistan Navy and is part of the six total Squadron (naval), squadrons in the fleet. It is the largest squadron in the navy, second only to the 9th Auxiliary Squ ...

as its

officer in tactical command In NATO, the officer in tactical command (OTC) is the naval officer exercising tactical command of a group of ships in a tactical formation such as a task unit, task group, or task force. Ships travelling together on a specific mission might have ...

, and was leading the

task force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

for overseeing the rescue operations from

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

, where he was credited of rescuing more than 370 European tourists affected by the deadly underwater earthquake and tsunami in

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

in 2004. In 2005, Cdre. Sandila commanded the mission through the ''Moawin'' and visiting on a bilateral missions in Mediterranean countries (

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

(

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

), and later ending his voyage in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

). In April 2005, Cdre. Sandila took participation in Mine hunter exercises with the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, and the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

before reporting back to Pakistan. In 2005, Cdre. Sandila was eventually promoted to two-star rank in the Navy, first serving as the

Director-General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of the

Pakistan Maritime Security Agency The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (reporting name: PMSA) () is a branch of the Pakistan Navy. It is a Navy-managed and Navy-controlled Law enforcement in Pakistan, Marine law enforcement agency whose mission is to provide protection to Pakis ...

(PMSA) until 2007, during which, he also served as the command of the

Naval Observatory The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the D ...

located in

Jinnah Naval Base Jinnah Naval Base () is a strategic naval base of the Pakistan Navy located at Ormara, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is named after Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It is Pakistan's second largest naval base. Location Jinnah Naval Base is s ...

. In 2007, R-Adm. Sandila was posted in the Navy NHQ in Islamabad as DCNS (Projects) and later as DCNS (Operations), for a brief time until being posted as senior

fleet commander The Fleet Commander is a senior Royal Navy post, responsible for the operation, resourcing and training of the ships, submarines and aircraft, and personnel, of the Naval Service (United Kingdom), Naval Service. The Vice-Admiral incumbent is requ ...

as Commander Pakistan Fleet (COMPAK) in 2008. During this time, R-Adm. Sandila was involved in operational deployment of navy's combatant commands at the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

to deter any

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

's attack on

, resulting during the military standoff in 2008. In 2009, R-Adm. Sandila was later posted in Navy NHQ in Islamabad as DCNS (Operations), for a brief time. In 2009, R-Adm. Sandila was posted as Commander Logistics (COMLOG), where he was responsible for Navy's

military logistics Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement, supply, and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with: * Design, development, Milita ...

and engineering.

Chief of Naval Staff

On 1 January 2010, R-Adm. Sandila was promoted to the three-star rank in the Navy while serving on the command assignment. In 2011,

Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Sandila was later appointed as Vice-Chief of Naval Staff (VNCS) under Adm. Noman Bashir. At the time of the promotion to the four-star appointment in 2011, V-Adm. Sandila was in a race along with four senior admirals in the Navy, though V-Adm. Sandila was the most senior among all: **

Asif Sandila., Vice-Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS) at the Navy NHQ in Islamabad. **

Tanveer Faiz Tanveer Faiz (Urdu: ) is a retired three-star vice admiral of the Pakistan Navy. He also served in university administration as the rector of Bahria University from 2015 until 2018. From 2006–07, Faiz served in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) ...

. DCNS (Projects) at the Navy NHQ in Islamabad. **Vice-Admiral Abbas Raza. Senior commander in Karachi coast as Commander Karachi (COMKAR) **Vice-Admiral T. A. Dogar. Senior commander in Karachi as commander Naval Air Defence Command On 6 October 2011, Farahnaz Ispahani, the presidential spokesperson, confirmed that the President Zardari has approved the promotion paper and promoted V-Adm. Sandila as four-star admiral in the Navy, taking the command of the Navy from Adm. Numan as its Chief of Naval Staff on 8 October 2011. His 4 star promotion became headline news in the country with much media speculation on the nature of his assignment. The change of command ceremony was held at Naval Headquarters, Islamabad. Admiral Sandila received the guard of honor prior to the assuming the navy's command. Under his command, the Navy focused towards the seaborne operations involved with the CTF-150 and the CTF-151. In 2014, the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

confirmed his retirement from the 42-year military service, and after retiring from the Navy after, Adm. Sandila went to established the Moawin Foundation, an organization focused toward promoting the literacy and building schools all over the country. Upon his retirement, he handed over the command of the Navy to Admiral Muhammed Zakaullah.

Awards and decorations

Foreign Decorations

References

External links

Pakistan Navy
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandila, Asif Living people S People from Sheikhupura District S S Knights of the Legion of Honour Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Chiefs of Naval Staff (Pakistan) People of the insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa National Defence University, Pakistan alumni Cadet College Kohat alumni