Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Amjad Mazhar Hussain, (born 15 May 1958) is a senior retired

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 ...

officer. He was the highest-ranking member of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

from an ethnic minority.

Background and personal life

Born in

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# ...

, Hussain and his mother moved to 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 1962 when he was three years old, to join his father who was working as a railway signalman. In 1983 Amjad married Wendy Downer; they have three children: Sam, Zara and Hannah.

Career

Hussain joined the

as a Weapons Engineering Officer in 1976, and was sponsored to study engineering science and business administration at Collingwood College,

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

, from 1976 to 1979. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 September 1981 (seniority from 1 April). He was promoted to commander on 31 December 1992, and to captain on 31 December 1997. Hussain served as Naval Base Commodore, Portsmouth, from mid-2002, where his accommodation was in Spithead House. In 2006 he was appointed Director General Logistics (Fleet) and promoted to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

, and thereby became the highest ranking

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and the highest-ranking officer from an ethnic minority in the

. He was appointed Director-General Weapons in 2008, and Director (Precision Attack) and Controller of the Navy in March 2009. Hussain is a prominent advocate of greater minority participation in the armed forces. However, he dislikes too much emphasis being placed on his religion. He was recognised in the Muslim Power 100 List as one of the most influential Muslims in the United Kingdom. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the

2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 '' New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...

Awards and nominations

In January 2013, Hussain was awarded the Civil Servant of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards.

References

--> , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussain, Amjad 1958 births Living people Royal Navy rear admirals Alumni of Collingwood College, Durham British Muslims Companions of the Order of the Bath Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British military personnel of Pakistani descent Military personnel from Rawalpindi

Background and personal life

Career

Awards and nominations

See also

References