Martin Kambulu Pinehas is a Namibian military officer who is serving as the Chief of the Defence Force, he previously served as commander of the Namibian Air Force. He was appointed the commander of the Air Wing of the Namibian Defence Force in 2000. He has over 3700 flight hours of experience, including 700 as an instructor.

Military career

PLAN

Pinehas joined

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

's armed wing, the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) during the S ...

, in 1980 and was deployed to the Cadet Military Academy in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

which he completed in 1981 and was appointed deputy commander there. Between 1982 and 1983 he was serving at the PLAN Headquarters in Lubango,

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. He was then sent for jet flying training in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

between 1984 and 1989.

NDF

His career in the Namibian Defence Force started in 1993 after Namibia's independence when he was inducted with the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. In 1994 he was appointed as the commanding officer of the 1st Air Wing squadron with the rank of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. In 1998 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed as the chief of staff of the Air Wing. In 2000 he was promoted to colonel and appointed as Air Wing Commander. In 2002 he was appointed as Air Force Commander. In 2005 when the Air Force was commissioned he was promoted to Brigadier General. The rank of air vice-marshal was bestowed in 2008. On the 31 March 2020 he was promoted to air marshal and appointed as Chief of Defence Force becoming the first non Army General to occupy the position.

Honours and decorations

* Most Excellent Order of the Eagle, Third Class. *

Mandume Ya Ndemufayo Operation Medal * NAF Air Cadre Medal

Air Cadre Medal * NAF Air Longevity Medal

Air Force Longevity Medal * NAF Air Force exemplary medal

Air Force Commander's Exemplary Medal * NDF commendation ribbon

NDF Commendation Medal * NDF Commendation Medal (Silver) * NDF 30 Years Service Medal * Santos-Dumont Merit Medal , - , - , - , -

References

Living people Namibian Air Force air marshals 1962 births {{Namibia-mil-bio-stub