Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi ( ur, ) is a retired four-star admiral of the

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Qur'an, 3:173'') , type ...

who served as the 16th Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) of Pakistan Navy from 7 October 2017 until 7 October 2020.

Career

Abbasi joined the

in 1979 after graduating from Cadet College Hasanabdal. He was educated at the Pakistan Naval Academy and did his initial training at the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly 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, ...

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

in the United Kingdom. He was commissioned in the Navy as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in 1981 upon graduating from the Naval Academy and was conferred with the

Sword of Honour The ''Sword of Honour'' is a trilogy of novels by Evelyn Waugh which loosely parallel Waugh's experiences during the Second World War. Published by Chapman & Hall from 1952 to 1961, the novels are: ''Men at Arms'' (1952); '' Officers and Gent ...

. He served as an

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, ...

in a Tariq-class destroyer. Later he joined the Submarine Branch, and specialised in

underwater warfare Underwater warfare is one of the three operational areas of naval warfare, the others being surface warfare and aerial warfare. It refers to combat conducted underwater such as: *Actions by submarines actions, and anti-submarine warfare, i.e. w ...

in Pakistan as well as qualified for the

surface warfare Modern naval warfare is divided into four operational areas: surface warfare, air warfare, submarine warfare, and information warfare. Each area comprises specialized platforms and strategies used to exploit tactical advantages unique and inhe ...

from the United States. He is a graduate of the

Royal Australian Naval College The Royal Australian Naval College (RANC), commonly known as HMAS Creswell, is the naval academy of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It consists of the RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range an ...

, attending it in 1989, and attained a B.S., and a MSc from the National Defence University. His command assignment included his role as

commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

, as well as

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

of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, which he commanded from 2010 until 2011. From 2001 to 2003, he was the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latit ...

of the PNS ''Khaiber''. From 2005 until 2007, he commanded the 21st Mine Squadron and 25th Destroyer Squadron. In 2008, he was promoted to one-star rank,

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

, and was the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Operations) and later, the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Plans), until he was promoted to two-star rank in 2010.

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often regar ...

Abbasi took over the command of the

Combined Task Force 150 Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 34-nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, board, inspect, and stop suspect shipping to p ...

which he led from April 2010 until October 2010. In 2013, Rear-Admiral Abbasi took over the command as Commander Logistics (COMLOG) but this was a short-lived appointment. In 2013, Rear-Admiral Abbasi was appointed as the Commander of the Karachi Coast (COMCOAST), becoming

Flag officer commanding A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

(FOC) of the

Pakistan Marines ur, اور اللہ کی رسی مضبوط تھام لو سب مل کر اور آپس میں پھٹ نہ جانا (فرقوں میں نہ بٹ جانا) "And hold fast to the rope of Allah, all of you together, and do not be divided;" (''Qur'an ...

. In 2014, Rear-Admiral Abbasi was appointed as fleet commander of the Pakistan Navy as

Commander, Pakistan Fleet Commander, Pakistan Fleet (COMPAK) is a formal title in the Pakistan Navy to denote the head (usually a two star or three star vice admiral) as the commander of Pakistan Fleet Command with duties sanctioned by the navy for fleet support, progre ...

(COMPAK) with three-star rank promotion. In 2014, Vice-Admiral Abbasi was a contender to be appointed as a four-star admiral and take over the command of the Navy as its Chief of Naval Staff, along with Vice-Admiral

Khan Hasham bin Saddique Khan Hasham bin Saddique (Urdu: خان حشام بن صديق) is a retired vice admiral of the Pakistan Navy and a former diplomat who served as the Pakistan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Biography Saddique was born in Karachi, Sindh, Pakista ...

and Vice-Admiral S. A. Hussaini. However, the most senior admiral in the Navy, Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah was promoted to the four-star appointment, He continued serving as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (Operations) at the

Naval Headquarters A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inclu ...

. Upon the retirement of Vice-Admiral

, Vice-Admiral Abbasi took over as the vice chief of naval staff in June 2017.

Chief of Naval Staff

Pakistani Navy Chief recieving guard of honour from Chinese PLAN Yinchuan (175)

On 3 October 2017, Vice-Admiral Abbasi was promoted to four-star admiral in the Navy, and was announced by the MoD of his appointment to take over the command of the Navy as Chief of Naval Staff. He supersedes no one and was the senior most-ranking admiral in the Navy. On 7 October 2017, Admiral Abbasi took over the command of the Navy as Chief of Naval Staff from outgoing Admiral

Muhammad Zakaullah Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah (Urdu: محمد ذكاءالله ; born 10 January 1958) is a retired admiral in the Pakistan Navy, who was the 15th Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy. He was later replaced by Admiral Zafar Mahmood Ab ...

at the PNS Zafar in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capita ...

. On 30 October 2017, Admiral Abbasi was conferred and honored with Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) by the

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Mamnoon Hussain Mamnoon Hussain ( ur, ; 22 December 1941 – 14 July 2021) was a Pakistani politician and industrialist who served as the 12th president of Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. He was first appointed Governor of Sindh in June 1999 by President Rafiq ...

for "recognition of his long meritorious services, exceptionally commendable performance and inspirational devotion to duty." On 15 December 2017, Admiral Abbasi was conferred with "Legion of Merit of the Turkish Armed Forces" by Commander Turkish Naval Forces, Vice Admiral Adnan Ozbal during his official visit to Turkey. On 13 March 2018, Abbasi was awarded with Saudi Arabia's Order of King Abdulaziz by the Chief of General Staff of the Royal Saudi Armed Forces

Fayyadh Al Ruwaili Fayyadh bin Hamed bin Raqed Al Ruwaili (born 27 April 1958)Karasik, Theodore (18 May 2014) ''Al Arabiya''. Retrieved 27 February 2018. is a Saudi Arabian pilot and general who has served as the commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) on two ...

. On 1 February 2020, Abbasi was awarded Bintang Jalasena Utama, Indonesia's highest military award. He retired from the

as Chief of the Naval Staff on 7 October 2020.

Awards and Decorations

Foreign decorations

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbasi, Zafar Mahmood Living people Pakistan Naval Academy alumni Pakistan Navy admirals National Defence University, Pakistan alumni S S Year of birth missing (living people)