Admiral Zakaullah appointed as Navy Chief
Wednesday, 01 October 2014 14:33
Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah has been appointed as the new Chief of the Naval Staff with immediate effect after President Mamnoon Hussain gave the approval for his appointment and promotion to the rank of Admiral. He was serving as the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff till now.
Admiral Zaka was commissioned in the Operations Branch of Pakistan Navy in June 1978. He is a recipient of the Sword of Honour. On his graduation he was awarded Chief of the Naval Staff Gold Medal. The Admiral is a Graduate of Royal Naval Staff College (UK) and National Defence University Islamabad. He holds MA (Defence Studies) degree from London University and M.Sc (War Studies) degree from Quaid-e-Azam University. He has had the privilege of commanding the Destroyer PNS Tipu Sultan, Pakistan Naval Academy and the 25th Destroyer Squadron. His other distinguished appointments include Directing Staff PN Staff College, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Plans) and Defence Attaché in Qatar.
As Flag Officer he served as Director General National Accountability Bureau (Rawalpindi), Chief Inspector (Navy), Commander Combined Task Force-150, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Training & Personnel), Naval Secretary and Commander Pakistan Fleet. Prior to his appointment as Chief of the Naval Staff, he was serving at Naval Headquarters as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.
He started his active duty as a qualified Principle Warfare officer (PWO) in Babur warship and was later promoted as executive officer of the Tipu-Sultan warship which he would later command as well. As Commodore, he briefly served in the National Accountability Bureau during the regime of Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
On the height of border escalation with India, he reportedly responded to the incident in the media that, Pakistan has the ability to respond to the disturbance of the border. In an emergency address to the media representatives at the ISPR directorate, he quoted to the media that "Pakistan forces are prepared for any critical situation. Answering the question of Indian Army's further capabilities, Admiral Zakaullah said that Pakistan was not concerned due to New Delhi's ground capability, as it had the ability to defend itself against any aggression.
In recognition of his services, he has been awarded President’s Award for Pride of Performance, President’s Medal, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Military), Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) and Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military). He also has had the honour of winning the Gold Medal in the Asian Games Sailing Championship twice.
Vice Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah belongs to the 17th Entry and was in Iqbal Wing.