Chief of Staff of the Sultan's Armed Forces explained

Post:Chief of Staff of the Sultan's Armed Forces
Insignia:Royal Armed Forces of Oman Seal.svg
Insigniasize:175
Incumbent:Vice Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis bin Abdullah Al Raisi
Incumbentsince:January 18, 2021
Department:Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces
Reports To:The Sultan
Appointer:The Sultan of Oman
First:General Sir Timothy May Creasey
Formation:1979 (Chief of Defense Staff)
1987 (Chief of Staff)

The Office of Chief of Staff of the Sultan’s Armed Forces is the authority responsible for the coordination of multiple aspects related to operations, training, qualifications, services, media and the dissemination of military culture throughout the Sultan's Armed Forces in Oman. A number of the joint military institutions in the Sultan’s Armed Forces fall within its purview.

Historical background

In 1955, the first central administrative command was formed of what was then known as the Muscat Armed Forces. The Muscat Infantry Commander was appointed as the Administrative Commander of all of the armed forces at the time. This was followed on 23 April 1958 by the appointment of a commander of the Sultan's Armed Forces. December 11, 1975 marked the occasion of the formal end of military operations after the Sultan’s Armed Forces successfully achieved lasting peace, security and stability in the Governorate of Dhofar. Shortly afterwards, planning was initiated to restructure the Defence Forces.

In 1976, the Sultan’s Armed Forces was reorganized into separate land, air and sea forces, with respective commanders for each service. The position of Commander of the Sultan’s Armed Forces was henceforth abolished which represented a major reappraisal of how the Defence Forces would be organized going forward. Subsequently, in 1979, the position of Chief of Defence Staff was created, although the first incumbent of this post, General Sir Timothy May Creasey, was not appointed until 5 August 1981. In 1987, the Ministry of Defence underwent further restructuring, resulting in the post of Chief of Defence Staff being replaced by Chief of Staff of the Sultan's Armed Forces.[1]

List of Office Holders

!Name!Term Start!Term End
General Sir Timothy May Creasey[2] August 5, 1981December 1984
Lieutenant General Sir John Peter Barry Condliffe Watts[3] 19841987
Lieutenant General Hamid bin Said bin Mohammed Al AufiMarch 26, 1987December 12, 1990
Lieutenant General Khamis bin Hamad bin Salim Al KalbaniDecember 12, 1990June 21, 2003
Lieutenant General Ahmed bin Harith bin Nasser Al NabhaniJuly 8, 2003January 18, 2021
Vice Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis bin Abdullah Al RaisiJanuary 18, 2021Incumbent

References

  1. Web site: Office of the Chief of Staff of the Sultan's Armed Forces . Ministry of Defense of Oman.
  2. Web site: General Sir Timothy Creasey (Hansard, 19 July 1984) . 2024-08-23 . api.parliament.uk.
  3. Web site: 2003-12-15 . Lieutenant-General Sir John Watts . 2024-08-23 . The Telegraph . en.