Hasan Hafeez Ahmed Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Vice Admiral
Hasan Hafeez Ahmed
Term Start:3 March 1972
Term End:9 March 1975
Birth Name:Hasan Hafeez Ahmed
Birth Date:1926[1]
Birth Place:Multan, Punjab, British Indian Empire
Awards: Hilal-i-Quaid-e-Azam
Sitara-e-Pakistan
Tamgha-e-Quaid-e-Azam (1965)
Nickname:H.H. Ahmed
Serviceyears:1945–1975
Unit:Navy Executive Branch
Battles:

Vice Admiral Hasan Hafeez Ahmed (Urdu:; b. 1926-8 March 1975[2]),, usually shortened to H.H. Ahmed, was a senior Pakistan Navy officer who served as the first Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) of Pakistan Navy from 1972 until his death from sickness in 1975.[2]

Despite appointed to the four-star appointment, he was retained at the three-star rank and took over the command of the Navy from its Commander-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Muzaffar Hassan who was dismissed from the military service.

Biography

Hassan Hafeez Ahmad was born in Multan, Punjab, British India, in 1926. He was educated in a local school in Multan and was a contemporary of Mansoor Shah who would later join the Pakistan Air Force in 1947.[3]

After his high school graduation in 1943, he joined the Royal Indian Navy as a petty officer and participated in World War II.[3] In 1945, he joined the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England where he graduated in 1947. Upon returning to British India, he joined the Pakistan Navy and was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant. He continued his training with the Royal Navy and specialized in technical naval courses from the United Kingdom in 1947-49.

In 1964, he attended the Joint Service Defence College in Latimer Buckinghamshire, England, and subsequently graduated with a joint staff degree in 1965. Upon his return, he was posted in Ministry of Defence as an undersecretary as a Director of Naval Operations and participated in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965. After the war, he was posted to the Pakistan Embassy in Washington D.C. as a military attaché which he remained until 1966. In 1970, he was appointed as the first commandant of the Pakistan Naval Academy as a Commodore and was appointed as Commander Coast in 1971 as a Rear-Admiral. [4] [5]

After participating in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 he continued to serve as commander of the coastal defense command but demoted to Commodore in the Navy.[6] In 1972, he was elevated as the first Chief of Naval Staff after the dismissal of Muzaffar Hassan. He was the most junior officer and superseded five senior's including three Rear-Admirals and two Commodores.[7]

As a naval chief, his task was to reconstruct and rebuild the navy into a formidable force.[8] In a short spa of time, he transformed the Navy into three-dimensional force when he commissioned the naval aviation and commissioning the new Navy NHQ in Rawalpindi in the vicinity of Army GHQ in 1974.[8]

On 8 March 1975, he died from sickness unexpectedly while serving as naval chief and commanding the navy, at the age of 49.[9] He was the first of three chief's of staff who died in the office- the others being General Asif Nawaz and Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Martell. Paul. Hayes. Grace P.. World military leaders. 1974. Bowker. 9780835207850. 3 January 2017. en.
  2. Book: Rizvi. Hasan Askari. The Military & Politics in Pakistan, 1947-1997. 2000. Sang-e-Meel Publications. 9789693511482. 3 January 2017. en.
  3. Book: Shah, PAF. Air Commodore Mansoor. The Gold Bird: Pakistan and Its Air Force—Observations of a Pilot. 2002. Oxford University Press. Karachi, [pk]. 9780195797725. 3 January 2017. en.
  4. Book: Roy. Mihir K.. War in the Indian Ocean. 1995. Lancer Publishers. 9781897829110. 3 January 2017. en.
  5. Book: Cardozo. Major General Ian. The Sinking of INS Khukri: Survivor's Stories. December 2006. Roli Books Private Limited. 9789351940999. 3 January 2017. en.
  6. Book: Hussain. Syed Shabbir. Ayub, Bhutto, and Zia: How They Fell Victim to Their Own Plans. 2000. Sang-e-Meel Publications. 9789693510805. 3 January 2017. en.
  7. Book: Jafri. Maqsood. The Ideals of Bhutto. 2008. National Book Foundation. 3 January 2017. en.
  8. Book: Anwar. Dr Muhammad. Friends Near Home: Pakistan's Strategic Security Options. 27 November 2006. AuthorHouse. 9781467015417. 3 January 2017. en.
  9. Ali. S. Akhtar. Death of a Silent Admiral. Pakistan Economist. 1 January 1975. 15. 1–13. 3 January 2017. S. Akhtar Ali. en.