Asif Sandila
Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila (Urdu: محمد ﺁصف سندیلہ; born: 1954, ), is a retired four-star admiral in the Pakistan Navy who was the 14th Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy. Prior to this command appointment, Sandila briefly tenured as the Vice Chief Naval Staff in the Pakistan Navy which he assumed in 2010. In 2011, President Asif Ali Zardari, on the request of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, promoted Sandila to four-star admiral and appointed him as the Chief of the Naval Staff on 7 October 2011 upon retirement of the then Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir. Biography Early life and education Asif Sandila was born into a Punjabi Jat family in a village at the Sangla Hill located in Sheikhupura District, Punjab in Pakistan in 1954. After his matriculation from a local high school in 1967, Sandila went to attend Cadet College Kohat where he secured his FSc, and went to join the Pakistan Navy in 1972. He was selected to attend the Pakistan Naval Academy, initially focusing on mathematics, and was directed to attend the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in the United Kingdom in 1974. In England, he was trained in navigation and qualified as a surface warfare officer in 1975. Upon returning to Pakistan in 1975, he was gained commissioned as S-Lt. in the Naval Operations Branch, and was trained in anti-submarine operations on PNS Jehangir in 1976–77. S-Lt. Sandila was further trained in torpedo operations and navigation at the PNS Badr in 1977–79. He served on various surface warships as principle warfare officers throughout his career in the Navy. He later attended, and is a graduate of the Naval War College in Lahore, and attended the staff course in Indonesian Navy's Naval Staff College. He later went to attend the National Defence University where he graduated with MSc in War studies. Career in the military War and command appointments in the Pakistan Navy After joining the Pakistan Navy as Midshipman in 1972, he served on the PNS Jahangir and PNS Badr as navigation and torpedo officer from 1977 until 1980. In 1985–88, Lt-Cdr. Sandila was affiliated with the Institute of Strategic Studies of the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, where he instruct courses on Strategic studies. He was later posted at the Pakistan Naval Academy in Karachi where he instruct courses on military navigation. In 1988–91, Cdr. Sandila was taken to be serve as aide-de-camp to Adm. Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey, the Chairman joint chiefs. In 1990s, Capt. Sandila later commanded , a guided-missile destroyer, and did a tour of duty when he visited Middle East and the Europe. In 2003–04, Cdre. Sandila took over the command of the 25th Destroyer Squadron as its officer in tactical command, and was leading the task force for overseeing the rescue operations from Maldives, where he was credited of rescuing more than 370 European tourists affected by the deadly underwater earthquake and tsunami in Indian Ocean in 2004. In 2005, Cdre. Sandila commanded the mission