Hasan Hafeez Ahmed

Hasan Hafeez Ahmad was born in Multan, Punjab, British India, in 1926.^: 3 [1] 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.^{: 288–289 [3]}

After his high school graduation in 1943, he joined the Royal Indian Navy as a petty officer and participated in World War II.^{: 289 [3]} In 1945, he joined the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England where he graduated in 1947.^: 3 [1] Upon returning to British India, he joined the Pakistan Navy and was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant.^: 3 [1] He continued his training with the Royal Navy and specialized in technical naval courses from the United Kingdom in 1947-49.^: 3 [1]

In 1964, he attended the Joint Service Defence College in Latimer Buckinghamshire, England, and subsequently graduated with a joint staff degree in 1965.^: 3 [1] 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.^: 3 [1] After the war, he was posted to the Pakistan Embassy in Washington D.C. as a military attaché which he remained until 1966.^: 3 [1] In 1970, he was appointed the first commandant of the Pakistan Naval Academy as a Commodore and was appointed Commander Coast in 1971 as a Rear-Admiral. ^{: 3 [1]: 235 [4]: Annexure [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.^{: 180 [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 He was the most junior officer and superseded five seniors including three Rear-Admirals and two Commodores.^{: 76–77 [7]}

As a naval chief, his task was to reconstruct and rebuild the navy into a formidable force.^: 46 [8] In a short space 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.^: 46 [8]

On 8 March 1975, he died from sickness unexpectedly while serving as naval chief and commanding the navy, at the age of 49.^: 44 [9] He was the first of three chiefs of staff who died in the office- the others being General Asif Nawaz and Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir.

• Official website of Pakistan Navy Archived 30 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine