Captain_(Naval) Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide includ ...

Phestus Nopoudjuu Sacharia (1956 - 2002) was a Namibian military officer who is served as the Commander of the

Namibian Defence Force The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) comprises the national military forces of Namibia. It was created when the country, then known as South West Africa, gained independence from South Africa in 1990. Chapter 15 of the Constitution of Namibia establ ...

Maritime Wing the forerunner to the

Namibian Navy The Namibian Navy is the maritime warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force. History Development of Namibia's navy has been slow, and the force was only formally established on 11 September 1998 as a maritime wing and in 2004 as a fully ...

. He was appointed the Commander of the Maritime Wing in 1998.

Career

Exile

Sacharia joined

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the Sou ...

under SWAPO in exile in 1975 as a 19 year old teenager and served in various Capacities and returned to Namibia in 1991.

NDF career

Sacharia's career in the Namibian Defence Force started in 1991 when he and the last PLAN Combatant group arrived in Namibia. After Namibia's independence when he was appointed as a He was appointed as a Major in the

Namibian Army The Namibian Army is the ground warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force. History Development of Namibia's army was fastest of the three arms of Service. The first units of the Army were deployed as early as 1990. The Army was formed when ...

. In 1994 he was appointed as the commander of the First group of ten Army officers sent to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

for training as Naval Officers. This group consisting of officers such as Peter Vilho, Sinsy Nghipandua graduated in 1998 from the Admiral Wandenkolk Naval Officers Formative School. Being commander of that group he was then Appointed as the first Commander of the

Maritime Wing in 1998 at this occasion he was promoted to the rank of Naval Captain, he held this position until his death in 2002. In 2012 the new Naval Base North of

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...

was named in his honour . It is official known as the Naval Base Capt (N) P.N. Sacharia
http://www.mod.gov.na/documents/264813/460948/STATEMENT+BY+H.E+POHAMBA+AT+THE+COMMISSIONING+OF+THE+NAVAL+BASE%2C+NAVAL+JETTY+AND+THE+LOGISTICS+SUPPORT+VESSEL%2C+THE+NS+ELEPHANT+ON+07+SEPTEMBER+2012%2C+WALVIS+BAY.pdf/ece5bd43-75a7-4b86-86e5-10d17bc85791

Qualifications

* Naval Officers Formative Course in Brazil

Military Decorations

Namibian Army Pioneer Medal * Naval Pioneers Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacharia, Phestus Namibian military personnel 1956 births 2002 deaths