Rear Admiral Rodney Burnett Lees, CVO (born 31 December 1944) is a former senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer who served as

Defence Services Secretary The Defence Services Secretary is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Responsibilities The Defence Services Secretary is the senior member of the Royal Household responsible for liaison between the Sover ...

from 1998 to 2001.

Naval career

Educated at Charterhouse School, Lees joined the Royal Navy in 1962.''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

2010'',

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 18 ...

, 2010, He decided to undertake legal training from 1974 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

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in 1976. He became Legal Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command in 1977, Deputy Chief Supply Officer (Pay) at the Ministry of Defence in 1980 and Supply Officer for the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

HMS ''Illustrious'' in 1982. He went on to be Fleet Legal and Administration Officer in 1984, Secretary to the

Chief of Fleet Support The Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Supplies originally known as the Fourth Naval Lord was formerly one of the Naval Lords and members of the Board of Admiralty which controlled the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom the post is currently known ...

in 1986 and Deputy Command Secretary to the

Commander-in-Chief Fleet The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional he ...

in 1988. After that he became Secretary to the

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...

in 1990, Director of Defence Personnel in 1992 and Chief of Staff to the

Second Sea Lord The Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (formerly Second Sea Lord) is deputy to the First Sea Lord and the second highest-ranking officer to currently serve in the Royal Navy and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establish ...

in 1995. He served as

and

Assistant Chief of Defence Staff The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank (rear admiral, air vice-marshal, or major general). They work in the Minis ...

(Personnel and Reserves) from 1998 to 2001.

Family

In 1969 he married Rosemary Elizabeth Blake; they had two sons. Following the dissolution of his first marriage, he married Molly McEwen in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Rodney Royal Navy rear admirals Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Living people People educated at Charterhouse School 1944 births