Sheikh Muhammad Abul Kalam Azad (born April 30, 1967) is a

two star Two star, two stars and similar may refer to: * A grading of a hotel, restaurant, film, etc. in a star (classification) scheme * Two star petrol, a class of Leaded petrol formerly sold in the UK * Two-star rank, a senior military rank * Two-Handed ...

Admiral of Bangladesh and incumbent high commissioner of Bangladesh to Maldives. He is former Commander of Bangladesh Navy Fleet. Earlier he held a range of salient appointments, namely Chairman of

Chittagong Port Authority Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is a government agency of Bangladesh responsible for the management, maintenance and governance of the country's major port of Chittagong, located in the city of Chittagong on the Karnaphuli River nine nautical m ...

, Chairman of

Mongla port Authority Mongla Port Authority is an autonomous organisation responsible for Mongla Port and is located in Mongla, Bangladesh. The Chairman of Mongla Port Authority is Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa, OSP, NPP, rcds, afwc, psc, PhD. History The port authori ...

, Director of Naval Intelligence & Naval Administrative Authority Dhaka.

Early life and education

Sheikh Muhammad Abul Kalam Azad was born into the

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

noble Sheikh family of Mohendrapur village of Kumarkhali Upazila of

Kushtia District Kushtia District ( bn, কুষ্টিয়া জেলা, pronunciation: ''kuʃʈia'') is a district in the Khulna administrative division of western Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh ...

on April 30, 1967. He is the youngest son of late Sheikh Osman Gani and Khadeza Begum. He is an alumnus of the first batch of

Pabna Cadet College Pabna Cadet College ( bn, পাবনা ক্যাডেট কলেজ), is a military high school, modeled after public schools in the UK (according to the Public Schools Act 1868), financed partially by the Bangladesh Army, located at ...

Military training

He joined Bangladesh Navy in January 1985 as an officer cadet and was commissioned in executive branch on July 1, 1987. During his career, Rear Admiral Azad went through various education and training courses both at home and abroad. Namely, he completed his International Sub Lieutenant Course (ISLC) in

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

, Dartmouth,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and finished his initial staff course from

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He went to Army Language School in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in 1996 for a

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

course and also did a gunnery specialization course from the Naval Training Centre in Istanbul. Admiral Azad successfully completed his command and staff course at the session 1999–2000 from Defence services command and staff college, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. And also is an alumnus of National Defence College, Mirpur. Furthermore, he completed an

International humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war ('' jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by pro ...

course in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He also got the opportunity to attend The Executive Decision Making Course from Naval Postgraduate School,

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Military career

Being a successful gunner, Admiral Azad commanded almost all types of ships and establishments. His sea command includes two frigates,. BNS ''Umar Farooq'' and BNS ''Osman''. The two frigates are the first ever frigate and the first ever guided missile frigate of the Bangladesh Navy. The admiral also commanded two OPVs, BNS ''Sangu'' and BNS ''Madhumati'', and also one small patrol craft, BNS ''Tamjid''. The Admiral's shore commands have included two major naval bases of the Bangladesh Navy, BNS ''Titumir'' & BNS ''Issa Khan''. His key staff appointment includes Staff Officer of Naval Training (SOT), Staff officer operations (SOO) of Commander Khulna Naval area and Officer-in- Charge of field intelligence staff (FIS), Khulna. Being a specialized gunnery officer the Admiral was also the officer in charge of Gunnery School, BNS ''Isa Khan''. In 23 February 2022, he appointed as the high commissioner of Maldives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azad, Rear Admiral S M Abul Kalam 1967 births Living people People from Kushtia District Bangladeshi Navy admirals Bangladesh Navy personnel High Commissioners of Bangladesh to the Maldives Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Naval Postgraduate School alumni Pabna Cadet College alumni Bangladeshi people of Arab descent