Rear Admiral Martin Brian Alabaster

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 10 August 1958) is a retired senior officer in the British

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 ...

Early life

Alabaster spent his early years in Devon, Pembrokeshire and Hampshire but for the majority of his upbringing lived in south London. There, he attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

.Dulwich College official site - Martin Alabaster appointed FOSNNI
/ref> He later joined the

and entered

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 ...

in Dartmouth, at the rank of Midshipman in January 1977. Martin completed his Naval General Training, and then went up to Queens' College, Cambridge to read Engineering.Royal Navy Official site - profile of Martin Alabaster
/ref>

Naval career

Alabaster took up his first sea appointment as the Weapons Section Officer in . He later attained an MSc in Electronics at

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

and then became the Project Manager for Seawolf missile development. He also returned to the

as a Senior Divisional Officer. Whilst in the rank of Commander, he spent some time in HMS London as the Weapon Engineering Officer as well as acting as Naval Assistant to the Chief of Fleet Support. His promotion to captain saw him in the role of Assistant Director of Combat Systems, Communications and Electronic Warfare and he became the first Director of Equipment Capability. In 2001 he became a member of the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest lev ...

. He was promoted to Commodore and spent three years in the Defence Procurement Agency in Abbey Wood as the Head of Project Management. He then spent a further two years in the Fleet Headquarters as Assistant Chief of Staff (Engineering), responsible for all aspects of engineering and safety in ships, submarines, aircraft and establishments of the Fleet Command. He then once again returned to

, Dartmouth, as commander of the facility. He left this role when he was promoted in September 2008 to Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland (FOSNNI) and Flag Officer Reserves, stationed in HM Naval Base Clyde. This position made him the Royal Navy's senior officer in Scotland with representational duties everywhere north of the M4. As Flag Officer Reserves he commands the Royal Naval and Royal Marines Reserves. He was appointed CBE on 11 June 2011. He then retired from service on 9 September 2011.

Personal life

Martin Alabaster married Moira Bain, a professional violinist and viola player, with whom he has two children, Hugh (born 1995) and Maddy (born 1997). His residence is in

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

, in Wiltshire.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabaster, Martin 1958 births Living people People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Royal Navy rear admirals Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Military personnel from Devon