Tony Radakin

Admiral Antony David Radakin, CB, ADC (born 10 November 1965), is a senior Royal Navy officer. He has served as First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Naval Service, since June 2019. He was Chief of Staff, Joint Forces Command, from 2016 to 2018, and the Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff from 2018 to 2019.

Tony Radakin
Admiral Radakin in November 2019
Born (1965-11-10) 10 November 1965
Oldham, Lancashire
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1990–present
Rank Admiral
Commands heldFirst Sea Lord
Maritime Forces
HMNB Portsmouth
Combined Task Force Iraqi Maritime
HMS Norfolk
Southampton URNU
HMS Blazer
Battles/warsIraq War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Bronze Star Medal (United States)

Early life and education

Radakin was born on 10 November 1965 in Oldham, Lancashire, England.[1][2] He was educated at St. Brendan's College.[1] He studied law at the University of Southampton, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1989.[1] He qualified as a barrister,[3] and was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1996.[1] He later studied international relations and defence studies at King's College London, completing a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 2000.[3][4]

Vice Admiral Radakin as Second Sea Lord

Radakin gained his commission in the Royal Navy on 20 October 1990.[5][6] He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1 November 1996,[7] and went on to become commanding officer of the frigate HMS Norfolk in 2003, commanding officer of the US/UK Iraqi Naval Transition Team in 2006, and commanding officer of the US/UK Combined Task Force Iraqi Maritime in 2010.[5] For this tour he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by the President of the United States.[8]

Promoted to commodore on 30 August 2011,[9] Radakin became commander of HMNB Portsmouth in October 2011.[10] He was appointed Director of Force Development at the Ministry of Defence in November 2012.[11] Promoted to rear admiral on 3 December 2014,[12] he became Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces and Rear Admiral Surface Ships in December 2014,[5][13] and Chief of Staff, Joint Forces Command, in March 2016.[11][14]

Promoted to vice admiral on 27 March 2018 on appointment as Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff,[15][16] Radakin was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2018 Birthday Honours three months later.[17] He was promoted to admiral and succeeded Admiral Sir Philip Jones as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in June 2019.[2][18][19]

Personal life

In 1995, Radakin married Louise. Together they have four sons.[1] Radakin is also President of the Royal Navy Squash Association.[20]

gollark: Though with enough boosters it could just spin the *planet* instead...
gollark: Er, vacuum, not air.
gollark: Maybe it could be done with some detachable component to do the launch in the air if I was better at docking.
gollark: On Minmus I just gave it some long landing legs.
gollark: It would probably recoil itself against the ground.

References
  1. "Radakin, Vice Adm. Antony David". Who's Who 2019. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  2. "Admiral Tony Radakin CB ADC". gov.uk. Ministry of Defence. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019. First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff
  3. "New military chiefs appointed". GOV.UK. Ministry of Defence. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  4. 'RADAKIN, Rear Adm. Antony David', Who's Who 2016, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2016.
  5. "Rear Admiral Tony Radakin" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  6. "No. 52353". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 December 1990. p. 18701.
  7. "No. 54637". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1996. p. 1.
  8. "No. 59554". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 September 2010. p. 18540.
  9. "No. 59898". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 September 2011. p. 16983.
  10. "Naval base commander seen off in style". Navy News. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  11. "Ministry of Defence and tri-service senior appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  12. "No. 61071". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 December 2014. p. 23726.
  13. "Fleet awards". Royal Navy. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  14. "Chief Of Staff Joint Forces Command Visits The Rock". Your Gibraltar TV. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  15. "No. 62252". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 April 2018. p. 6366.
  16. "Admirals" (PDF). Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  17. "No. 62310". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June 2018. p. B3.
  18. "New First Sea Lord appointment announced". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  19. "A 'generation of innovators' has been appointed to run the military in a shake-up of the top ranks of the Army, Navy and RAF". The Daily Telegraph. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  20. "Admiral Tony Radakin CB ADC". GOV.UK. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
Military offices
Preceded by
Robert Tarrant		 Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces
2014–2016		 Succeeded by
Alex Burton
Preceded by
Jonathan Woodcock		 Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff
2018–2019		 Succeeded by
Nicholas Hine
Preceded by
Sir Philip Jones		 First Sea Lord
2019–		 Incumbent
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