RN officer of Maltese descent to be promoted captain

Adrian Cassar, whose father is Maltese, has been selected for promotion to Royal Navy captain at this year's promotion round.

Previously the commanding officer of the Type 23 frigate HMS Grafton, when it visited Malta in 2004 on her return from operations in the Arabian Gulf, he is now responsible for managing the careers of 300 warfare commanders in the navy, placing them into command and senior appointments in defence.

Commander Cassar joined the RN in 1978 and graduated in politics and economics through a cadetship to the University of York in 1982.

Following a period as a frigate bridge watchkeeper, he qualified as a mine warfare and clearance diving officer in 1985.

He took command of the Sandown class deep minehunter, HMS Inverness, in 1995, deploying to the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and was the navy's nomination for command of the Nato Northern Region Mine Countermeasures Squadron in 2002.

Trained as a principle warfare officer, he enjoyed appointments to the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and the Type 22 frigate HMS London in the 1990s, latterly as operations officer, with deployments to the US, the Arabian Gulf and the Far East.

Taking the first of the joint advanced staff courses, he graduated with a Masters in defence studies in 1998, after which, on promotion to commander, he joined the central staff of the Defence Ministry, responsible for mine countermeasures capability within the Directorate of Naval Operations. Commander Cassar assumed command of HMS Grafton in September 2003 and deployed to the Gulf for operations in Iraqi waters, protecting the offshore oil terminals and helping the new Iraqi Coastal Defence Force to become proficient.

The 47-year-old left Grafton for the Joint Services Command and Staff College in February 2005, where he assisted in the running of the higher command and staff course - the senior course run to educate officers in operational art and campaign planning.