The government has appointed Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Rear Admiral Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal as the new chief of Naval Staff (CNS).
The Ministry of Defence issued a gazette notification in this regard on Saturday.
It said the appointment will come into effect in the afternoon of July 25 when Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal would be promoted to the rank of Admiral. He was made the Navy chief for three years until July 24, 2023.
Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal will replace incumbent Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Aurangzeb Chowdhury who will go on retirement on July 25.
Rear Admiral Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal joined Bangladesh Navy as an officer cadet in 1980. He worked his way through Bangladesh Naval Academy and was commissioned in Executive Branch on 01 December 1982.
During his service career, Rear Admiral Shaheen attended various courses at home and abroad. He did specialisation on ‘Anti-Submarine Warfare’ from India. He successfully completed ‘Officers’ Weapon Course’ in SI&T, Sylhet and ‘International Surface Warfare Course’ in USA. He is a graduate of ‘Naval Staff College’ in USA.
Later on, Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal completed ‘Armed Forces War Course’ (AFWC) in 2005 and ‘National Defence Course’ (NDC) in 2010 respectively from National Defence College, Mirpur, Dhaka.
He also successfully completed ‘Combined Force Maritime Component Commander Flag Officers Course’ (CFMCC) at Hawaii in USA in 2015. He received commendation from Chief of Naval Staff for outstanding performance in professional courses.
In his long naval career, Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal commanded various types of Naval Ships like – Frigate, Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), Large Patrol Craft (LPC) and Fast Attack Craft (FAC).
He also successfully commanded two important shore establishments of Bangladesh Navy – BNS Titumir and School of Maritime Warfare and Tactics (SMWT).
The officer served in National Security Intelligence (NSI) as Director from 26 January 2011 to 06 February 2013.
Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal assumed the duties of Commodore Commanding Khulna (COMKHUL) on 07 February 2013 and completed his tenure with utmost success on 19 January 2015.
During his service, Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal was appointed in many staff appointments. He served as Director of Naval Intelligence, Director of Naval Operations and Staff Officer Intelligence at Naval Headquarters.
He also served as Staff Officer Operations of Commodore Commanding BN Flotilla. Vice Admiral Shaheen Iqbal was a proud ‘Blue Flag’ bearer as a member of UN Guard Contingent in Iraq from 15 November 1997 to 09 February 1999.
Rear Admiral Shaheen attended a number of international seminars like ‘Senior Executive Seminar in NESA Center For Strategic Studies’ held in USA.
As a member of Bangladeshi delegation team, he also attended the oral hearing in connection with “Arbitration between Bangladesh and India” at the PCA, Hague, Netherlands.
Besides, he headed a high-level delegation to Turkey in 2014 and attended ‘1st Naval Staff Talks’ between Turkish Navy and Bangladesh Navy under the ‘Implementation Plan 2014’.
Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal is a widely travelled person, who visited USA, UK, France, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Hong Kong, China, Nepal and Australia.
Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal is married to Monira Rowshan Iqbal who served as a teacher. Their only son Muntasir Mamun Iqbal is presently serving as lecturer in Department of Economics of North South University, Dhaka.
Rear Admiral Shaheen Iqbal is fond of travelling, gardening and reading books. He is also a keen lover of music and enjoys Golf and Tennis.
Currently the Bangladesh Navy has one Admiral with fourteen Rear Admirals and no Vice Admiral.
