George Zambellas

Admiral Sir George Michael Zambellas, (born 4 April 1958) is the current First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff of the Royal Navy. In his early career he served as a helicopter pilot with 814 Naval Air Squadron, 829 Naval Air Squadron and then 815 Naval Air Squadron. As captain of HMS Chatham (F87) he was deployed as part of Operation Palliser off Sierra Leone for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross in 2001. He went on to be Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff of the Royal Navy in early 2012.

Early life
Born the son of Michael George Zambellas and Rosemary Frederique Zambellas (née Lindsay), Zambellas was educated at Shabani Primary School in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), at Stowe School and then at Southampton University where he studied aeronautical and astronautical engineering. He is of Greek descent.

Military career
Zambellas was commissioned as an acting sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy on 17 September 1980. He was promoted to lieutenant on 16 May 1982 and served with 814 Naval Air Squadron, 829 Naval Air Squadron and 815 Naval Air Squadron in his early career.

Zambellas was trained for the naval staff at Greenwich in 1990, and after spending a short time as a corporate planner for the Royal Navy’s manpower and training division within the Ministry of Defence, he took command of the mine-sweeper HMS Cattistock (M31) in 1991. His next appointment was ashore, as an aviation operations officer in the Fleet Headquarters at Northwood, before being promoted to commander on 30 June 1994. In 1995 he was given command of the frigate HMS Argyll (F231) and was deployed on counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean. Zambellas served as a corporate planner during the 1997/98 Strategic Defence Review before returning to operational command in 1999 as captain of the frigate HMS Chatham (F87) and being deployed as part of Operation Palliser off Sierra Leone for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross in 2001. In 2001 he took the Higher Command and Staff Course at Shrivenham before becoming Deputy Flag Officer Sea Training, responsible for training Royal Navy and foreign warships and auxiliaries.

Promoted to commodore in 2002, Zambellas was appointed to be principal staff officer to the Chief of the Defence Staff and served Admiral Boyce and General Walker during the invasion of Iraq and the early days of its fallout. He was given command of the Royal Navy’s Amphibious Task Group in January 2005.

Promoted to rear admiral on 29 August 2006 and appointed Chief of Staff (Transformation), Zambellas was in this role entrusted with "designing and delivering the Fleet’s new approach to the generation of maritime capability and support to operations." In 2007, he became Commander United Kingdom Maritime Force, and in October 2008, he became Chief of Staff (Operations) at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood.

Promoted vice admiral in January 2011, Zambellas was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Chief of Staff to Navy Command Headquarters, and Chief Naval Warfare Officer. He became Commander-in-Chief Fleet in January 2012 and was promoted admiral on 6 January 2013. In April 2012 his role was re-designated Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of the Naval Service.

Zambellas was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2012 Birthday Honours and became First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff on 9 April 2013.

Zambellas is a Younger Brother of Trinity House.

Family
In 1982 Zambellas married Amanda Jane LeCudennec; they have three sons.