Have you ever heard of a ‘rear admiral’ before? Neither had I until I came across this Maltese-Aussie’s outstanding achievements. As Google puts it, a rear admiral is “a rank of naval officer, above commodore and below vice admiral.”

Who is Greg?

Gregory John Sammut, or more commonly known as Greg, is a rear admiral in the Royal Australian Navy. The naval officer of Maltese descent was born in Sydney in 1966 and has had quite the success in his career.

His achievements

1. Greg served as the commanding officer of the Collins class submarine HMAS Farncomb for which he was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross in 2001. He also commanded various ships such as the HMA Ballarat and Toowoomba.

2. He was directly responsible to the Commander of Coalition Forces in the Northern Arabian Gulf, and was awarded a Commendation for Distinguished Service in 2008.

3. From October 2010 to April 2011, Greg was Commander Combined Task Force 150, commanding operations of the maritime counter-terrorism task force of Combined Maritime Forces in the Middle East Area of Operations.

4. In recent years, he was given shore duties such as Commander Submarine Sea Training, Chief Staff Officer – Operations in Fleet Command, Chief of Staff to Chief of Navy, and much more (there are too many to list!).

5. In 2013, Greg was promoted to his current position, rear admiral and assumed duties as Head Future Submarine Program.

6. In January 2016, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his exceptional duties. And by the looks of it, he totally deserved it!

He’s definitely making Malta proud!