Alan Massey

Sir Alan Massey
Born	9 March 1953
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	HMS Illustrious HMS Ark Royal Naval Home Command
Battles/wars	Afghanistan War Iraq War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Vice Admiral Sir Alan Michael Massey, KCB, CBE (born 9 March 1953) is a former senior officer in the Royal Navy who served as the Second Sea Lord.

Naval career

Educated at the University of Liverpool and Britannia Royal Naval College, Alan Massey saw service as captain of HMS Newcastle, HMS Campbeltown, HMS Illustrious during operations against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001 and as captain of HMS Ark Royal when he led the amphibious assault into Iraq in 2003.^[1] He led the Operations Division of the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood and then went on to be Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in July 2005.^[1] He assumed office as Second Sea Lord in a ceremony aboard HMS Victory in July 2008.^[1]

Later life

Having left the Navy, Massey was appointed Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on 20 July 2010.^[2]

Family

He and his wife, Julie, live in Southsea with their four children. Lady Julie Massey is sponsor of Royal Navy's destroyer HMS Defender.

Honours

On 31 October 2003, Massey was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services whilst on operations in Iraq during the period 19th March to 19th April 2003".^[3] He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours.^[4] He is a recipient of two campaign medals: the Iraq Medal and the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan.

References