Ireland

official website of the Irish Navy

Chief of Naval Staff:
Commodore Mark Mellett

Current Appointment and Career Profile

Commodore Mellett is currently serving as Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service. His primary responsibility is overall co-ordination of Naval Service strategy.  This strategy, contributes to the delivery of Defence, security and government services in Ireland’s maritime domain as well as supporting policy objectives in the international maritime domain where Ireland has an interest.  He heads the Naval Strategic Oversight Group and has played a key role in the Navy’s fleet replacement programme. In recent years, as a founding champion of the Maritime and Energy Research Campus and Commercial Cluster (www.merc3.ie), he has been a central driver in Naval Service reform and transformation in this area.

Commodore Mellett is from County Mayo and joined the Navy in 1976. Having completed his studies at the Irish Naval College and Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, he was commissioned and qualified as an Operations Branch Officer. Amongst his seagoing appointments, in 1984 he served as Gunnery Officer on the Naval Flagship LE EITHNE having first stood by the build of this, the last naval ship built in Ireland.  His first Command was LE ORLA in 1992 and he subsequently commanded the LE CIARA in 1997.  In 2005, he commanded the Irish Naval Flagship LE EITHNE and sailed to South America in support of Irish diplomatic efforts in the region and to salute Admiral William Brown, the founder of the Argentinean who also hailed from Mayo.

During his shore rotations Commodore Mellett has held appointments in Naval Operations and Support Commands, Naval Headquarters and in the Naval College. For almost two decades he has been a key member of the Navy’s re-organisation team, which has equipped him well for the ongoing transformation required by defence policy.  As a Commander he has served as Head of Naval Plans and Policy and more recently as Commandant of the Naval College and Associate Head of the National Maritime College of Ireland. Besides citations for service in Afghanistan (2004) and Lebanon (1989), as Captain of ORLA (1994) he was honoured by becoming the Navy’s second officer recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) in recognition of the role of his ship in the detention of the drug smuggling ketch Brime.

Qualifications, Research Interests and Personal

Commodore Mellett has a PhD (2009) in Oceans Governance from the National University of Ireland, Galway and a Masters (2004) in Government and Public Policy from University College Cork.  He is a distinguished graduate of the United States Naval War College Newport RI (1999), the Irish Command and Staff College (1998) and the Royal Naval College Greenwich (1989). Commodore Mellett has a keen interest in research and has been a member of the European Security Research Innovation Forum (ESRIF). He has published a number of papers on security and maritime affaires.

Commodore Mellett is married to Liz and has four children, Laura, Sean, Lisa and Patrick. He is very interested in physical fitness and is a Naval Diver. He enjoys running, cycling and gym work. He is a member of the Carrigaline GAA club where his efforts are now mostly focussed on supporting his club and children on and off the field.