Brian Brown ( Royal Navy officer ) Admiral Sir Brian Thomas Brown KCB CBE ( born 31 August 1934 ) is a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel . Naval career . Born in Southsea and educated at Peter Symonds ' School , Brian Brown joined the Royal Navy on 1 May 1952 , entering Britannia Royal Naval College , Dartmouth as a Special Entry Cadet ( S ) in the Supply and Secretariat branch . During 28 months of general naval training he served at sea in the training cruiser HMS " Devonshire " , in the Caribbean and Mediterranean , and the maintenance carrier ( including service during the Korean War ) and ashore in HMS " Peregrine " , Royal Naval Air Station Ford , Sussex . He was promoted after one year as a Cadet ( S ) , to Midshipman ( S ) on 1 May 1953 . On promotion to Acting Sub - Lieutenant he began professional training at HMS " Ceres " , Wetherby , on 1 September 1954 before joining the Royal Naval College , Greenwich , for the Junior Officers ' War Course and naval legal training on 4 January 1955 . Courses and training successfully completed , he was confirmed as Sub - Lieutenant ( S ) on 31 August 1955 and joined the light cruiser HMS " Kenya " as Supply Officer ( Cash ) , later being appointed , in addition , Sub - Lieutenant of the Gunroom ; he was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 May 1956 . A shortage of naval aviators led to a few supply officer s being selected for flying training , something that was highly unlikely before the General List of Royal Navy officers was established on 1 April 1956 , whereby distinction between branches of naval officers reduced markedly . Brian Brown joined RAF Syerston on 2 June 1957 for basic flying training ( BFT ) on Provosts before moving on to RAF Linton - on - Ouse to continue BFT and then undergo advanced flying training ( AFT ) on Vampires , being awarded his Fleet Air Arm pilot ' s wings on 11 July 1958 . His operational flying training ( OFT ) begain when he joined the Naval Air Fighter School , HMS " Fulmar " , flying Sea Hawks . He spent the next three years in flying appointments , before reverting to traditional appointments as a Supply Officer . His first flying appointment , on 10 December 1958 , as a qualified naval aviator , was to 898 Naval Air Squadron , a front line Sea Hawk ground attack squadron , based at HMS " Goldcrest " , RNAS Brawdy , Pembrokeshire . With the squadron , he embarked in the aircraft carrier HMS " Eagle " on 14 January 1959 , seeing service in the Mediterranean ; the ship paid off in June 1959 , for major modernization , and 898 Naval Air Squadron was disbanded . In order to extend his time with the Fleet Air Arm he volunteered for helicopter flying training and joined " HMS Seahawk " , in Cornwall , on 8 June 1959 for the helicopter conversion course with 705 Naval Air Squadron , flying Hiller HT Mk 1 and Whirlwind helicopters . Three months later he was in HMS " Osprey " , Portland , for the anti - submarine operational flying course in Whirlwind Mk 7s with 737 Naval Air Squadron . Training completed , in the first week of 1960 he joined 848 Naval Air Squadron , a front - line Whirlwind Mk 7 commando helicopter squadron based at HMS " Ariel " , RNAS Worthy Down . With the squadron he embarked in HMS " Bulwark " , newly commissioned as the Royal Navy ' s first commando carrier , for work up with 42 Commando Royal Marines in Malta and Libya before sailing for operations in the Red Sea , Indian Ocean and Far East ; operational commitments included the Kuwait Crisis in July 1961 and flying in support of Army units fighting communist insurgents close to the Malaysia / Thailand border . On 13 October 1961 , Brian Brown reverted to general service supply duties when he joined the LST HMS " Narvik " as Deputy Supply Officer ; she had been converted to be the support ship in Malta for the five submarine s of the 5th Submarine Squadron and the thirteen minesweeper s of the 108th Minesweeping Squadron . He stayed in Malta , taking over as First Lieutenant and Supply Officer of the Msida Minesweeper Base , a tender to the heavy repair ship ( a converted Cunard liner ) HMS " Ausonia " on 2 June 1962 . Three months later he joined the staff of the Commander - in - Chief Mediterranean , in the RN Headquarters at Lascaris , as Staff Officer of the Committee for planning the run down of the Malta Naval Base . On completion of that task he was appointed Secretary to the Captain of the Fleet , still on the staff of the Commander - in - Chief Mediterranean , in November 1962 . He was promoted to Lieutenant - Commander on 1 May 1964 and joined the Royal Naval Supply School ( RNSS ) , HMS " Pembroke " , Chatham , for No . 4 Supply Charge Course , the senior professional course for RN Supply Officer s . His first appointment , on 4 August 1964 , was to the Main Building , Ministry of Defence , Whitehall , as Assistant Secretary to the First Sea Lord ( A / Sec / 1SL ) where he served two successive heads of the Royal Navy ; the former , Admiral Sir David Luce , resigned after the Royal Navy ' s aircraft carrier programme was cancelled by the Government in 1966 . Success , after two years in that demanding office , led to his next , prestigious , appointment as Deputy Supply Officer and Assistant Secretary to the Flag Officer Royal Yachts in HM Yacht " Britannia " on 25 August 1966 , a job he was to hold for the next twenty - seven months . On 1 November 1968 he joined HMS " Heron " , RNAS Yeovilton , as Deputy Supply Officer . Selected in June 1969 for early promotion to Commander at the end of that year , he was promoted to Acting Commander on 15 December 1969 when he took over as Secretary to Flag Officer Carriers and Amphibious Ships ( FOCAS ) , in offices ashore at Fort Southwick , overlooking Portsmouth Harbour . Eighteen months later he was back in Whitehall , appointed as a member of Naval Secretary ’ s Officers Planning Group ; he was also responsible for developing policy for the training of officers of the Supply & Secretariat specialisation . He joined the helicopter cruiser HMS " Tiger " as her Supply Officer ( ' Commander ( S ) ' ) on 29 September 1973 . The ship , flying the flag of Flag Officer Second Flotilla , led the first RN Group Deployment to the Far East returning to the UK via the Cape ; he was Group Logistics Officer and also flew on occasions as second pilot in Sea King helicopters from HMS " Tiger " ’ s 826 Naval Air Squadron to help with aircrew manning problems . His next appointment , on 15 August 1975 , as Secretary to the Vice - Chief of Naval Staff ( Sec / VCNS ) , brought with it promotion to Acting Captain . He served three years in this post in the Ministry of Defence , Whitehall , during which time he was selected for promotion to Captain ( seniority 30 June 1977 ) . He returned to HMS " Heron " , Yeovilton , on 11 September 1978 , for his next appointment as Chief Staff Officer ( Personnel & Administration ) to Flag Officer Naval Air Command . After just over a year in the Fleet Air Arm ' s headquarters , he returned to Whitehall on 9 November 1979 as Secretary to the First Sea Lord & Chief of Naval Staff ( Sec / 1SL ) . 1SL was Admiral Sir Henry Leach and the three years of his appointment included the Falklands War and the Nott Defence Review . He was honoured with a CBE in the New Year ' s Honours List and three days later , on 4 January 1983 , began the one year course in London as a student at the Royal College of Defence Studies ( RCDS ) . He was appointed Commanding Officer of the new - entry training establishment HMS " Raleigh " , in Cornwall , on 4 January 1984 , his final two - years as a Captain . He was promoted to Rear - Admiral and appointed Director - General of Naval Personal Services ( DGNPS ) on 28 January 1986 . He became Director - General of Naval Manpower and Training ( DGNMT ) on 24 November 1986 and , from 1987 , was also Chief Naval Supply and Secretariat Officer ( CNSSO ) . Promoted to Vice - Admiral on 28 September 1988 , he joined the Navy Board as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel and , concurrently , Admiral President of the Royal Naval College , Greenwich . As Second Sea Lord he secured Navy Board agreement that women should be allowed to serve at sea and the WRNS merged with the Royal Navy . He was knighted on 17 June 1989 and , on 26 August 1989 , he was promoted to full Admiral while serving as 2SL ( only the second Supply Officer to reach four - star rank ) and was placed on the Retired List of the Royal Navy on 26 June 1991 . After retiring from the Royal Navy he became Chairman of the Cray Electronic ' s Defence Group of five companies and was also appointed a non - executive director of the main company board . He subsequently became chairman of P - E International ( UK ' s oldest management consultancy company ) and a non - executive director of the IT support company , Lorien plc . He was also chairman of King George ’ s Fund for Sailors ( 1993 - 2003 ) , the Michael May Young Cricketers Foundation ( 1992 - 2004 ) and of the Executive Committee of the Nuffield Trust for Forces of the Crown ( 1996 - 2006 ) . Additionally he was president of the Victory Services Association ( 1993 - 2004 ) , the Friends of the Royal Naval Museum & HMS " Victory " ( 1992 - 2003 ) and CPRE Hampshire ( 2008 - 2013 ) and he continues to be president of the Portsmouth Services Fly Fishing Association ( 2005 to date ) . He was a council member of the Forces Pension Society ( 1992 - 1998 ) and its vice - president ( 1999 - 2013 ) , and a council member of the Navy Records Society ( 1993 – 97 ) . He was also Churchwarden , Froxfield with Privett ( 1999 - 2008 ) and Joint Master Clinkard and Meon Valley Beagles ( 2003 - 2009 ) . He was accepted as a Freeman of the City of London in 1989 and has been a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners since 1991 . Family . In 1959 he married Veronica ( Ronnie ) Mary Elizabeth Bird ( Lady Brown ) . They have two sons and live in the village of Froxfield near Petersfield . His leisure activities include beagling , fly fishing , gardening and protecting the Hampshire countryside .