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Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service

Commodore Mark Mellett (DSM)

FOCNS Commodore Mark Mellett DSM

Commodore Mark Mellett (DSM), Officer Commanding Naval Operations Command, has been appointed the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service (FOCNS). Commodore Mellett takes up the appointment which was vacated by Commodore Frank Lynch on his retirement in December 2010.

Military Experience

Commodore Mellett is from Mayo and joined the Navy in 1976. His first Command was the LÉ ORLA in 1992 and he subsequently commanded the LÉ CIARA in 1997 and the Irish Naval Flagship LÉ EITHNE in 2005. Commodore Mellett has held a broad range of appointments in the Naval Headquarters and more recently as Commandant of the Naval College and Associate Head of the National Maritime College of Ireland.

Overseas Experience

Besides citations for service in Afghanistan (2004) and Lebanon (1989), as Captain of LÉ 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 yacht ‘Brime’.

Commodore Mellett holds a PhD in Oceans Governance from the National University of Ireland, Galway and has published a number of papers on security and maritime affairs.

Commodore Mellett is married to Liz and has four children, Laura, Sean, Lisa and Patrick.

 

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