Andrew Burns (Royal Navy officer)


Andrew Paul Burns, is a senior Royal Navy officer.

Naval career

Educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, Sherborne School and Durham University , Burns joined the Royal Navy in 1992. He also holds an MA in Defence Studies from King's College London. He was given command of the minesweeper in 2000 and, after being deployed to Iraq as a Director for Communications and Information Systems in 2004, he became commanding officer of the frigate in 2009 and then of the assault ship in 2012. He became Principal Staff Officer to the Commander Joint Forces Command in 2013, and Commander Amphibious Task Group in May 2016.
In February 2019, Burns was promoted to rear admiral, and appointed Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces and Rear Admiral Surface Ships. He was appointed Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in January 2020.