Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content

ROYAL BRUNEI AIR FORCE COMMANDER

Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sahat was appointed as Commander of the Royal Brunei Air Force on 15 August 2018, by the consent of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Hamzah was enlisted into the Royal Brunei Armed Forces in September 1988. In 1989, he graduated from the Initial Officer Training (IOT) at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Cranwell, United Kingdom where he also did his Basic Flying Training (BFT) in the same year. He then went on to do his Advanced Flying Training (AFT) at RAF Valley in 1990, and the Tactical Weapon Unit (TWU) at RAF Chivenor from 1990 to 1991.

On his return to Brunei, he flew the BO-105 helicopter from 1992-1997. In 1997, Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan  Haji Hamzah went to UK to do the Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) course at RAF Topcliffe & RAF Linton on-Ouse. On completion of the course, he was instructing on the then newly introduced Pilatus PC-7 MKII in Brunei. He became the Flight Commander Fixed Wing (Flt Comd FW) and later became the Officer Commanding (OC) of the Flying Training School (FTS) in 2000.

In 2002, Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Hamzah attended the 6th Advanced Command & Staff Course (ACSC) at Joint Services Command & Staff College, UK where he graduated with the Master of Arts awarded by King’s College London. On his return to Brunei in 2003, he held the post of Staff Officer Grade 2 (SO2) Operation in the Royal Brunei Air Force. In 2005, he was posted to the Directorate of Operation at the Ministry of Defence as Staff Officer Grade 1 (SO1) Operation and was responsible for coordinating, planning and monitoring all RBAF operations. He was then posted back to the Royal Brunei Air Force in 2007 to take the post of the Commanding Officer (CO) of Operation Wing where he was responsible for all the operational flying assets in the Royal Brunei Air Force.  In 2010, he attended the National Defence College (NDC) in India and was conferred by the University of Madras, the Master of Philsophy (MPhil) with First Class in Defence and Strategic Studies.

On his return from India, Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Hamzah became the Chief of Staff (COS) of Joint Force Headquarters (JFHQ) from the end of 2010 to early Nov 2012. As COS, JFHQ, he was responsible in coordinating all the Joint Staff efforts in planning, executing and monitoring operations of RBAF and also combined operations with government agencies. This also included coordinating exercises with other armed forces. On 19 December 2014, he was appointed as Joint Force Commander of Royal Brunei Armed Forces.

On 15 August 2015, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam bestowed the Darjah Pahlawan Negara Brunei (P.S.P.N.B) Yang Amat Perkasa Darjah Pertama which caries the title Dato Seri Pahlawan.

Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Hamzah is married to Datin Dr Hajah Anita Binurul Zahrina binti Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abd Aziz and is blessed with 2 children.