Capt. Martin A. Sebastian, Royal Malaysian Navy (R), joined MIMA in Nov 2011 as Senior Fellow and Centre Head of the Centre for Maritime Security and Diplomacy. Prior to joining MIMA, Capt. Martin completed three years of secondment with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), United Nations Headquarters, New York. He served in the Office of Military Affairs (OMA) as a Strategic Planner in the Military Planning Service (MPS). In OMA, he was appointed as Team Leader for Africa Planning Team II covering West African peacekeeping missions. He pioneered the setting up of a maritime planning section in MPS and was appointed as the OMA Team Leader for the Maritime Working Group, which monitored planning requirements for the UNIFIL Multinational Maritime Operations in Lebanon and riverine operations in peacekeeping missions.
During his tenure in the Royal Malaysian Navy, he held various Command and Staff appointments. Command appointments include Commanding Officer KD Handalan / Squadron Leader of the 1st Missile Squadron, Commanding Officer of KD Lekir of the 22nd Corvette Squadron and Commanding officer of KD Sri Selangor of the 12th Training Squadron. He also held appointments as Commanding Officer of the offshore stations LIMA and MIKE in the Spratlys. Staff appointments include Assistant Chief of Staff (Warfare) at the Fleet Operations Command Headquarters Lumut, Directing Staff at the Malaysian Armed Forces Joint Warfare Centre (MAFJWC) and Desk Officer UNPKO, Malaysian Armed Forces Headquarters, Kuala Lumpur).
He held various other staff appointment ashore and the fleet. Capt. Martin attended the Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) specialist course in the Indian Naval Academy, INS Venduruthy, and attended the Joint Warfare Course in the Australian Defence Force Warfare Centre (ADFWC). He also attended the UNPKO Instructor Course with the UN Staff College in Turin, Italy. He studied French (DELF)) at Alliance Francaise Kuala Lumpur and continued in Morocco, whilst serving as a UN Military Observer and obtained the Certificate in French Military Language (CMLF) from France. Capt. Martin holds an MBA from Charles Sturt University, Australia and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, United Kingdom. He is an alumi of the International Ocean Institute after undergoing a course on Ocean Governance at Dalhousie University, Canada. Capt. Martin is an Associate Fellow with the International Association for Counter Terrorism and Security Professionals (IACSP). He has led study groups and written his ideas extensively in journals, book chapters and media articles. He speaks on Peacekeeping, Maritime Security, Counter Terrorism, HADR and SAR at ASEAN, ARF, IORA and CSCAP. He developed the Private Maritime Security Company (PMSC) policy for Malaysia and the policy for the National Maritime Single Points of Contact (NMSPOC)
