{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Rear Admiral | name = Rodney Lees | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CVO}} | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|12|31|df=yes}} | death_date = | burial_label = | burial_place = | birth_place = | death_place = | burial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> | allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}} | branch = {{Navy|United Kingdom}} | service_years = 1962-2001 | rank = Rear admiral | service_number = | commands = | battles = | battles_label = | awards = Commander of the Royal Victorian Order | relations = | other_work = }} Rear Admiral '''Rodney Burnett Lees''', CVO (born 31 December 1944) is a former senior Royal Navy officer who served as Defence Services Secretary from 1998 to 2001.
==Naval career== Educated at Charterhouse School, Lees joined the Royal Navy in 1962.<ref name=WW>''Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-408-11414-8}}</ref> He decided to undertake legal training from 1974 and was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1976.<ref name=WW/> He became Legal Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command in 1977, Deputy Chief Supply Officer (Pay) at the Ministry of Defence in 1980 and Supply Officer for the aircraft carrier HMS ''Illustrious'' in 1982.<ref name=WW/> He went on to be Fleet Legal and Administration Officer in 1984, Secretary to the Chief of Fleet Support in 1986 and Deputy Command Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief Fleet in 1988.<ref name=WW/> After that he became Secretary to the First Sea Lord in 1990, Director of Defence Personnel in 1992 and Chief of Staff to the Second Sea Lord in 1995.<ref name=WW/> He served as Defence Services Secretary and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel and Reserves) from 1998 to 2001.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Civil service year book|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|year=2000|isbn=9780114301583 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=muEjAQAAIAAJ&q=%22defence+services+secretary%22+%22rodney+lees%22}}</ref>
==Family== In 1969 he married Rosemary Elizabeth Blake; they had two sons.<ref name=WW/> Following the dissolution of his first marriage, he married Molly McEwen in 1982.<ref name=WW/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Peter Harding}} {{s-ttl|title=Defence Services Secretary|years=1998–2001}} {{s-aft|after=Christopher Elliott}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Rodney}} Category:Royal Navy rear admirals Category:Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Category:Living people Category:People educated at Charterhouse School Category:1944 births