PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT

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LIEUTENANT COLONEL (U) HASNUL ALWE BIN HAJI MATASSAN
Ministry of Defence Spokesperson​

Lt Col (U) Hasnul Alwe Haji Matassan (Hasnul) enlisted with the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) on 9^th February 2001 and was later commissioned in June 2003 upon the completion of the Initial Officer Training Course at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell United Kingdom. 

He began his tour as a pilot trainee at the No 3 Squadron (Currently 73 Squadron) Basic Flying Training School, Training Wing of the Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF) on the Pilatus PC7-MKII (2004); followed by his multi-engine flying training at the British Aerospace and Engineering (BAe) System in Tamworth, Australia on Piper Seneca III (2006). Upon returning, he was then posted to the No 5 Squadron (Currently 15 Squadron), Operations Wing of the RBAirF for his operational conversion training on CASA CN235-110M and served operationally afterwards. His operational flying experiences include several Search and Rescue (SAR) missions and other regional transport missions which include Medical Evacuations (MEDEVAC) for senior citizens involved in a tragic road accident in Ranau-Tamparuli, Sabah (2011); the UBD students mercy flight to Tawau, Sabah (2013); several International Monitoring Team (IMT) changeover transport tasks to Mindanao, Republic of the Philippines (2008-2013); the Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) operation for the Typhoon Haiyan Tacloban, Republic of the Philippines (2013); as well as assisting the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport’s Sport School transport task to Balikpapan, Indonesia (2016). His last executive post was as the Flight Commander Operations prior to being posted to RBAirF Headquarters. 

Lt Col (U) Hasnul has also attended other aviation-related courses throughout his operational tour including the International Aviation Safety Officer Course, Royal Australian Air Force (2009) and Aircraft Accident Investigator Course, Republic of Singapore Air Force (2010). These credentials were immediately put to the test during his involvement with the RBAirF Bell 212 helicopter crash incidents in 2012 during the preliminary stages of the investigation. Furthermore, he was recognized as the youngest member and the pioneer for the National Investigator Team under the Ministry of Transport and Info-Communication from 2018 to 2022. 

He assumed his staff tour at the headquarters as the Staff Officer Grade 2 Capability Development Cell (CDC) RBAirF and subsequently as the head upon completion of his command and staff course in 2018, whilst concurrently holding a very brief tour as Staff Officer Grade 2 Operations (A3).  Amongst the RBAirF capability projects, he was heavily involved with the introduction into the service of the Unmanned Aerial System Project and assigned as the Head of Delegation for Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) as well as Customer Acceptance Tests (CAT) at the Boeing Insitute, United States of America, leading towards the unveiling of the system by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Dipertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam during the RBAF Diamond Jubilee (2021). His further involvement for the Air Transport Project continued up to the Contract Implementation Phase in preparation for the System Delivery by 2024.

He also fulfilled other short tours and assignments which among others include being Aide-de-camp to the Commander of RBAF (2009). Lt Col (U) Hasnul is an avid graphic designer and has been assigned to a few of RBAF’s pesambah design projects, significant designs include projects for the Brunei International Tattoo’s (2011) and for the Golden Jubilee of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Dipertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam’s Succession to the Throne (2017). He designed the RBAF Defence Academy’s logos; RBAF Officer Cadet School (2009), RBAF Defence Academy (2010) and RBAF Command and Staff Course (2013). Lt Col (U) Hasnul has taken leadership roles in various RBAF projects such as the establishment of Pusat PRIHATIN ABDB (2020), Aplikasi Kesejahteraan Tentera (2020), Buku Panduan Kesejahteraan Tentera ABDB (2020), Buku Strategi dan Pelan Tindakan Kebajikan ABDB (2020) and the initial member for developing Force 2035 project (in-progress) and Force Structure Review project (in-progress). 

Lt Col (U) Hasnul’s personnel development courses include the RBAF Junior Staff Course 11/2010 at RBAF Training Institute and the RBAF Command and Staff College (CSC) 8/2018 RBAF Defence Academy in which he was awarded Post Graduate Diploma in International Security from Massey University, New Zealand and received the RBAF CSC Commendation Award. His Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) paper was amongst the Top 5 policy papers for the 17^th Executive Development Program (2022).

Lt Col (U) Hasnul was awarded the Pingat Indah Kerja Baik (P.I.K.B) in 2018 and the Long Service Medal and Good Conduct (P.K.L.P.B) in 2022.

He is married to Dayangku Moniri and blessed with a daughter; Hani Qaireena. Lt Col (U) Hasnul is a sports enthusiast particularly in running (up to ultra-marathon distances), triathlons and enjoys an active lifestyle.

CHRONOLOGY: LEADERSHIP OVER THE YEARS