COMMANDING OFFICER
SECOND BATTALION
ROYAL BRUNEI LAND FORCE
Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata bin Abdullah Awat was born on 20 March 1975 in Brunei Darussalam. He is the 20thCommanding Officer of Second Battalion Royal Brunei Land Force (2Bn RBLF) with effect from 13 February 2015.
He began to serve with the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) on 18 April 1996. Upon completed the basic recruit training, he was commissioned as an Officer Cadet on 4 November 1996. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 04 February 1998 after successfully completed his Officer Cadet Course in Singapore.
Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata's first tour of duty was as an Infantry Platoon Commander with 'G' Company 2Bn RBLF in 1998. Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata attended his Platoon Commander Battle Course in the United Kingdom. He then later attended the Jungle Warfare Long Range Patrol Course held at Training Team Brunei (TTB) Seria and in late December 1998 he attended the 154 Airborne course in Changi Camp, Singapore.
He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 2001 and served as a Motor Transport Officer in Admin Company 2Bn RBLF. In 2002 Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata was promoted to the rank of Captain and was then posted to become the Officer Commanding of Mortar Platoon in 3Bn RBLF. In 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata attended the 81mm Mortar Platoon Commander Course in the United Kingdom. Afterwards, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata held the appointment as an Adjutant of 3Bn RBLF from 2005 till 2006. In 2005 he attended the Junior Staff Course held at IPA, Gadong. For operational experience, he has joined the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Mindanao, Philippines from Sept 2006 till Sept 2007.
In 2007 Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata was promoted to the rank of Major and was posted to 2Bn RBLF as the Officer Commanding of A Company till 2011. In 2009 Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata completed his Company Commander's Course & Advance Infantry's Officer Course in Singapore. While in 2010, he attended the Grade 2 Command and Staff Course, which were held in Canungra, Australia. Given the appointment of Officer Commanding of Recruit Company, Training Institute in 2011, he then later attended the Command and Staff Course held at the Defence Academy RBAF in 2012. Upon his completion, he took over the appointment of Second in Command of 2Bn RBLF from November 2012 till October 2014.
On 06 February 2015, by the consent of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and has been appointed as the Commanding Officer 2Bn RBLF.
Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata was conferred with the General Service Medal (GSM), Military Civic Action, Philippines Armed Forces in 2007, "Meritorious Service Medal (PJK)" in 2012.
He is married to Major Siti Norlelawati binti Haji Emran and they are blessed with three girls and a boy. Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Wata has a keen interest in sports especially in Sepak Takraw and Football.
