CDR Pal Bratbak did his military service in 1990 on a Norwegian frigate. After completely naval college degree in 1995, he re-joined the Norwegian Navy to serve in the Coastguard specialising in fishery protection, SAR, Police and Custom support, ship security and environmental protection. Bratbak also served as a naval diver throughout his career at sea. He received his first command in 2005, as a commander of a patrol vessel operating in Norwegian coastal waters. Most of his career he has spent at sea, both in coastal waters, the North Sea and since 2015 in the Barents Sea and in the vicinity of Svalbard. During this p[period, he achieved skills in conducting operations in polar waters, His latest command was the helicopter carrying Coastguard Vessel Nordkapp from 2020 to 2023.

His career also includes participation in the Operation Triton in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016, on the Norwegian vessel Siem Pilot, and a two-year period as a staff officer at the Multinational Corps

North East in Szczecin, Poland.

The CDR completed his master’s degree in Maritime Management in 2013 and attended the General Staff Course in 2017. He began his tour at MARCOM as the Branch Head for the NATO Maritime Center for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure (NMCSCUI) August 2023.

Bratbak is divorced and father to four sons and a daughter.