[1] Afzal Akram Rahman Khan Vardak was born in British India on 20 March 1921, His family migrated from Gurdaspur, Ex-Senator Asif Fasihuddin Vardak is relative of him, and very little is known of his early life primarily based on literature published in combined military history of Pakistan and India.

[5] He was among the first twenty naval officers who joined the Royal Pakistan Navy (RPN) as a Lieutenant with a service number PN.

[6] In 1949, he was promoted as Lieutenant-Commander and served as commanding officer of PNS Tariq, the first destroyer, when it was commissioned from the Royal Navy on 30 September 1949.

[1] In 1958–59, the Naval NHQ staff had been in a brief conflict with the Ministry of Defence over the rearmament issues which eventually led the resignation of Vice-Admiral HMS Choudrie.

[9][10] He earned public notability when he acted as a leader during the war with India in 1965 despite having prior no knowledge on covert operation in Indian Kashmir.

[1] He was known to be closer to President Ayub Khan who appointed him as the Defence and Interior Minister in 1966 while serving as an active-duty admiral.

: 104 [8] About the uprising and riots in East-Pakistan in 1969, Vice-Admiral Rahman told the journalists that the "country was under the Mob rule and that Police were not strong enough to tackle the situation.

[16] The PNS Akram now serves as a forward operating base for the Navy and acts as a depot for all naval personnel stationed west of Ormara.