Permanent Joint Headquarters | |
---|---|
Active | 1996–present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Navy British Army Royal Air Force |
Type | Joint command |
Part of | Strategic Command |
Location | Northwood Headquarters, Hertfordshire, England |
Nickname(s) | PJHQ |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Lt Gen Nick Perry |
The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headquarters is commanded by the Chief of Joint Operations (CJO), the position of which is currently held by Lieutenant General Nicholas Perry.
Major General Christopher Wallace led the team that began establishing the headquarters from 1994. [1] "Senior officers in the Army and RAF did not welcome this initiative and Wallace had to deploy his considerable skills of advocacy to win that battle" [1] (to establish the new joint headquarters).
The Permanent Joint Headquarters was established on 1 April 1996 to enhance the operational effectiveness and efficiency of UK-led joint, potentially joint and multi-national operations, and to exercise operational command of UK forces assigned to multinational operations led by others. [2] Wallace was appointed as CJO in the rank of lieutenant general. The PJHQ started to assume responsibility for military operations worldwide (fully operational) on 1 August 1996. [3] The 35-hectare Northwood Headquarters site has belonged to the RAF since 1938. [4]
By mid-1998, a short-notice deployable headquarters commanded by a Brigadier-equivalent officer, the Joint Force Headquarters (JFHQ) was being established within PJHQ. The JFHQ was an outgrowth of the PJHQ's J3 Operations staff. The JFHQ was described as 'capable of deploying into the field at very short notice,' by its first commander, Brigadier David Richards. Richards was appointed as Chief Joint Rapid Deployment Force Operations, and also to expand the concept that underpinned its creation, the Joint Rapid Reaction Forces. [5] The JRRFs were to be "a pool of highly capable force elements, maintained at high and very high readiness," [6] from which the UK was to meet all short notice contingencies. Initially planned to have a staff of 24, Richards expanded the JFHQ to 55 strong, 'something our training and experience on exercise was proving necessary.' [7]
In 2007-2008, the PJHQ' s budget was estimated around £475 million. [3]
In 2010, the PJHQ and its 600 staff officers and enlisted personnel moved to a contemporary building in Northwood, London. [8] [9] For the first time, all PJHQ staff were gathered under the same roof. [4]
Among the operations supervised by PJHQ have been Operation Veritas (Afghanistan, 2001); Operation Telic (2003 invasion of Iraq); Operation Herrick (UK operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, from 2006); and Operation Pitting (evacuation of UK nationals and at-risk Afghanistanis from Kabul in 2021). [10]
The PJHQ's mission is as follows: [11]
"CJO is to exercise operational command of UK forces assigned to overseas joint and combined operations; and to provide politically aware military advice to the MOD in order to achieve MOD UK’s strategic objectives on operations"
PJHQ operates cyber operations in coordination with the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham. [12]
There are certain areas that the headquarters will not be involved in: [11]
As of November 2022, there were 567 military and civil service personnel assigned to PJHQ. [13]
The Chief of Joint Operations (CJO) is the appointment held by the three star ranked officer that leads PJHQ. [14]
Date of Appointment | Rank | Name | Branch |
---|---|---|---|
April 1996 | Lieutenant General | Sir Christopher Wallace | British Army |
February 1999 | Vice Admiral | Sir Ian Garnett | Royal Navy |
August 2001 | Lieutenant General | Sir John Reith | British Army |
26 July 2004 | Air Marshal | Sir Glenn Torpy | Royal Air Force |
March 2006 | Lieutenant General | Sir Nicholas Houghton | British Army |
13 March 2009 | Air Marshal | Sir Stuart Peach | Royal Air Force |
December 2011 | Lieutenant General | Sir David Capewell | Royal Marines |
January 2015 | Lieutenant General | Sir John Lorimer | British Army |
June 2017 | Vice Admiral | Tim Fraser | Royal Navy |
April 2019 | Vice Admiral | Sir Ben Key | Royal Navy |
November 2021 | Lieutenant General | Sir Charles Stickland | Royal Marines |
November 2021 | Lieutenant General | Nick Perry | British Army |
The Norwegian Armed Forces is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Home Guard, and Norwegian Cyber Defence Force as well as several joint departments.
The Adjutant General's Corps is a corps in the British Army responsible for many of its general administrative services, named for the Adjutant-General to the Forces. As of 2002, the AGC had a staff of 7,000 people.
The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Naval Service. In its last years, as the Navy shrank, more administrative responsibilities were added.
The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services.
Northwood Headquarters is a military headquarters facility of the British Armed Forces in Eastbury, Hertfordshire, England, adjacent to the London suburb of Northwood. It is home to the following military command and control functions:
Lieutenant General Sir Robert Alan Fry, served as a Royal Marine for over 30 years and was involved in military operations in Northern Ireland, the Gulf, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. After retirement from military service he went into private business and, in 2007, became CEO of Hewlett Packard's defence and security business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2010 he was appointed chairman of McKinney Rogers International and subsequently, in 2011, Albany Associates.
General David Julian Richards, Baron Richards of Herstmonceux, is a retired senior British Army officer and Peer who was formerly the Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces. He succeeded Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup in this role on 29 October 2010.
Director Special Forces (DSF) is the senior British Armed Forces officer responsible for the United Kingdom Special Forces. The post is a senior role within the Ministry of Defence (MoD). As director, the incumbent is responsible for the provision of special forces capability to MoD, and holds operational command for discrete special forces operations.
General Sir Peter Anthony Wall, is a retired British Army officer who served as the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, until September 2014. Wall had previously been the Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces from August 2009 to September 2010. He succeeded General Sir David Richards as Chief of the General Staff in September 2010, the latter going on a month later to be Chief of the Defence Staff.
The Standing Joint Force Headquarters (SJFHQ) is a rapidly deployable component that provides operational command and control to the Joint Expeditionary Force and the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force when on small and medium-sized operations. The headquarters is responsible to the Chief of Joint Operations through the Chief of Staff (Operations). The Joint Force Headquarters (JFHQ) and Joint Force Logistics Component Headquarters (JFLogC) both come under the command of the SJFHQ Commander and are based at Northwood Headquarters.
The structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is complex and multi-faceted. The decision-making body is the North Atlantic Council (NAC), and the member state representatives also sit on the Defence Policy and Planning Committee (DPPC) and the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG). Below that the Secretary General of NATO directs the civilian International Staff, that is divided into administrative divisions, offices and other organizations. Also responsible to the NAC, DPPC, and NPG are a host of committees that supervise the various NATO logistics and standardisation agencies.
The Joint Forces Headquarters is a joint military command which specifically formed to command all tasks of the Malaysian Armed Forces joint operations. The Joint Operations are other operations performed by at least three services such as Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
The Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) was a capability concept of the British Armed Forces from 1999 to 2010. It was a pool of specialised units from all three armed services tasked with rapid deployment worldwide at short notice. The force was intended to be capable of mounting operations up to medium scale warfighting. It could be employed nationally, or multinationally under the auspices of NATO, the United Nations or any other coalition.
Lieutenant General Sir Robert Andrew Magowan, is a senior Royal Marines officer who serves as the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff since May 2022. He previously served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 2016 to 2017 and again from 2021 to 2022.
Lieutenant General Sir Charles Richard Stickland, is a senior Royal Marines officer, who served as the Chief of Joint Operations from November 2021 to November 2024. He was Commandant General Royal Marines from January 2018 to June 2019.
Major General Matthew John Holmes, was a British senior Royal Marines officer who served for more than three decades in the armed forces. After studying economics at the University of Exeter, he joined the Royal Marines and undertook early tours of duty to Norway, the Far East, Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe. After being deployed to Kosovo and Afghanistan, he commanded 42 Commando Royal Marines from 2006 to 2008 and was awarded a Distinguished Service Order for his leadership in Afghanistan, as well as the United States Legion of Merit for his exceptionally meritorious service. Holmes served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 2019 to 2021.
This article outlines the command and control structure of the European Union's missions, which are deployed as part of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). This structure ranges from the political strategic level to the tactical level.
This is the structure of the British Armed Forces.
The Joint Operations Headquarters is the Italian joint operational command directly reporting to the Chief of the Defence Staff. This command exercises the planning, coordination and direction of the military operations of the Italian armed forces, and on joint and multinational exercises and all activities connected to them. Through the COVI, the Chief of the Defence Staff is able to exercise his functions as Operational Commander of the Armed Forces.
The Joint Force Headquarters of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, Markas Angkatan Bersama Angkatan Tentera Diraja Brunei, is a combined military command that was established expressly to oversee all joint operations activities of the service branches of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. At least three services, including the Royal Brunei Land Force (RBLF), Royal Brunei Navy (RBN), and Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF), participate in joint operations.