Permanent Joint Headquarters

Permanent Joint Headquarters
Permanent Joint Headquarters
	;
Active	1996 -
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy; British Army; Royal Air Force
Type	Command
Garrison/HQ	Eastbury, Hertfordshire
Commanders
Current; commander	Lieutenant General David Capewell

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 current CJO is Lieutenant General David Capewell who succeeded Air Marshal Sir Stuart Peach.^[1] On 15 September 2011 it was announced that Air Marshal Peach would be promoted to Air Chief Marshal in December 2011 and become the first commander of the new UK Joint Forces Command^[2] to which PJHQ will become accountable.

The Permanent Joint Headquarters was established in 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.

Mission and duties [edit]

The PJHQ’s mission is as follows:^[3]

As part of the Defence Crisis Management Organisation, provide politically aware military advice to the MOD to inform the strategic commitment of UK forces to overseas Joint and Combined operations.
When directed by the Chief of the Defence Staff, exercise operational command of UK forces assigned to overseas Joint and Combined operations, either led by the UK or another nation, such as Operation Telic, in order to achieve MOD UK’s strategic objectives.
In conjunction with the Front Line Commands and MOD, develop the UK’s Joint war-fighting capability.

PJHQ also directs British forces in Gibraltar, Cyprus (Sovereign Base Areas), the Falkland Islands (British Forces South Atlantic Islands) and Diego Garcia.

There are certain areas that the headquarters was not and will not be involved in:

Strategic Nuclear Deterrent (submarines commanded through CINCFLEET)
Defence of the UK Home Base, Territorial Waters and Airspace
Northern Ireland (HQ Northern Ireland until disestablishment)
Counter-terrorism in UK (Home Office)
NATO Article V (General War) (NATO command structure)

Commanders [edit]

The Chief of Joint Operations (CJO) is the appointment held by the 3*-ranked Officer that headed the PJHQ.^[4] The CJO is responsible for the planning and execution of UK-led joint, potentially joint, combined and multi-national operations.^[5]

The current Chief of Joint Operations is Lieutenant-General David Capewell, a Royal Marines officer and the most senior serving Royal Marines officer.

April 1996	Lieutenant General	Sir Christopher Wallace
February 1999	Vice Admiral	Sir Ian Garnett
August 2001	Lieutenant General	Sir John Reith
26 July 2004	Air Marshal	Sir Glenn Torpy
March 2006	Lieutenant General	Sir Nicholas Houghton
13 March 2009	Air Marshal	Sir Stuart Peach
December 2011	Lieutenant General	David Capewell