Permanent Joint Headquarters

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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 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.

[edit] Mission and duties

The PJHQ’s mission can be summarised 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.