Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) at Northwood MOD 45152478

The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

tri-service

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at

Northwood Headquarters 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: #Headqua ...

Northwood, London Northwood is an affluent area in northwest London, England. It is located within the London Borough of Hillingdon on the border with Hertfordshire and from Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex and has f ...

. The Permanent Joint Headquarters is commanded by the Chief of Joint Operations (CJO), the position of which is currently held by Lieutenant General

Charles Stickland Lieutenant General Charles Richard Stickland, (born 16 May 1968) is a senior Royal Marines officer, who has served as the Chief of Joint Operations since November 2021. He was Commandant General Royal Marines from January 2018 to June 2019. E ...

History

Major General Christopher Wallace led the team that began establishing the headquarters from 1994. "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" (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. 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. The 35-hectare

site has belonged to the RAF since 1938. By mid-1998, a short-notice deployable headquarters commanded by a

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

-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. The JRRFs were to be "a pool of highly capable force elements, maintained at high and very high readiness," 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.' In 2007-2008, the PJHQ' s budget was estimated around £475 million. In 2010, the PJHQ and its 600 staff officers and enlisted personnel moved to a contemporary building in Northwood, London. For the first time, all PJHQ staff were gathered under the same roof. Among the operations supervised by PJHQ have been

Operation Veritas Operation Veritas was the codename used for British military operations against the Taliban government of Afghanistan in 2001. British forces played a supporting role to the American Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition, the British contributi ...

(Afghanistan, 2001);

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

(

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

);

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assis ...

(UK operations in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primar ...

, Afghanistan, from 2006); and

Operation Pitting Operation Pitting was a British military operation to evacuate British nationals and eligible Afghans from Afghanistan following the 2021 Taliban offensive. The operation consisted of more than 1,000 military personnel, including soldiers from ...

(evacuation of UK nationals and at-risk Afghanistanis from Kabul in 2021).

Mission and duties

The PJHQ's mission is as follows: PJHQ operates cyber operations in coordination with the

Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Un ...

in Cheltenham. There are certain areas that the headquarters will not be involved in: * Strategic Nuclear Deterrent * Defence of the UK Home Base, Territorial Waters and Airspace * Northern Ireland * Counter-terrorism in UK ( Home Office) * NATO Article V (General War) (NATO Military Command Structure)

Commanders

The Chief of Joint Operations (CJO) is the appointment held by the three star ranked officer that leads PJHQ.Modernising Defence: Implementing the Strategic Defence Review
30 March 1999

References

*Vice Admiral Sir Ian Garnett, "My Job: The Challenge of Joint Command,"

RUSI Journal The ''RUSI Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering international security and defence strategy. It was established in 1857 as the ''Royal United Services Institution Journal'', obtaining its current title in 1972. The journal is pu ...

, August 1999 *Vice Admiral Sir Ian Garnett, "PJHQ: The Heart of UK Defence Capability,"

, April 2000

External links

*
{{coord, 51, 37, 10, N, 0, 24, 34, W, region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in Three Rivers District Joint military units and formations of the United Kingdom Military headquarters in the United Kingdom Military installations in England Military units and formations established in 1996 Military units and formations in Hertfordshire Military history of London UK

History

Mission and duties

Commanders

See also

References

External links