The Naval Staff Directorate is a

military staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

directorate created in 1985 as the Directorate of Naval Staff Duties. The directorate was originally part of the British Ministry of Defence (Navy Department) and is now under the Ministry of Defence (Naval Staff) as part of Navy Command. It is currently administered by the Commodore Naval Staff now based at MOD HQ.

History

The directorate was established in November 1985 when its chief responsibilities was to provide administrative support to both the

Admiralty Board The Admiralty Board is the body established under the Defence Council of the United Kingdom for the administration of the Naval Service of the United Kingdom. It meets formally only once a year, and the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy is ...

and the

Navy Board The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...

. Oversight of the directorate was initially the responsibility of the Office of the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff which is now the responsibility of the Office of the

Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy) The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (A.C.N.S.) is a senior appointment in the Royal Navy usually a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7. History The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff was originally directly responsible to the Fir ...

as part of Navy Command. The directorate was administered by the Director of Naval Staff Duties from inception until June 2007 when his title was changed to Director of Naval Staff until 2014 when it was changed again to Commodore Naval Staff who in other official documents is sometimes styled as Head of Naval Staff. The Naval Staff Directorate is currently providing support to the

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed ...

, ACNS (Policy), and the

. Circa 2014 the directorate was supported in its role by a Secretariat.

Heads of the Directorate

Included:

Director of Naval Staff Duties

# Captain Roger C. Dimmock: January-February 1985 # Captain E. S. Jeremy Larken: February-April 1985 # Captain the Hon. Nicholas J. Hill-Norton: April 1985-June 1987 # Captain Geoffrey W.R. Biggs: June 1987-August 1989 # Captain Michael C. Boyce: August 1989-April 1991 # Captain Michael P. Gretton: April 1991-July 1993 # Captain Alan W.J. West: July 1993-1994 # Commodore John H.S. McAnally: 1994-1995 # Commodore Christopher D. Stanford: 1995-1997 # Brigadier Robert A. Fry. RM: 1997-1999 # Commodore David G. Snelson: 1999-September 2000 # Commodore Trevor A. Soar: September 2000-August 2002 # Commodore Robert G. Cooling: August 2002-2003 # Commodore Michael Kimmons: 2003-February 2005 # Commodore Thomas A. Cunningham: February 2005-June 2007

Director of Naval Staff

# Brigadier Francis H.R. Howes. RM: June 2007-April 2008 # Commodore Clive C.C. Johnstone: April-December 2008 # Commodore Robert K. Tarrant: December 2008-August 2011 # Commodore Neil L. Brown: August 2011-November 2013 # Brigadier Peter S. Cameron. RM: November 2013-April 2014

Commodore Naval Staff

# Commodore James M. Lines: April 2014-February 2016 # Commodore Nicholas S. Roberts: February 2016-September 2017 # Commodore Iain S. Lower: September 2017-February 2020 # Commodore Paul S. Beattie February 2020-Present

Citations

Sources

# Howard, B. M. (1985). The Civil Service Yearbook: Cabinet Office. London, England: HM Stationery Office. . # O'Donnell, Sir Gus (2007). The Civil Service Yearbook: Cabinet Office. Nowich, England: The Stationery Office Ltd. . # Mackie, Colin (January 2019). "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865" (PDF). gulabin.com. C. Mackie. # "The Navy Directory (2017) Containing Lists of Ships, Establishments and Officers of the Fleet" (PDF). royalnavy.mod.uk. London, England: Ministry of Defence United Kingdom. {{Navy Department (Ministry of Defence), state=collapsed Naval Staff Directorates of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Ministry of Defence Navy Department Military units and formations established in 1985 1985 establishments in the United Kingdom