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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

tri-service

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

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: #Headq ...

Northwood, London Northwood is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, North West London, located northwest of Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex. The area was situated on the historic Middlesex boundary with Hert ...

. 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.

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 (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

-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 (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);

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 Assi ...

(UK operations in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

, Afghanistan, from 2006); and Operation Pitting (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 (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 United Kingdom. Primari ...

in Cheltenham. There are certain areas that the headquarters will not be involved in: * Strategic Nuclear Deterrent (Royal Navy

is responsible) * Defence of the UK Home Base, Territorial Waters and Airspace * Northern Ireland (Army HQ Northern Ireland is responsible) * Counter-terrorism in UK (

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

) * NATO Article V (General War) (

NATO Military Command Structure 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 Planning Committee (NATO), Defe ...

) As of November 2022, there were 567 military and

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

personnel assigned to PJHQ.

Commanders

The Chief of Joint Operations (CJO) is the appointment held by the three star ranked officer that leads PJHQ. 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 Joint military headquarters

History

Mission and duties

Commanders

See also

References

External links