The Joint Service Defence College (JSDC) was a training academy for
British military
The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...
personnel from 1983 to 1997. It has since been amalgamated into the
Joint Services Command and Staff College.
History
The college was established as the Combined Staff College (CSC) in 1947.
[National Maritime Museum Archive]
/ref> The college was an independent Ministry of Defence Establishment offering courses to officers of all three services.[ It was based at Latimer House in Latimer, Buckinghamshire. It was renamed the National Defence College (NDC) in 1971. On 12 February 1974, the IRA detonated a bomb at the NDC; there were no fatalities.A Chronology of the Conflict - 1974]
/ref> In 1983 CSC was renamed the Joint Service Defence College (JSDC), and moved to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich
The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...
.[ The college was closed in 1997 and amalgamated into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.][
]
Staff and students
The Commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
was a Major-general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
or equivalent. Senior Directing Staff included Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
, British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
, Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
, civilian colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...
s and equivalent: civilian G5 or Assistant Secretary ( Counsellor). Officers attending the course, which focussed on managing tri-service operations, were typically of lieutenant-colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...
rank or equivalent[ were held every two years, each with 60 officers (typically 17 from each service plus 9 others from the civil service or the police). Those officers passing the course, or serving on the directing staff for at least six months, received the letters ''jsdc''. The majority of students went on to joint, central staff or international appointments. The crest featured a ]cormorant
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...
, which was also the name of the college magazine.
See also
* National Defence College (disambiguation)
References
{{reflist
Staff colleges
Military education and training in the United Kingdom