The Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (or JEF(M)) (formerly the Response Force Task Group (RFTG), and prior to that the

Joint Rapid Reaction Force The Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) was a capability concept of the British Armed Forces from 1999 to 2010. It was a pool of specialised units from all three armed services tasked with rapid deployment worldwide at short notice. The force was int ...

(JRRF)), is the

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 ...

's contribution to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) maintained at very high-readiness and available at short notice to respond to unexpected global events.The Response Force Task Group (RFTG) – The UK's Very High Readiness Maritime Force
Royal Navy (PDF), Retrieved 3 June 2014 In addition to the Royal Navy and the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

, the JEF(M) also includes elements of the

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 ...

and the

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 ...

. While it is primarily poised to conduct war-fighting or strike operations, the JEF(M) is capable of undertaking a diverse range of activities such as evacuation operations, disaster relief or humanitarian aid.Royal Navy ready for unforeseen global events
gov.uk, 9 May 2011 Under the name of RFTG, this high-readiness Maritime Task Group was established under the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, and was initially focused on periodic deployments centered around amphibious shipping, initially termed ''Cougar'' deployments,HMS Bulwark prepares for major deployment
gov.uk, 15 September 2016 but now named according to the focus of the main activity; although not mandated as an annual activity, these deployments tend to alternate between operating in North West Europe and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

, and deploying

East of Suez East of Suez is used in British military and political discussions in reference to interests beyond the European theatre, and east of the Suez Canal, and may or may not include the Middle East.

to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

. On these deployments, the Task Group regularly conducts exercises with allies and partners. As a Task Group, the RFTG was activated on operations during the

2011 Libyan Civil War The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, his government. It ...

, provided humanitarian aid during

Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...

in 2013, and elements were activated to deploy to the Caribbean in 2020 under an augmented Atlantic Patrol Task (North) deployment.

Command structure

The JEF(M) is usually commanded at sea by an officer the rank of

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

, who can be either the Commander of the UK Littoral Strike Group (COMLSG, formerly named COMATG) or Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (COMCSG), depending on the focus of the deployment; the Command Platform will be either an Albion-class LPD or a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier. For a major deployment of the JEF(M) (acting as a Task Force, consisting of more than one Task Group), the formation will be commanded by Commander United Kingdom Strike Forces (COMUKSTRKFOR) who is responsible for directing "UK, Allied or Coalition maritime forces anywhere in the world". In the RFTG era, Command of the Task Group was usuallyRoyal Navy sails for annual ‘Cougar’ deployment
royalnavy.mod.uk, 9 August 2013 (but not exclusively) exercised by the Commander of the Amphibious Task Group (COMATG), renamed as Commander UK Task Group (COMUKTG) from 2011 to 2015.Royal Navy Task Force departs on Cougar 14
royalnavy.mod.uk, 1 September 2014 Since 2015, periodic deployments have continued this pattern, with all recent iterations being commanded by COMATG (now termed COMLSG), but since the introduction into

service of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, it is likely that future deployments of the JEF(M) will be under the afloat Command of COMCSG.

Composition

The "scaleable nature" of the Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) means the Royal Navy assigns a wide range of relatively significant assets to the force, with its composition changing depending on the scenario and the range of ships available.

Operational history

Cougar 11 deployment

In April 2011, the Response Force Task Group deployed for the first time since its announced establishment in October 2010. The deployment was "designed to demonstrate the versatile capabilities and high readiness" of the Response Force Task Group and engage with foreign allies in the

and

. On 9 May (en route to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

), seven senior NCOs and the Officer Commanding the Support Troop from 6 Assault Squadron Royal Marines held a service of remembrance at the

Souda Bay Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri p ...

Commonwealth Grave site in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bitter battle for the island. ''Cougar 11'' saw, for the first time,

AgustaWestland Apache The AgustaWestland Apache is a licence-built version of the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter for the British Army Air Corps. The first eight helicopters were built by Boeing; the remaining 59 were assembled by Westland Helicopt ...

attack helicopters operating from the decks of a Royal Navy warship, HMS ''Ocean''. During the deployment the RFTG was involved in several multinational exercises: The first was 'Cypriot Lion' which included

from

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet. Their barracks are at Norton M ...

, elements of

3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen from ...

HQ and a detachment from the

Netherlands Marine Corps The Netherlands Marine Corps ( nl, Korps Mariniers) is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines trace their origins back to the establishment of the on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the D ...

. The second major exercise was code-named 'Albanian Lion', a joint UK-

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

n military exercise and the first joint operation between the UK and the

Albanian Armed Forces The Albanian Armed Forces ( sq, Forcat e Armatosura të Republikës së Shqipërisë (FARSH)) are the military of Albania and were formed after the declaration of independence in 1912. Today, it consists of the General Staff, the Albanian Land ...

since Albania joined NATO in 2009. The third major exercise was code-named 'Operation Red Alligator', described as a "major maritime security and anti-piracy exercise", it took place in the Persian Gulf with the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia. With the ongoing Civil War in Libya, on the 3 June 2011, five ships of the Response Force Task Group were temporarily detached and deployed off the Libyan coast as part of

Operation Ellamy Operation Ellamy was the codename for the United Kingdom participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. The operation was part of an international coalition aimed at enforcing a Libyan no-fly zone in accordance with the United Natio ...

. ''Ocean'' launched repeated Apache gunships strikes from her flight deck and worked alongside the French

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, a ...

, which deployed her own

Eurocopter Tiger The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective helic ...

attack helicopters. (a nuclear-powered fleet submarine) fired her

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Eur ...

land-attack cruise missiles at Libyan air defence and command and control centres. Analysts believe that in total more than 15 cruise missiles were fired by the submarine during the operations. Cougar 11 composition:

Cougar 12 deployment

Cougar 12 Task Force Group in the Mediterrean Sea MOD 45154450

''Cougar 12'' saw Response Force Task Group deploy six ships and more than 3,000 marines and sailors to the Mediterranean in early October 2012. One of the principle purposes of the deployment was to conduct large-scale amphibious exercises with participating allies. Key exercises included: 'Corsican Lion' with France; 'Albanian Lion' with Albania; a visit to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and exercises with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and the Algerian Armed Forces.Naval force gears up for Cougar 12
gov.uk, 27 September 2012 Commander UK Task Group,

Paddy McAlpine said: "Cougar 12 provides us with a superb opportunity to rekindle our amphibious capability after a prolonged period when our focus has been on operations elsewhere." Exercise 'Corsican Lion' was the main focus of ''Cougar 12'' and was designed to towards developing the maritime and amphibious components of the Anglo-French

Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) The Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) is an Anglo-French military force. It draws upon both the British Armed Forces and the French Armed Forces to field a deployable force with land, air and maritime components together with command and c ...

. The exercise involved the Response Force Task Group working directly alongside the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

's Task Force 473 and the .Royal Marines face French counterparts in Exercise Corsican Lion
gov.uk, 23 October 2012 Head of the RFTG's amphibious operations,

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. ...

Martin Smith of

, was quoted saying: "It is an incredibly versatile force and our burgeoning interoperability with the French further proves this. The quality of Royal Marines Commandos and French Marines delivers a highly effective first response capability which is optimised for early entry operations." Cougar 12 composition:

Cougar 13 deployment

US Osprey Aircraft Landing on HMS Illustrious MOD 45156125

Cougar 13 deployed during the early autumn of 2013. In the Mediterranean, Response Force Task Group held exercises with the Portuguese Marine Corps and once again conducted exercise 'Albanian Lion' with the

. Anti-surface exercises were also held with the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of var ...

and anti-submarine drills with the

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

. During mid September 2013, Response Force Task Group deployed

for the second phase of the ''Cougar 13'' deployment where it linked up with the

Royal Saudi Navy The Royal Saudi Navy ( ar, البَحْريَّة الْمَلكيَّة السُّعُودِيَّة, Al-Quwwat al-Bahriyah al-Arabiyah as-Su'udiyah) or Royal Saudi Naval Forces ( ar, القُوَّات البَحْريَّة الْمَلك� ...

for exercise 'Red Alligator'. While East of Suez, a Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey from landed on ''Illustrious'' in a joint exercise with the

. Likewise, ''Illustrious''s Army Air Corps

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led t ...

and

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engi ...

s dropped in on ''Kearsarge'', carrying a few passengers to get a brief insight into the American LHD. In the

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ar, خليج عمان ''khalīj ʿumān''; fa, دریای عمان ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ar, خلیج مکران ''khalīj makrān''; fa, دریای مکرا� ...

, Response Force Task Group conducted anti-submarine drills against . briefly met up with the RFTG for exercise 'Sea Khanjar'. Exercise 'Sea Khanjar' was observed by Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Philip Jones,

Commandant General Royal Marines The Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The role is held by a General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of brigadier. This position is not t ...

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 ...

Ed Davis,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

Mike Hindmarsh Major General Michael Simon Hindmarsh (born 1956) is an Australian military officer, who holds a senior position within the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, commanding its elite force known as the Presidential Guard. A retired senior offic ...

and Commander United Arab Emirates Presidential Guard Marines, Colonel A Al-Tenaji. When

struck the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in November 2013, HMS ''Illustrious'' was ordered to detach from the Response Force Task Group and assist in the disaster relief efforts. The mission was known as Operation Patwin, was already in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

when the tragedy struck and was swiftly able to provide humanitarian aid. Cougar 13 composition:

Cougar 14 deployment

The RFTG departed on ''Cougar 14'' during early September 2014 for a four-month deployment scheduled to conduct exercises and engage with foreign navies in the Mediterranean and East of Suez in the (Persian) Gulf and Indian Ocean.Royal Navy Task Force departs on Cougar 14
royalnavy.mod.uk, 1 September 2014 Notable international warships that took the opportunity to rendezvous and participate with ''Cougar 14'' were , and the French ships and . The first phase of ''Cougar 14'' was exercise Albanian Lion 2014, followed by exercise Dragon Hammer 2014, concluding by 17 October 2014. Several ships also broke off to participate in the middle-eastern IMCMEX exercise. Once completed, they regrouped with the ''Cougar 14'' Task Group for further exercises in the region. During December 2014 on the return journey to Britain, ''Bulwark'' and ''Lyme Bay'' conducted exercise Sea Snake, where Royal Marines from 40 Commando and 4 Assault Squadron 'stormed' the beaches of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

during amphibious landings. Cougar 14 composition:

Cougar 15 deployment

HMS OCEAN, Trident Juncture (22054434713)

''Cougar 15'' took place alongside the larger NATO wide exercise ''Trident Juncture 15''. Trident Juncture is a key exercise for the Royal Navy, as the country will take command of NATO's Very High Readiness Task Force in 2016. ''Trident Juncture 15'' consisted of over 36,000 personnel and 70 warships from several NATO and allied nations. The exercise saw both the COMUKMARFOR Rear Admiral Radkin and COMUKTG Commodore Connell deploy on HMS ''Ocean'' and HMS ''Bulwark'' respectively. ''Bulwark'' deployed with almost 100 extra Royal Marines from across 3 Commando Brigade, and over 100 specialist personnel required to command the Task Group and its activities. One of the first exercises during ''Cougar 15'' was ''Corsica Lion'', where ''Bulwark'', ''Ocean'', MV ''Hartland Point'' and the French Navy's ''Dixmude'' practised rescuing "civilians" off the northern coast of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. The RFTG also exercised with Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. As part of ''Cougar 15'',

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

MV-22 Ospreys flew off ''Ocean'' during Exercise ''Blue Raptor'', transporting Royal Marines from ship to shore. This exercised ended around 24 November 2015. ''Bulwark'' temporarily remained in

along with to provide security for the

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015 The 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2015 was the 24th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Malta from 27 to 29 November. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena han ...

. This security arrangement ended with

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

visiting Bulwark and the ship returned to its home port on 7 December 2015. Cougar 15 composition:

Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) 16

UK's Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) MOD 45162223

In September 2016, HMS ''Bulwark'' (as flagship), HMS ''Ocean'', embarked with helicopters from 845 Naval Air Squadron, No. 662 Squadron AAC and No. 27 Squadron RAF, and elements of 3 Commando Brigade HQ Royal Marines, RFA ''Mounts Bay'' and MV ''Eddystone Point'', deployed on the Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) 2016. After exercising in the Mediterranean, the JEF(M) then sailed to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, whereupon

Commander Amphibious Task Group The Commander Littoral Strike Group (COMLSG) is a senior British Royal Navy Amphibious warfare appointment. COMLSG, who is based in Stonehouse Barracks, Stonehouse, Plymouth, reports to Commander United Kingdom Strike Force. It was first establishe ...

Commodore Andrew Burns shifted his broad pennant from HMS ''Bulwark'' to HMS ''Ocean'' so that he could assume command of the

United States Fifth Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and h ...

Task Force 50 Task may refer to: * Task (computing), in computing, a program execution context * Task (language instruction) refers to a certain type of activity used in language instruction * Task (project management), an activity that needs to be accomplish ...

until March 2017. JEF (M) 16 composition:

Amphibious Task Group 18 (ATG18) deployment

In April 2018, it was announced that HMS ''Albion'' was being sent to the Far East to conduct UNSCR enforcement operations against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, upon completion of which, the ship headed west to commence her participation in the Amphibious Task Group 18 (ATG18) deployment. With embarked battlestaff from COMLSG and HQ 3 Commando Brigade embarked, she rendezvoused with RFA ''Lyme Bay'', RFA ''Cardigan Bay'', and HMS ''Dragon'', as well as elements from the Royal Navy of Oman, to conduct Exercise Saif Sareea 3 in October and November 2018. ATG18 composition:

BALTIC PROTECTOR 19 deployment

BALTIC PROTECTOR 19 composition:

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime)
(Royal Navy website, last accessed 13 May 20) Royal Navy British military exercises Expeditionary units and formations