General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Gwyn Jenkins is a senior

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

officer serving as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff since 15 May 2025. He served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff from August 2022 to June 2024. He was concurrently appointed

Commandant General Royal Marines 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 (United Kingdom), General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of Brigadier ( ...

in November 2022.

Early life and education

Jenkins was educated at Malmesbury School.

Military career

Early career

Jenkins was commissioned into the

in 1990. He spent time as a

junior officer Junior officer, company officer or company grade officer refers to the lowest operational commissioned officer category of ranks in a military or paramilitary organization, ranking above non-commissioned officers and below senior officers. D ...

in the Commando Logistics Regiment and on operations in Northern Ireland with 42 Commando. In 2004, he graduated from the Military College Shrivenham, where he completed a master's degree in Defence Studies. He became

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the

Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roy ...

in 2009. Jenkins was promoted from acting to full

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

on 1 July 2011. In 2011 Jenkins received a written report stating that members of the Army's

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

(SAS), soldiers who were not under his command, operating in Afghanistan had conducted

extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, ...

s. He referred the matter to his superior officer, the Director Special Forces, recommending a detailed investigation: in response SAS tactics were subject to a rare review. The BBC claimed that Jenkins was legally obliged to pass his report to the Royal Military Police as it was an allegation that British forces had committed war crimes. He did not, but placed it in a classified dossier in April 2011. In October 2011 Jenkins deployed to Afghanistan as the commander of all British Special Forces in the country. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Afghanistan during the period 1 October 2011 to 31 March 2012". In 2012, Jenkins was appointed

military assistant A military assistant is sub-specialty of secretarial duties in the British Armed Forces and many of those derived from them, is an officer appointed to the personal office of a general officer. Whilst aides de camp (ADCs) are responsible for ad ...

to the

prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

. On 1 July 2015, he was promoted from acting to full

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 ...

. He went on to become Deputy National Security Adviser for Conflict, Stability and Defence in 2016, commander

3 Commando Brigade United Kingdom Commando Force (UKCF), previously called 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), is the UK's special operations-capable commando formation of the Royal Marines. It is composed of Royal Marine Commandos and commando qualified personnel f ...

in 2017, and Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy) in 2019. From 2021 to 2022, he served as Director Special Forces. Jenkins was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

. In May 2025 investigation carried out by the BBC's ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' revealed that a Special Forces officer appointed by Jenkins personally rejected 1,585 UK resettlement applications from Afghan army personnel who had served with the SAS. It was claimed that the officer instructed civil service caseworkers to reject the applications on spurious grounds. This was controversial because in the UK they could have been called as witnesses to the public inquiry into the extrajudicial killings, but the inquiry has no power to compel testimony from foreign nationals who are overseas.

As a general

Jenkins was promoted to

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

on 30 August 2022, skipping the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 the battlefield, who was norma ...

, and took up the post of Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. He is the first Royal Marine full general since 2016, after Gordon Messenger, and the second since 1977. At the same time he was made an Aide-de-Camp to Queen Elizabeth II. Jenkins also became

on 25 November, succeeding Lieutenant General

Robert Magowan Lieutenant General Sir Robert Andrew Magowan, (born 12 September 1967) is a senior Royal Marines officer who serves as the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Financial and Military Capability) since May 2022. He previously served as Commandant ...

. Jenkins became the first full general to serve as Commandant General since the 1970s. On 23 April 2024 the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

announced that Jenkins would become the United Kingdom's next National Security Advisor. However, on 26 August 2024 ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that the appointment had been cancelled by the new prime minister,

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

. Jenkins was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in the

2025 New Year Honours The 2025 New Year Honours are appointments by King Charles III among the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The ...

. In May 2025 Jenkins was appointed as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. He is the first Royal Marine to hold this role.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Gwyn Living people Royal Marines generals 20th-century Royal Marines personnel 21st-century Royal Marines personnel Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy personnel of the Iraq War Royal Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Year of birth missing (living people) British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) First Sea Lords and Chiefs of the Naval Staff