Armed Forces - m06 - Management of Defence - Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ)

PERMANENT JOINT HEADQUARTERS
(PJHQ)

  SUMMARY
 
OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
  PJHQ COMMANDER - CHIEF OF JOINT OPERATIONS
 
PJHQ IN THE MoD CHAIN OF COMMAND 
 
HEADQUARTERS STRUCTURE




SUMMARY 

The UK MoD established a Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) at Northwood in Middlesex for joint military operations on 1 April 1996. This headquarters brought together, on a permanent basis, intelligence, planning, operational and logistics staffs. 

It contains elements of a rapidly deployable in-theatre Joint Force Headquarters that has the capability of commanding rapid deployment front line forces.

MoD officials have described the primary role of PJHQ as:

 "Working proactively to anticipate crises and monitoring developments in areas of interest to the UK. The establishment of PJHQ has set in place a proper, clear and unambiguous connection between policy and the strategic direction and conduct of operations. 

Because it exists on a permanent basis rather than being established for a particular operation, PJHQ is involved from the very start of planning for a possible operation. It will then take responsibility for the subsequent execution of those plans if necessary."

PJHQ, commanded by the Chief of Joint Operations (CJO), (currently a Three-Star Officer) occupies existing accommodation above and below ground at Northwood in Middlesex. 

PJHQ is responsible for planning all UK-led joint, potentially joint, combined and multinational operations and  works in close partnership with MoD Head Office in the planning of operations and policy formulation, thus ensuring PJHQ is well placed to implement policy. 

Having planned the operation, and contributed advice to Ministers, PJHQ will then conduct such operations. Amongst its many tasks PJHQ is currently (mid 2007) engaged in planning and conducting UK military involvement in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

When another nation is in the lead, PJHQ will exercise operational command of UK forces deployed on the operation.

Being a Permanent Joint Headquarters, PJHQ provides continuity of experience from the planning phase to the execution of the operation, and on to post-operation evaluation and learning of lessons.

Principal additional tasks include

  • Monitoring designated areas of operational interest

  • Preparing contingency plans

  • Contributions to the UK MoD's decision making process

  • Exercise of operational control of overseas commands (Falklands, Cyprus and Gibraltar)

  • Managing its own budget

  • Formulation of joint warfare doctrine at operational and tactical levels

  • Conducting joint force exercises

  • Focus for Joint Rapid Reaction Force planning and exercising

  

 

OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS

From 1 Aug 1996, PJHQ assumed responsibility for military operations worldwide. Non-core functions, such as the day-to-day management of the Overseas Commands in Cyprus, Falkland Islands, and Gibraltar, are also delegated by MoD Head Office to the PJHQ. This allows MoD Head Office to concentrate in particular on policy formulation and strategic direction. As of early 2007 PJHQ has been involved with UK commitments in the following areas:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Bosnia, Burundi, East Timor, Eritrea, Honduras, Iraq (including operations during 2003), Kosovo, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, East Zaire, West Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Operations for which PJHQ is not responsible include: UK Strategic Nuclear Deterrent; Defence of the UK Home Base; Defence of UK Territorial Waters and Airspace; Support to the Civil Power in Northern Ireland; Counter-terrorism in the UK and Operations in support of NATO (Article V General War).

PJHQ COMMANDER - CHIEF OF JOINT OPERATIONS


Lieutenant General J N R Houghton CBE (CJO)

Lieutenant General Nick Houghton was born in 1954 in Otley, West Yorkshire. He was educated at Woodhouse Grove School in Bradford, RMA Sandhurst and St Peter’s College, Oxford, where he completed an in-service degree in Modern History.

Commissioned into the Green Howards in 1974, he had a variety of Regimental and Staff appointments before attending the Army Command and Staff Course at both Shrivenham and Camberley. Thereafter he was Military Assistant to the Chief of Staff British Army of the Rhine and a member of the Directing Staff at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham. At Regimental Duty he was both a Company Commander in, and Commanding Officer of, 1st Battalion The Green Howards in the Mechanised and Airmobile roles, and in Northern Ireland.

More recently Lieutenant General Houghton was Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G3 (Operations & Deployment) in HQ Land Command 1994 - 1997 and attended the Higher Command and Staff Course in 1997. He commanded 39 Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland from 1997 to 1999 and was the Director of Military Operations in the Ministry of Defence from December 1999 to July 2002. He was Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps from July 2002 to April 2004 before becoming the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) from May 2004 to October 2005. He was the Senior British Military Representative Iraq and Deputy Commanding General of the Multi-National Force-Iraq from October 2005 until assuming his current appointment as Chief of Joint Operations at PJHQ (UK) in March 2006.
 

HEADQUARTERS STRUCTURE

PJHQ, brings together at Northwood some 400 civilian, specialist and tri-Service military staff from across the MoD.

The headquarters structure resembles the normal Divisional organisation, but staff operate within multi-disciplinary groups which draw from across the HQ. The headquarters must have the capability of supporting a number of operations simultaneously on behalf of the UK MoD.

PJHQ IN THE MOD CHAIN OF COMMAND 

Note: The Defence and Overseas Policy Committee (DOPC) is responsible for the strategic direction of the UK Government’s defence and overseas policy.

The DOPC is chaired by the Prime Minister and members include the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Deputy Chair); Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State; Chancellor of the Exchequer; Secretary of State for Defence; Secretary of State for the Home Department; Secretary of State for International Development; Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

If necessary, other ministers, the Heads of the Intelligence Agencies and the Chief of Defence Staff may be invited to attend.

PJHQ HEADQUARTERS STRUCTURE

Notes:
(1) CJO Chief of Joint Operations
(2) *** Denotes the rank of the incumbent
(3) DCJO – Deputy Chief of Joint Operations; DCJO (Op Sp) Deputy Chief of Joint Operations (Operational Support)(4) ACOS - Assistant Chief of Staff

CJO has a civilian Command Secretary who provides a wide range of policy, legal, presentational, financial and civilian human resources advice.

PJHQ Departments

J1 Personnel and Admin
J2 Intelligence
J3 Operations (Sea-Air-Land)
J4 Logistics/Medical
J5 Policy and Crisis Planning
J6 Communication and Information Systems
J7 Joint Training
J8 Finance and Human Resources
J9 Legal
JFHQ High Readiness Deployable Commander
JFLog CHQ Standing Deployable Logistic Component Commander
 

The annual PJHQ budget is in the region of UK£606 million (for 2005/06). The annual running costs of the Headquarters is estimated at approximately UK£52 million.

Included in the overall PJHQ budget are the costs of the UK forces in the Falkland Islands, Cyprus and Gibraltar. Major operations such as the Kosovo commitment, Afghanistan and Iraq are funded separately by way of a supplementary budget, and in almost all cases this requires government level approval. Small operations and the cost of reconnaissance parties are funded from the standard PJHQ budget.