Air Force: Officers
(asked on 7th January 2020) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many command appointments there are in the Royal Air Force at one star and above, broken down by role.
There are 29 command appointments at one-star level and above within the Royal Navy, 42 within the Army, 18 within the Royal Air Force and 26 within Strategic Command. The table below shows a breakdown by role although for security reasons two Strategic Command posts are not included.
While broadly similar, the three services and Strategic Command use slightly different criteria for 'command appointments' because of their structural differences. Senior service officers also hold command appointments in roles outside of their service, for example in NATO. There are also non-command appointments at one-star level and above, both within and external to the single services.
Table 1: Command appointments at one-star level and above for the Army, Navy, Royal Air Force and Strategic Command
4 Star Command Appointments | Service |
First Sea Lord | RN |
Chief of the General Staff | Army |
Chief of the Air Staff | RAF |
Commander UK Strategic Command | Strat Com |
3 Star Command Appointments | |
Second Sea Lord | RN |
Fleet Commander | RN |
Commander Field Army | Army |
Commander Home Command | Army |
Deputy Commander Operations/ Air Member Operations | RAF |
Chief Joint Operations | Strat Com |
Director General Joint Force Development | Strat Com |
Director General Defence Medical Services | Strat Com |
2 Star Command Appointments | |
Commander Operations | RN |
Commander UK Strike Force / Rear Admiral Surface Ships | RN |
Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Capability) | RN |
Flag Officer Sea Training & Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Training) | RN |
Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Ships) | RN |
Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland and Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Submarines) / Rear Admiral (Submarines) | RN |
Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Aviation and Carrier Strike) / Rear Admiral Fleet Air Arm | RN |
Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Personnel), Naval Secretary and Flag Officer Reserves | RN |
Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy) | RN |
Commandant General Royal Marines | RN |
General Officer Commanding Regional Command | Army |
General Officer Commanding London District | Army |
General Officer Commanding 1st United Kingdom Division | Army |
General Officer Commanding 3rd United Kingdom Division | Army |
General Officer Commanding 6th United Kingdom Division | Army |
General Officer Commanding Army Recruiting and Initial Training Command | Army |
Commander Joint Helicopter Command | Army |
Air Officer Commanding 1 Group | RAF |
Air Officer Commanding 2 Group | RAF |
Air Officer Commanding 11 Group | RAF |
Air Officer Commanding 22 (Training) Group & Chief of Staff Training | RAF |
Air Officer Commanding 38 Group | RAF |
Chief of Staff UK Strategic Command | Strat Com |
Commander British Forces Cyprus | Strat Com |
Chief of Staff Operations | Strat Com |
Chief of Staff Joint Warfare | Strat Com |
Command Information Surveillance and Reconnaissance | Strat Com |
Surgeon General | Strat Com |
Director Medical Personnel & Training | Strat Com |
Director Defence Healthcare | Strat Com |
Commander Standing Joint Forces Headquarters | Strat Com |
1 Star Command Appointments | |
Commodore Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton | RN |
Naval Base Commander (Clyde) | RN |
Naval Base Commander (Devonport) | RN |
Naval Base Commander (Portsmouth) | RN |
Commander 3 Commando Brigade | RN |
Commander Littoral Strike Group | RN |
Commander UK Carrier Strike Group | RN |
Commander UK Maritime Component and Senior Royal Navy Officer (Gulf) | RN |
Commodore Royal Fleet Auxiliary | RN |
Commodore Maritime Reserves | RN |
Assistant Chief of Staff (Land and Littoral Strike / Deputy Commandant General Royal Marines) | RN |
Commander Portsmouth Flotilla | RN |
Commander Devonport Flotilla | RN |
Commander Faslane Flotilla | RN |
Captain HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH | RN |
Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron Commander British Forces Gibraltar | RN |
Commander 16 Air Assault Brigade | Army |
Commander 1st Artillery Brigade | Army |
Commander 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade | Army |
Commander 12 Armoured Infantry Brigade | Army |
Commander 20 Armoured Infantry Brigade | Army |
Commander 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East | Army |
Commander 7th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East | Army |
Commander 11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East | Army |
Commander 8th Engineer Brigade | Army |
Commander 1st Signal Brigade | Army |
Commander 11th Signal Brigade and Headquarters West Midlands | Army |
Commander 101st Logistics Brigade | Army |
Commander 102nd Logistics Brigade | Army |
Commander 104th Logistics Support Brigade | Army |
Commander 77th Brigade | Army |
Commander 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade | Army |
Commander 38th Irish Brigade | Army |
Commander 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland | Army |
Commander 160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales | Army |
Commander Specialised Infantry Group | Army |
Commander 2nd Medical Brigade | Army |
Commander 1 Military Police Brigade and Provost Marshal (Army) | Army |
Deputy Commander Reserves 1st United Kingdom Division | Army |
Deputy Commander Reserves 3rd United Kingdom Division | Army |
Deputy Commander Reserves 6th United Kingdom Division | Army |
Commander Initial Training Group | Army |
Commander Collective Training Group | Army |
Commandant Royal School of Military Engineering | Army |
Commandant Defence College of Logistics Policing and Administration | Army |
Commandant Defence College of Technical Training | Army |
Deputy Commander Joint Helicopter Command | Army |
Commander Sandhurst Group | Army |
Air Officer Commanding 83 Expeditionary Air Group & UK Air Component Commander | RAF |
Commandant RAF College | RAF |
Joint Force Air Component Commander* | RAF |
Air Officer Lightning & Lightning Force Commander * | RAF |
Air Officer Typhoon & Typhoon Force Commander* | RAF |
Air Officer ISTAR and ISTAR Force Commander* | RAF |
Air Officer A4 & A4 Force Commander* | RAF |
Air Officer Force Protection, Force Protection Force Commander & Commandant General RAF Regiment* | RAF |
Air Officer Battlespace Management & Battlespace Management Force Commander* | RAF |
Air Officer Air Mobility & Air Mobility Force Commander* | RAF |
Air Officer A6 & A6 Force Commander* | RAF |
Commanding Officer Northwood Headquarters | Strat Com |
Deputy Commander British Forces Cyprus | Strat Com |
Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands | Strat Com |
Commander Combined/Joint Forces Headquarters | Strat Com |
Commander Joint Forces Logistic Component | Strat Com |
Commander Joint Forces Intelligence Group | Strat Com |
Station Commander Wyton | Strat Com |
Commander Joint Cyber Electro Magnetic Activity Group | Strat Com |
Commander Joint Force Cyber Group | Strat Com |
Commander British Forces Gibraltar | Strat Com |
Commander Joint Hospital Group | Strat Com |
Table notes:
- British Army officers currently fill three exchange command appointments: two in the USA and one in France. There are two command appointments within the British Army structure that are filled by a US Army officer and a French Army officer. For simplicity, these five one-star level posts have not been included in this table.
- There are two posts within Strategic Command which have been redacted for security purposes.
- An * marks Command Appointments within the RAF which lack Disciplinary Authority