On 27 May General Sir Gwyn Jenkins became the First Sea Lord at a ceremony in HMS Victory’s Great Cabin, in Portsmouth. He was joined by Acting Chief of Naval Staff, Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Sir Martin Connell for the official handover.
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and a member of the Defence Council and is responsible to the Secretary of State and the Chief of Defence Staff for the fighting effectiveness, efficiency and morale of the Naval Service.
As a member of the Defence Council, the First Sea Lord supports the Secretary of State in the management and direction of the Armed Forces through prerogative and statutory powers. As a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, he advises on maritime strategy and policy. He has a collective responsibility for providing strategic direction to the department, managing performance and ensuring that the Royal Navy delivers the required outputs.
General Jenkins said, “It is a huge honour to formally start in the role of First Sea Lord today. Leading the incredible sailors, marines and civil servants of the Royal Navy is a true privilege. I have always been driven by our mission to keep the UK safe – now more than ever we must: strengthen our combat readiness, modernise faster and shape the Navy our country needs.”
General Jenkins is the first Royal Marine to led the Royal Navy and the first General since the days of Oliver Cromwell’s rule in the 17th century to do so.
General Jenkins commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1990. His time as a junior officer was spent in the Commando Logistics Regiment, competing for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines in cross-country skiing and on operations in Northern Ireland with 42 Commando RM. A graduate of the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Military College Shrivenham, where he completed a master’s degree in Defence Studies in 2004, he went on to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel overseeing global operations in the Permanent Joint HQ, before a Commanding Officer appointment in 2009. On completion of his command tour he was promoted to Colonel and deployed for twelve months to Afghanistan, for which he was awarded an OBE, returning to the UK in 2012 as the Military Assistant to the Prime Minister in No 10 Downing Street.
After two years in No. 10, he completed the Higher Command and Staff Course, was promoted to Brigadier and took up a 3* civilian appointment in the Cabinet Office as Deputy National Security Advisor for Conflict, Stability and Defence. In April 2017 he moved back to the military and took command of 3 Commando Brigade, conducting exercises and overseeing operational deployments around the world. He was promoted to Major General in January 2019, in which rank he served first in the Royal Navy as the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.
In August 2022 he was appointed Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and promoted to General. Most recently, General Jenkins had been the Strategic Advisor to the Secretary of State for Defence. In this role, he negotiated the UK’s Defence Agreement with Germany and further progressing the UK’s strategic partnership with Norway.
Sources: RN & UK Government
