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Chief of Joint Operations (CJO)

Air Marshal Allan Paul Marshall OBE MA

Biography

Allan Marshall was commissioned into the Royal Air Force (RAF) in September 1991. Following an engineering degree at Cambridge University and pilot training, Marshall spent the first ten years of his career flying the Harrier. During this period, he completed multiple operational tours, including in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan; gained experience of embarked operations on Royal Navy aircraft carriers; and undertook instructional, standardisation, and test and evaluation roles.

Subsequently, he gained procurement experience as the UK requirements manager for the F-35 programme, before converting to the Intelligence, Surveillance, Targeting and Reconnaissance role. He served as officer commanding No. V(AC) (Army Co-operation) Squadron, operating Sentinel and Shadow aircraft on operations in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali.  

Two Ministry of Defence roles followed within the Operations Directorate and then as Deputy Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of the Defence Staff. He then commanded RAF Waddington, responsible for Reaper, Rivet Joint, Sentinel, Sentry E-3D, Shadow and Intelligence analysis capabilities.

After completion of the Higher Command and Staff Course, the US Capstone Programme and a research fellowship at Oxford University focusing on strategic intelligence, he returned to the Ministry of Defence in 2018 as Head of Defence Commitments and Crisis.

In April 2020, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding Number 1 Group responsible for the majority of the RAF’s operational air capability and then became the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations & Commitments) within the Ministry of Defence in November 2021.  

From March 2024 he was the UK’s Air & Space Commander, prior to his latest appointment as Chief of Joint Operations in August 2026.

He is married to Air Marshal Suraya Marshall and together they have two children.

Chief of Joint Operations (CJO)

The Chief of Joint Operations responsibilities include:

  • the Command and integration of global operations across all domains in support of National Security objectives

  • Training Design Authority and Force Preparation of the Joint Force, notably the readiness of the 2* and 1* deployable Joint Headquarters on SJFHQ, JFHQ and SJFLogC

  • deploy, sustain and recover all UK Armed Forces for designated operations and exercises

  • maintain a powerful network of relationships across the globe with NATO Joint Force Commanders, US COCOM Commanders, and peer international CJOs

  • provide evidence and expert operational level advice to support and inform MOD Strategic Planning and Campaign Design

  • develop the Permanent Joint Headquarters into a 21st Command and Control capability, constantly adapting to ensure Competitive Advantage

Ministry of Defence and Cyber & Specialist Operations Command