Joint Service Defence College


The Joint Service Defence College was a training academy for military personnel from 1947 to 1997. It has since been amalgamated into the Joint Services Command and Staff College.

History

The college was established as the Joint Services Staff College in 1947 with Rear Admiral Cyril Douglas-Pennant as its first commandant. It was based at Latimer House in Latimer, Buckinghamshire. It was renamed the National Defence College in 1971. On 12 February 1974, the IRA detonated a bomb at the NDC; there were no fatalities. In 1983, the NDC was renamed the Joint Service Defence College, and moved to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The college was closed in 1997 and amalgamated into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.

Staff and students

The Commandant was a Major-general or equivalent. Senior Directing Staff included Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, civilian colonels and equivalent: civilian G5 or Assistant Secretary. Officers attending the course, which focussed on managing tri-service operations, were typically of lieutenant-colonel rank or equivalent and had to have the potential to rise at least two grades in rank. Three courses, each of nine months, were held every two years, each with 60 officers. Those officers passing the course, or serving on the directing staff for at least six months, received the letters jsdc. The majority of students went on to joint, central staff or international appointments. The crest featured a cormorant, which was also the name of the college magazine.

Alumni

Air Force