PJHQ - Chief of Staff (Operations)

Major General Messenger joined the Marines in 1983. After a range of junior officer appointments, predominantly in regimental service and including a 1 year Mountain Leader course, he attended Canadian Staff College in 1994. Two staff jobs followed, before he was appointed as Chief of Staff to 3 Commando Brigade in 1999; a tour that included operational deployments to Afghanistan and the initial invasion of Iraq. After a sabbatical in Geneva, he joined the UK's high-readiness headquarters in July 2004; a job that saw him on various operations worldwide, including the tsunami relief effort, the civilian evacuation from Lebanon and command of the initial deployment to Southern Afghanistan in 2005. After further command training, he briefly acted as Director Force Deployment in Main Building before being appointed to the position of Director Joint Communications (Military) in September 2007, coordinating military policy for all overseas operations. Major General Messenger then commanded 3 Commando Brigade for their tour to Afghanistan in September 2008, followed by promotion and a tour as Chief of Defence Staff's Strategic Communication Officer, focussing primarily on improving public awareness of the Afghanistan campaign. He assumed the post of Chief of Staff (Operations) at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in November 2010, responsible for the UK contribution to operations worldwide.