The Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The role is held by a General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of brigadier.^[1] This position is not to be confused with Captain General Royal Marines, the ceremonial head. The Commandant General Royal Marines is the counterpart to the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.^[2]

In 1760 three naval captains were appointed colonels of marines. However, these were naval officers and it meant that the furthest a marine officer could advance was to lieutenant colonel. It was not until 1771 that commandants of the three divisions (Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham) were appointed.^[3] The first single professional head of the Royal Marine Forces was the Deputy Adjutant-General, a post which existed from 1825^[4] until 1914 when the post was re-designated the Adjutant-General:^[5][6] the post holder usually held the rank of full general.^[7] Since 1943 the professional head of the Royal Marines has been the Commandant-General who held the rank of full general until 1977, the rank of lieutenant general until 1996, the rank of major general until April 2021, the rank of lieutenant general until November 2022, and the rank of full general since 2022.^[8] Lieutenant General Robert Magowan was the first person to assume the role twice, serving between 2016 and 2017 and again from 2021 to 2022.^[9]

On 25 November 2022 the Royal Marines announced for the first time since 1977, that a full general would be taking over the role, that person being General Gwyn Jenkins.^[10]

From 1825 until 1964 his headquarters office which changed location several times was known as the Royal Marine Office.^[11][12]

The appointment had been held concurrently with that of Commander United Kingdom Amphibious Forces (COMUKAMPHIBFOR) since the creation of the Fleet Battle Staff in 2001. COMUKAMPHIBFOR was one of two deployable two-star maritime operational commanders (the other being Commander UK Maritime Forces (COMUKMARFOR), now Commander United Kingdom Strike Force,^[13] with particular responsibility for amphibious and littoral warfare.^[13] Unlike COMUKMARFOR, COMUKAMPHIBFOR is primarily configured to command as a combined joint task force and designed to support a single two star commander.^[13] In April 2018, it was announced that the two separate deployable two-star maritime operational commanders (COMUKMARFOR and COMUKAMPHIBFOR) would be merged into a single, larger, maritime battle staff.^[14]

In April 2021, the role passed to a more senior officer in a dual-hatted capacity, and the commandant general's role, as well as being the professional head of the Royal Marines, was identified as championing emerging concepts in amphibious warfare and maintaining critical ties with the US Marine Corps.^[15]

General Officers Commanding have included:^[8]

Commandant General Royal Marines

More information No., Portrait ...

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		General Sir Thomas Hunton (1885–1970)	January 1943	1946	2–3 years	–
2		General Sir Dallas Brooks (1896–1966)	1946	May 1949	2–3 years	–
3		General Sir Leslie Hollis (1897–1963)	1949	1952	2–3 years	–
4		General Sir John Westall (1901–1986)	1952	1955	2–3 years	–
5		General Sir Campbell Hardy (1906–1984)	1955	1959	3–4 years	–
6		General Sir Ian Riches (1908–1996)	1959	1962	2–3 years	–
7		General Sir Malcolm Cartwright-Taylor (1911–1969)	1962	1965	2–3 years	–
8		General Sir Norman Tailyour (1914–1979)	1965	1968	2–3 years	–
9		General Sir Peter Hellings (1916–1990)	1968	1971	2–3 years	–
10		General Sir Ian Gourlay (1920–2013)	1971	9 June 1975	6–7 years	–
11		General Sir Peter Whiteley (1920–2016)	1975	1977	1–2 years	–
12		Lieutenant General Sir John Richards (1927–2004)	1977	1981	3–4 years	–
13		Lieutenant General Sir Steuart Pringle (1928–2013)	1981	1984	2–3 years	–
14		Lieutenant General Sir Michael Wilkins (1933–1994)	1984	1987	2–3 years	–
15		Lieutenant General Sir Martin Garrod (1935–2009)	1987	1990	2–3 years	–
16		Lieutenant General Sir Henry Beverley (born 1935)	1990	1994	3–4 years	–
17		Lieutenant General Sir Robin Ross (born 1939)	1994	1996	1–2 years	–
18		Major General David Pennefather (born 1945)	1996	1998	1–2 years	–
19		Major General Robert Fulton (born 1948)	1998	2001	2–3 years	–
20		Major General Robert Fry (born 1951)	2001	2002	0–1 years	–
21		Major General Tony Milton (born 1949)	May 2002	February 2004	1 year, 9 months	–
22		Major General David Wilson (born 1949)	February 2004	August 2004	6 months	–
23		Major General James Dutton (born 1954)	August 2004	June 2006	1 year, 10 months	–
24		Major General Garry Robison (born 1958)	June 2006	June 2009	3 years	–
25		Major General Andy Salmon (born 1959)	26 June 2009	February 2010	7 months	–
26		Major General Buster Howes (born 1960)	February 2010	December 2011	1 year, 10 months	–
27		Major General Ed Davis (born 1963)	December 2011	13 June 2014	2 years, 6 months	[18][19]
28		Major General Martin Smith (born 1962)	13 June 2014	4 June 2016	1 year, 11 months	[19][20]
29		Major General Robert Magowan (born 1967)	4 June 2016	19 January 2018	1 year, 7 months	[20][21]
30		Major General Charles Stickland (born 1968)	19 January 2018	14 June 2019	1 year, 4 months	[21][22]
31		Major General Matthew Holmes (1967–2021)	14 June 2019	30 April 2021	1 year, 10 months	[22]
32		Lieutenant General Robert Magowan (born 1967)	30 April 2021	25 November 2022	1 year, 6 months	[23]
33		General Gwyn Jenkins	25 November 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 4 months	[24][25]

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This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2021)

The following have served as Deputy Commandant General:

• 0000–2013: Brigadier Bill Dunham
• 2014–2017: Brigadier Richard Spencer
• 2017–2020: Brigadier Haydn White
• 2020–present: Brigadier Anthony R. Turner