Skip to main content

Mission

Support to Defence

Protecting Defence personnel and assets and supporting an integrated approach to war fighting
A close-up of the arm of a person in military uniform. The Union Jack is sewn onto their sleeve.

GCHQ’s partnership with the military stretches back over 100 years and today we work with the Armed Forces on the frontline in conflict zones to protect personnel and equipment.

Supporting the military was the reason why the forerunner of GCHQ, the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) was formed by the amalgamation of Room 40 of the Admiralty (Royal Navy) and the War Office's MI1(b) in 1919.

Since then, whenever and wherever British troops have been deployed, GCHQ has worked hard to support their operations by ensuring they have intelligence to better understand the environment they are operating in and to protect their personnel. Sometimes this is done remotely and at other times GCHQ staff deploy along with the military units.