Editing British Armed Forces (section)

===Command===
[[File:ElizabethIItroopingcolour crop.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Elizabeth in red uniform on a black horse|Then Commander-in-Chief Queen Elizabeth II riding [[Burmese (horse)|Burmese]] at the 1986 [[Trooping the Colour]] ceremony]]
{{See also|UK parliamentary approval for military action}}
[[File:Ministry of Defence Main Building MOD 45150121.jpg|thumb|The [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] building at [[Whitehall]], [[City of Westminster|Westminster]], [[London]]]]
[[King Charles III]], [[sovereign of the United Kingdom]], is the [[Head of the British Armed Forces|Head of the Armed Forces]],<ref name="Forces Queen and Armed Forces"/><ref name="army.mod.uk"/> with officers and personnel swearing [[allegiance]] to him. Long-standing constitutional convention, however, has ''de facto'' vested military authority and associated [[Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom|royal prerogative powers]] in the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]] and the [[Secretary of State for Defence|secretary of state for defence]], with the former (acting with the support of the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]]) making the key decisions on the use of the armed forces. The sovereign retains the power to prevent the unconstitutional use of the armed forces, including that of [[Nuclear weapons of the United Kingdom|its nuclear arsenal]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7758314.stm|title=Whose hand is on the button?|access-date=14 March 2009|date=2 December 2008|publisher=BBC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221035555/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7758314.stm|archive-date=21 February 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]{{efn|The current structure of defence management in Britain was set in place in 1964 when the modern day Ministry of Defence (MoD) was created (an earlier form had existed since 1940). The MoD assumed the roles of the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]], the [[War Office]] and the [[Air Ministry]] }} is the government department charged with formulating and executing defence policy. It currently employs 56,860 civilian staff members as of 1 October 2015.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-civilian-personnel-quarterly-report-2015 MOD civilian personnel quarterly report: 2015] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311014359/https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-civilian-personnel-quarterly-report-2015 |date=11 March 2016 }}, gov.uk, 1 October 2015</ref> The department is administered by the secretary of state for defence who is assisted by the [[Minister of State for the Armed Forces]], [[Minister of State for Defence Procurement (UK)|Minister for Defence Procurement]], and Minister for Veterans' Affairs. Responsibility for the management of the forces is delegated to a number of committees: the [[Defence Council of the United Kingdom|Defence Council]], [[Chiefs of Staff Committee]], Defence Management Board and three single-service boards. The Defence Council, composed of senior representatives of the services and the Ministry of Defence, provides the "formal legal basis for the conduct of defence". The three constituent single-service committees ([[Admiralty Board]], [[Army Board]] and [[Air Force Board]]) are chaired by the secretary of state for defence.

The [[Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)|chief of the defence staff]] (CDS) is the senior-most officer of the armed forces and is an appointment that can be held by an [[admiral]], [[air chief marshal]] or [[general]]. Before the practice was discontinued in the 1990s, those who were appointed to the position of CDS had been elevated to the [[Five-star rank|most senior rank]] in their respective service.<ref>Hansard (1998), [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmhansrd/vo980512/text/80512w06.htm House of Commons Written Answers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917213955/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmhansrd/vo980512/text/80512w06.htm |date=17 September 2017 }}, publications.parliament.uk</ref> The CDS, along with the permanent under secretary, are the principal military advisers to the secretary of state. All three services have their own respective professional chiefs; the [[First Sea Lord]] for the [[Royal Navy]], the [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|chief of the general staff]] for the [[British Army|Army]] and the [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|chief of the air staff]] for the [[Royal Air Force]].