| Post: | Office of the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Aviation, Amphibious Capability & Carriers) |
| Insignia: | Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 150px |
| Insigniacaption: | Ensign of the Royal Navy |
| Department: | Ministry of Defence |
| Member Of: | Navy Command |
| Reports To: | Second Sea Lord |
| Nominator: | First Sea Lord |
| Appointer: | Prime Minister |
| Appointer Qualified: | Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council |
| Termlength: | Not fixed (typically 1–3 years) |
| Inaugural: | Rear-Admiral Richard Bell-Davies |
| Formation: | 24 May 1939–current |
The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Aviation, Amphibious Capability & Carriers) formerly the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Aviation and Carrier Strike)[1] is a senior Royal Navy appointment responsible for naval aviation. The post is also the successor to the Royal Navy's Flag Officer for naval aviation in the British Isles, established since 1939.
The post of Flag Officer Naval Air Stations was established in May 1939 to provide land based support for the Fleet Air Arm, then being transferred from the Royal Air Force to the Royal Navy.
In May 1945 the FONAS post was re-styled Flag Officer Air Home.[2]
In September 1945 the post of Flag Officer, Flying Training was created, to be followed by Flag Officer, Ground Training and Rear-Admiral, Reserve Aircraft (an Equipment Branch post) in January 1949.[3] The Reserve Aircraft post was disestablished in 1956 and the Ground Training post in 1957.
Flag Officer, Air, Home flew his flag from RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus); the post existed until 1963. He was responsible for shore-based air command working up squadrons to operational effectiveness, and after an Operational Readiness Inspection, delivering them to the Fleet.[4]
This post was created on 30 September 1963 as renaming of Flag Officer Air, Home, at the time a Vice-Admiral's command.[7]
In November 1970 the post of Flag Officer, Flying Training was disestablished. Sir John Treacher, who was in post from June 1972, wrote in Life at Full Throttle that '..the tasks undertaken by the old Flying Training Command and Flag Officer Air (Home) had now been taken over by the Flag Officer Naval Air Command to form a single entity and the headquarters had been moved from Lee-on-Solent to the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton. In April 2010 the post was renamed Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Carriers & Aviation).
In 2012, this post's responsibilities were officially described as '..ACNS(A&C) is responsible for delivering aviation Force Elements at Readiness in accordance with the RN plan and arising, contingent events. This includes all RN fixed and rotary wing assets, the two Naval Air Stations and the generation of aircraft carriers and carrier capability. He is the lead, on behalf of the Fleet Commander, for the development of the future Carrier Strike capability. As the Navy's Aviation Operational Duty Holder, he is personally, legally accountable for the safe execution of maritime aviation by all Royal Navy units, including aircraft, ships and submarines. ACNS(A&CS) is also Rear Admiral Fleet Air Arm in which role, as a Head of a Naval Fighting Arm, he is responsible for the professional effectiveness, ethos and spirit of all Fleet Air Arm personnel.'[9] It has been renamed as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Aviation, Amphibious Capability & Carriers) (ACNS(A&C)) and Rear-Admiral Fleet Air Arm around 2019.
Today the main air station that ACNS (A&CS) has responsibility for is RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron).