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  3. Joint Cyber Defence (COM JCDC)

Joint Cyber Defence (COM JCDC)

Brigadier General Mark Staunton was appointed as the Commander of the Joint Cyber Defence Command (COM JCDC) by the Minister of Defence and Government with effect from 24 Oct 2025.

Born in Dublin, Brigadier General Staunton has over 40 years’ experience in Infantry and Communications and Information Services (CIS) appointments. He has served in a variety of roles across the Defence Forces as well as deployments with the United Nations and NATO.

Brigadier General Staunton’s most recent appointment from Jan 2020 was as Director of J6  with responsibility to provide, support and maintain the necessary CIS for the Command, Control, Administration and Cyber Defence of the Defence Forces. Previously he had been Officer In Charge (OIC) of Defence Forces Current Operations in DFHQ J3&5 since 2017.  Immediately prior to this he Commanded the Defence Forces Communications and Information Services Coy (DFHQ CIS Coy) from 2014 to 2017. Other previous appointments also include Senior Staff Officer Strategic Planning Branch DFHQ; G6 2 Bde HQ and Officer Commanding 2 Field CIS Coy in Cathal Brugha Barracks Dublin. He has also served in 2 Inf Bn, The Army Apprentice School and 3 Inf Bn. He has three tours of duty as an Inf Pl Comd and Operations Officer (S3) with UNIFIL (1991, 1994, 2012); two six month deployments as a UN Military Observer in Western Sahara (MINURSO, 1997) and Cóte d’Ivoire (ONUCI, 2014) in addition to a two year deployment in The Middle East (Syria) with the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organisation (UNTSO) 2006-2008. He Commanded Headquarters Support Group in NATO’s mission in Kosovo (KFOR) for six months in 2021.

Brigadier General Staunton is a graduate of the Military College Command & Staff Course.  He holds a primary Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (B Comm) and a post graduate degree in Law (LLB) from University College Galway. In addition, he holds a Higher Diploma in Information Technology (H Dip IT) and a Master’s degree in Leadership Management and Defence Studies (MA LMDS) from National University of Ireland Maynooth. He also holds a Masters of Business Studies (MBS Electronic Commerce) from University College Dublin and a Master’s degree in International Relations (M Phil Peace Studies) from Trinity College Dublin. Additionally, he holds an extensive range of certificates and technical qualifications in Cyber Studies, Data Protection, Network Administration and Software Development etc  from European College of Security Studies, UN Institute for Training & Research and a variety of other professional bodies.

Brigadier General Staunton is married to Orla and they have three adult children, Niamh, Cathal and Roisin.

Designated Public Official under the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 – see www.lobbying.ie