The Armed Forces' 115,349 personnel are divided into a hierarchy of numerous ranks of officers and non-commissioned members. The governor general appoints, on the advice of the prime minister, the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) as the highest ranking commissioned officer in the Armed Forces and who, as head of the Armed Forces Council, is in command of the Canadian Forces. The Armed Forces Council generally operates from National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa, Ontario. On the Armed Forces Council sit the heads of Canadian Joint Operations Command and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, and the heads of the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Air Force and other key Level 1 organizations. The sovereign and most other members of the Canadian Royal Family also act as colonels-in-chief, honorary air commodores, air commodores-in-chief, admirals, and captains-general of Canadian Forces units, though these positions are ceremonial.