Chief of defence

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A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position within the NATO and EU member states, rather than the actual term used for individual positions. Thus, irrespective of the formal national designation of that position is some variation on Commander-in-Chief, Chief of Staff, Supreme Commander, or something else, they can all be referred to unambiguously as CHODs in NATO and EU terminology, although other terms are sometimes also seen within NATO. Thus, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the CHOD of the United States, the Chief of the Defence Staff is the CHOD of the United Kingdom, the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr is the CHOD of Germany, and the Chief of Defence (Forsvarssjefen) is the CHOD of Norway.

The CHODs of from 29 countries gathered at the Pentagon on March 11, 2002. The Chiefs of Defence in the picture include US Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; French Army Gen. Jean-Pierre Kelche, Chief of the Defence Staff; Dutch Navy Adm. Luuk Kroon, Chief of Defence; German Air Force Gen. Harald Kujat, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr; British Navy Adm. Sir Michael Boyce, Chief of the Defence Staff

Both NATO and the EU occasionally hold CHODs meetings of the NATO Military Committee and the European Union Military Committee respectively.

Chief of defence positions in NATO member countries

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Three CHODs leaving Lancaster House in London, 10 June 2011. L-R: US Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; French Navy Adm. Édouard Guillaud, Chief of Defence Staff; British Gen. Sir David Richards, Chief of Defence Staff.

Within member states of NATO, the following national positions are the CHOD positions. Sometimes more than one form of translation into English is encountered.

Country Position Alternative translations[a] Term in national language
  Albania Albanian: Shefi i shtabit të përgjithshëm
  Belgium Chief of the General Staff[1] Dutch: Chef Defensie
French: Chef de la Défense
  Bulgaria Bulgarian: Началник на отбраната
  Canada French: Chef d'État-Major de la défense
  Croatia Croatian: Načelnik Glavnog stožera
  Czech Republic Czech: Náčelník Generálního štábu
  Denmark Danish: Forsvarschefen
  Estonia Estonian: Kaitseväe juhataja
  Finland Finnish: Puolustusvoimain komentaja
Swedish: Kommendören för Försvarsmakten
  France French: Chef d'État-Major des armées
  Germany Chief of Defence[5][6] German: Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr
  Greece Greek: Αρχηγός του Γενικού Επιτελείου Εθνικής Άμυνας
  Hungary Hungarian: Vezérkari főnök
  Iceland
Director of the Security and Defence Department[9][10]
Icelandic: Deildarstjóri öryggis- og varnarmálaskrifstofu
  Italy Italian: Capo di Stato Maggiore della Difesa
  Latvia Latvian: Bruņoto spēku komandieris
  Lithuania Lithuanian: Kariuomenės vadas
  Luxembourg Chief of Defence French: Chef d'état-major
German: Chef des Generalstabs
  Montenegro Montenegrin: Начелник Генералштаба / Načelnik Generalštaba
  Netherlands Dutch: Commandant der Strijdkrachten
  North Macedonia Macedonian: Началник на Генералштабот
  Norway Norwegian: Forsvarssjefen
  Poland Polish: Szef Sztabu Generalnego
  Portugal Portuguese: Chefe do Estado-Maior-General das Forças Armadas
  Romania Chief of the General Staff Romanian: Șeful Statului Major General
  Slovakia Slovak: Náčelník generálneho štábu
  Slovenia Slovene: Načelnik Generalštaba
  Spain Spanish: Jefe del Estado Mayor de la Defensa
  Sweden Swedish: Överbefälhavaren
  Turkey Commander of the Armed Forces[22] Turkish: Genelkurmay Başkanı
  United Kingdom
  United States

In 2018 Slovenia appointed the first female Major General Alenka Ermenc to hold such a position in the history of NATO and Slovenia.[23][24][25]

CHOD positions by non-NATO EU country

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Within the EU member states that are not members of NATO, the following national positions are the CHOD positions.

Country Position Alternative translations Term in national language used for the position
  Austria German: Chef des Generalstabes
  Cyprus Greek: Αρχηγοί Εθνικής Φρουράς
  Ireland Irish: Ceann Foirne na bhFórsaí Cosanta
  Malta Maltese: Kmandant tal-Forzi Armati ta’ Malta

Other Chief of Defence positions by (non-NATO and non-EU) country

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Note that in many countries outside of NATO and EU, the concept of civilian control of the military is inapplicable. In some countries the minister of defence is often a senior military officer. However, the list below only lists CHOD equivalents and not defense ministers.

Country Position Alternative translations Term in national language used for the position
  Algeria Chief of the Defence Staff Arabic: رئيس أركان الجيش الوطني الشعبي
  Argentina Spanish: Jefe del Estado Mayor Conjunto
  Armenia Armenian: Գլխավոր շտաբի պետ
  Australia
  Azerbaijan Azerbaijani: Silahlı Qüvvələri Baş Qərargah rəisi
  Belarus Belarusian: Начальнік Генеральнага штаба Узброеных Сіл
Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба Вооружённых Сил
  Botswana
  Brazil Portuguese: Chefe do Estado Maior Conjunto das Forças Armadas
  Chile Spanish: Jefe del Estado Mayor Conjunto de la Defensa
  China Chief of General Staff
Commanding General of the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department
Chinese: 中央军事委员会联合参谋部参谋长
  Colombia Spanish: Comandante General de las Fuerzas Militares
  Ecuador Spanish: Jefe del Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas
  Ethiopia Amharic: ጦር ኃይሎች ጠቅላይ ሹም
  Gambia
  Georgia Georgian: თავდაცვის ძალების გენერალური შტაბის უფროსი
  Ghana
  Guatemala Spanish: Jefe del Estado Mayor
  India Hindi: रक्षा प्रमुख
  Indonesia Indonesian: Panglima Tentara Nasional Indonesia
  Iran Persian: ستاد کل نیروهای مسلح
  Iraq Arabic: رئاسة اركان الجيش
  Israel Hebrew: ראש המטה הכללי
  Jamaica
  Japan Japanese: 統合幕僚長
  Kazakhstan Kazakh: Бас штабының бастығы / Bas ştabynyñ bastyğy
Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба
  Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz: Башкы штабынын башчысы
Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба
  Malaysia Malay: Panglima Angkatan Tentera
  Moldova Romanian: Șef al Marelui Stat Major
  Monaco
Superior Commander of the Public Services
French: Le Commandant supérieur de la Force publique
  Myanmar Burmese: တပ်မတော်ကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ်
  New Zealand
  Nigeria
    Nepal Nepali: प्रधानसेनापति
  North Korea Korean: 조선인민군 총참모장
  Pakistan Urdu: صدرنشین مجلسِ مشترکہَ رؤسائے افواجِ پاکستان
  Peru Spanish: Jefe del Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas
  Philippines Tagalog: Hepe ng Sandatahang Lakas
  Russia Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба
  San Marino
Superior Commander of the Militias
Italian: Comandante Superiore delle Milizie
  Serbia Serbian: Начелник Генералштаба
  Singapore Chinese: 三军总长
  Somalia Somali: Taliyaha Xooga Qalabka
  South Africa
  South Korea Korean: 합동참모의장
  Sri Lanka
   Switzerland French: Chef de l'Armée
German: Chef der Armee
Italian: Capo dell'Esercito
Romansh: Schef da l'Armada
  Syria Arabic: رئيس هيئة الأركان العامة للجيش والقوات المسلحة
  Taiwan Chinese: 參謀總長
  Tajikistan Tajik: Сардори Ситоди генералӣ
Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба
  Thailand Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters Thai: ผู้บัญชาการทหารสูงสุด
  Ukraine Ukrainian: Головнокомандувач Збройних сил України
  Uruguay Spanish: Jefe del Estado Mayor de la Defensa
  Vatican City German: Kommandant der Päpstlichen Schweizergarde
French: Commandant de la Garde Suisse Pontificale
Italian: Comandante della Guardia Svizzera Pontificia
Latin: Praefecti Pontificalis Custodiae Helveticae
  Vietnam Chief of the General Staff of the People's Army of Vietnam Vietnamese: Tổng Tham mưu trưởng Quân đội Nhân dân

Notes

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  1. ^ This is provided when the term given on NATO's homepage is different from the one used in the Wikipedia entry for the position.

References

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  1. ^ NATO: Chief of the General Staff of Belgium, accessed on October 30, 2008
  2. ^ NATO: Chief of General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
  3. ^ NATO: Chief of the General Staff Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, accessed on October 30, 2008
  4. ^ Estonian Defence Forces: Commander, accessed on November 12, 2014
  5. ^ "NATO: Chief of Defence – Germany". NATO. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  6. ^ "The Chief of Defence". bmvg.de. The German Government. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  7. ^ NATO: Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, accessed on October 30, 2008
  8. ^ NATO: Chief of Defence Staff Hungarian Army, accessed on October 30, 2008
  9. ^ NATO: Director General of the Directorate for Degfence, accessed on December 15, 2022
  10. ^ Iceland presents a special case since the country does not have its own armed forces as such. Thus, a civilian at the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs fulfills the role of CHOD in relation to NATO.
  11. ^ NATO: Chief of Defense Staff of Italy, accessed on October 30, 2008
  12. ^ NATO: Commander of the Latvian National Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
  13. ^ NATO: Chief of Defence of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
  14. ^ NATO: Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg Army, accessed on October 30, 2008
  15. ^ "Chief of Defence | Ministry of Defence". Archived from the original on 2013-04-01. Retrieved 2012-11-21., accessed on November 20, 2012
  16. ^ NATO: Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
  17. ^ NATO: Chief of Defence of Portugal, accessed on October 30, 2008
  18. ^ NATO: Chief of Defence of Romania, accessed on October 30, 2008
  19. ^ NATO: Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, accessed on October 30, 2008
  20. ^ NATO: Chief of General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
  21. ^ NATO: Chief of Defence Staff of Spain, accessed on October 30, 2008
  22. ^ NATO: Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
  23. ^ "Nato state appoints first female head of armed forces". BBC News. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  24. ^ "Slovenia Appoints First Female Army Chief". VOA news. Reuters. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  25. ^ "Slovenia Appoints First Female Head of Armed Forces". Sentinelassam.com. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  26. ^ "Website unavailable". www.afm.gov.mt. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
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