Chief of the General Staff

The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff.

See also:

Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)

Chief of General Staff, shortly abbreviated as CGS, is the most coveted position within the Pakistan Army. Although four-star Chief of Army Staff (COAS) is the nominal head of the land forces, CGS is the operational and intelligence lead of the institution. It is headed by a three-star lieutenant general.

Traditionally, the selection for COAS or Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) has a preference for Chief of General Staff posting. The last 13 four-star army generals had eight officers who did a tenure as CGS. Out of five who didn't, Pervez Musharraf and Ashfaq Parvez Kayani stayed as DGMO and Ehsan ul Haq stayed as DGMI, all two-star postings under the CGS.

The current CGS is Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat appointed on 9th April 2015.

Organisation

The CGS heads the General Staff Branch of Army General Headquarters. He is also assisted by a Vice Chief of General Staff (VCGS) and Deputy Chief of General Staff), both two-star major generals. The critical directorates of Military Operations and Military Intelligence (headed by DGMO and DGMI respectively) also come under his purview.

Chief of General Staff (Israel)

The Chief of the General Staff, also known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Defense Forces (Hebrew: ראש המטה הכללי, Rosh HaMateh HaKlali, abbr. Ramatkal—רמטכ"ל) is the supreme commander and Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

At any given time, the Chief of Staff is the only active officer holding the IDF's highest rank, rav aluf (Hebrew: רב-אלוף‎), which is usually translated into English as lieutenant general, a three-star rank. (The lone exception to this rule occurred during the Yom Kippur War, when former Chief of Staff Haim Bar-Lev, who was a government member at the moment of war outbreak, was brought out of retirement and installed as chief of Southern Command. For a brief period, he and Chief of Staff David Elazar were both in active service with the rank of rav aluf.)

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is an integrated force, its ranks are the same in all services. It has a slightly compacted rank structure; for instance, the Chief of Staff (Ramatkal or rav aluf (Hebrew: רב-אלוף)) is seemingly only equivalent to a lieutenant general (NATO OF-8) in other militaries. Rav aluf means 'arch-general', which would be equal to a field marshal or five star general in other armies and equivalent to OF-10.

Staff (military)

A military staff (often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services) is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that are responsible for the administrative, operational and logistical needs of its unit. It provides bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units. A staff also provides an executive function where it filters information needed by the commander or shunts unnecessary information.

Military staff functions

Information management

One of the key purposes of a military staff is to provide accurate, timely information (which includes the results of contingency planning) on which command decisions are based. A goal is being able to suggest approaches or help produce well-informed decisions that will effectively manage and conserve unit resources.

In addition to generating information, the staff also manages the flow of communication within the unit and around it. While controlled information flow toward the commander is a priority, those useful or contingent in nature are communicated to lower-level units and/or through their respective staffs. If the information is not pertinent to the unit, it is redirected to the command level which can best utilize the condition or information.

General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army

General Staff (Vietnamese: Bộ Tổng tham mưu) is the commanding and managing organisation of the Vietnam People's Army, the paramilitary forces, militia and other activities relating to defence of Vietnam. The General Staff was established on 7 September 1945, right after the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first Chief of the General Staff was General Hoàng Văn Thái. During the Second Indochina War, Vietnam War, Cambodian-Vietnamese War, Sino-Vietnamese War and other skirmishes, the General Staff always had an essential role in organising, commanding the armed forces and planning, operating military campaigns for the Ministry of Defence and the Government of Vietnam. The current Chief of the General Staff is General Đỗ Bá Tỵ who also holds the position of Deputy Minister of Defence.

History and roles

Right after the August Revolution and the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2 September 1945, the General Staff was established on 7 September 1945. The first Chief of the General Staff was Major General Hoàng Văn Thái who held the position from 1945 to 1953. During the existence of the General Headquarters of the Vietnam People's Army (Bộ Tổng tư lệnh Quân đội Nhân dân Việt Nam), which had been the supreme commanding organ of the armed forces from 1946 to 1975, the General Staff was directly under the General Headquarters and acted as staff of the General Headquarters according to the decree No. 47/SL which was issued on 1 May 1947.

General Staff (Germany)

The General Staff of the German Army (German: Führungsstab des Heeres) was a department of the Federal Ministry of Defence and one of the five staff headquarters in the military command of the Bundeswehr. The General Staff was thus at the same time a ministerial division and the highest level of military command within the German Army. It was merged with the other high command authorities of the German Army to form the Army Command (Kommando Heer) in 2012.

Command

The General Staff was commanded by the Inspector of the Army (Inspekteur des Heeres). The Inspector holds the rank of lieutenant general (Generalleutnant), and commanded the General Staff, reporting to the Federal Minister of Defence. The General Inspector of the Bundeswehr and the Defence Staff who work for him are only authorised to issue directives to the General Staff in the fields of development and the realisation of the overall concept for the Bundeswehr. The General Staff comprised about 180 soldiers and civil servants.