Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)

Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board. Prior to 1964 the title was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS). Since 1959, the post has been immediately subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff, the post held by the professional head of the British Armed Forces.

The current Chief of the General Staff is General Sir Nick Carter – having succeeded his predecessor, General Sir Peter Wall in September 2014.

Background

The title was also used for five years between the demise of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in 1904 and the introduction of Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1909. The post was then held by General Sir Neville Lyttelton and, briefly, by Field Marshal Sir William Nicholson.

Throughout the existence of the post the Chief of the General Staff has been the First Military Member of the Army Board.

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.