The 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 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

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 United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the Chief of the Defence Staff is the CHOD of

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr is the CHOD of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the Chief of Defence (''Forsvarssjefen'') is the CHOD of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

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

European Union Military Committee The Military Committee of the European Union (EUMC) is the body of the European Union's (EU) Common Security and Defence Policy that is composed of member states' Chiefs of Defence (CHOD). These national CHODs are regularly represented in the EUM ...

respectively.

Chief of defence positions by NATO country

Within member states of NATO, the following national positions are the CHOD positions. Sometimes more than one form of translation into English is encountered. } , - , , , , , , , Montenegrin: ''Начелник Генералштаба'' / ''Načelnik Generalštaba'' , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , Chief of the General Staff , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , Commander of the Armed Forces , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , In 2018

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

appointed the first woman

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Alenka Ermenc Alenka Ermenc, born 5 September 1963, is an officer in the Slovenian army and was the first woman to hold the position of Chief of defence within NATO forces. Military career Ermenc's military career started when she became a member of the Sloven ...

to hold such a position in the history of

and Slovenia.

CHOD positions by non-NATO EU country

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

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

Note that in many countries outside of NATO and EU, the concept of

civilian control of the military Civilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional military ...

is inapplicable. In some countries the

minister of defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

is often a senior military officer. However, the list below only lists CHOD equivalents and ''not'' defense ministers. } , - , , , , , Chief of General Staff
Commanding General of the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department , , , - , , , , , , , es, Comandante General de las Fuerzas Militares de Colombia , - , , , , , , , es, Jefe del Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas del Ecuador , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალების გენერალური შტაბის უფროსი , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , es, Jefe del Estado Mayor , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , ja, 統合幕僚長 , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , es, Jefe del Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas del Perú , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , russian: Начальник Генерального штаба , - , , , , , , , sr, Начелник Генералштаба , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , so, Taliyaha Xooga Qalabka Soomaaliyeed , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , ko, 합동참모의장 , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , french: Chef de l'Armée
german: Chef der Armee
it, Capo dell'Esercito
rm, Schef da l'Armada , - , , , , , , , ar, رئيس هيئة الأركان العامة للجيش والقوات المسلحة , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters , , th, ผู้บัญชาการทหารสูงสุด , - , , , , , , , uk, Головнокомандувач Збройних сил України , - , , , , , , , es, Jefe del Estado Mayor de la Defensa de Uruguay , - , , , , , Chief of the General Staff of the People's Army of Vietnam , , vi, Tổng Tham mưu trưởng Quân đội Nhân dân Việt Nam

Notes

References

External links

NATO Chiefs of Defence
{{Chief of military by country * Military ranks of NATO