Senior general ( my, ဗိုလ်ချုပ်မှူးကြီး) is the highest rank in
Myanmar Armed Forces
Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include t ...
. It is held by the
Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
The commander-in-chief of Defence Services () is the commanding officer of the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar. Since a state of emergency was declared following the 2021 military coup d'état, the commander-in-chief has been the highest ...
(CinCDS). Since 2011, a person appointed as CinCDS has to be quickly promoted one higher rank every year until he get the rank of Senior general.
The rank insignia of Senior general is with a big star surrounded by a flower branch and with four small stars. Its rank medal and car insignia show that it is the
five-star general
A five-star rank is the highest military rank in many countries.Oxford English Dictionary (OED), 2nd Edition, 1989. "five" ... "five-star adj., ... (b) U.S., applied to a general or admiral whose badge of rank includes five stars;" The rank is t ...
rank, and the flag of CinCDS confirms it. The rank of Senior general is two ranks higher than that of a General (a full General), but in terms of stars, the Senior general has only one more star than the General.
The Senior general rank exists in all branches:
Myanmar Army
The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...
,
Myanmar Navy
The Myanmar Navy ( my, တပ်မတော် (ရေ); ) is the naval warfare branch of the armed forces of Myanmar. With 24,000 personnel on duty, the navy operates more than 150 vessels. Prior to 1988, the navy was small, and its role in c ...
and
Myanmar Air Force
The Myanmar Air Force ( my, တပ်မတော် (လေ), ), known until 1989 as the Burmese Air Force, is the aerial branch of Myanmar's armed forces, the Tatmadaw. The primary mission of the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) since its inception ha ...
, but all these ranks are to be held by the same person at a time no matter from which branch he was promoted. A person holding the rank of Senior general can wear any uniform from all these branches.
[Fleet Exercise-2020 conducted with involvement of attack submarine Minye Theinkhathu of Tatmadaw (Navy) to enhance defence prowess of State]
/ref>[Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing receives a model plane from Gen. Maung Maung Kyaw in 2019. , OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITE OF SENIOR GEN. MIN AUNG HLAING / VIA REUTERS]
/ref>
History
In 1990, the Myanmar Armed Forces expanded its structure, and the then Commander-in-Chief General Saw Maung
Saw Maung ( my, စောမောင်, ; 5 December 1928 – 24 July 1997) was a Burmese army general and statesman who served as Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in Myanmar and Prime Minister of Burma from 19 ...
promoted himself to Senior General rank on 18 March 1990.
List of rank holders
References
{{reflist
Five-star officers
Military ranks of Myanmar