A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

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 The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

'', ''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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the Chief of the Defence Staff is the CHOD of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and the

Chief of Defence A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked Officer (armed forces), 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 ...

(''Forsvarssjefen'') is the CHOD of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

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

NATO Military Committee The NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'s Military Committee (MC) is the body that is composed of Member states of NATO, member states' Chief of Defence, Chiefs of Defence (CHOD). These national CHODs are regularly represented in the M ...

and the European Union Military Committee respectively.

Chief of defence positions in NATO member countries

Within

member states of NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an international military alliance consisting of 32 member states from Europe and North America. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Of the 32 member c ...

, the following national positions are the CHOD positions. Sometimes more than one form of translation into English is encountered. In 2018

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

appointed the first female Major General Alenka Ermenc to hold such a position in the history of NATO 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 Civil control of the military is a doctrine in military science, military and political science that places ultimate command responsibility, responsibility for a country's Grand strategy, strategic decision-making in the hands of the state's c ...

is inapplicable. In some countries the

minister of defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

is often a senior military officer. However, the list below only lists CHOD equivalents and ''not'' defense ministers. } , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , ,
, - , , , , , , ,
, - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , zh, 三军总长 , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , ,

, - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , ,
, - , , , , , Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , ,

, - , , , , , Chief of the General Staff of the People's Army of Vietnam , ,

Notes

References

External links

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