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Chief of defence

Commissioned officer of armed forces From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chief of defence
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A 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 and the European Union 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 Chief of the Defence Staff is the CHOD of the United Kingdom, the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr is the CHOD of Germany, and the Chief of Defence (Forsvarssjefen) is the CHOD of Norway.

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The CHODs of from 29 countries gathered at the Pentagon on March 11, 2002. The Chiefs of Defence in the picture include US Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; French Army Gen. Jean-Pierre Kelche, Chief of the Defence Staff; Dutch Navy Adm. Luuk Kroon, Chief of Defence; German Air Force Gen. Harald Kujat, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr; British Navy Adm. Sir Michael Boyce, Chief of the Defence Staff

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

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Chief of defence positions in NATO member countries

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Three CHODs leaving Lancaster House in London, 10 June 2011. L-R: US Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; French Navy Adm. Édouard Guillaud, Chief of Defence Staff; British Gen. Sir David Richards, Chief of Defence Staff.

Within member states of NATO, the following national positions are the CHOD positions. Sometimes more than one form of translation into English is encountered.

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In 2018 Slovenia appointed the first female Major General Alenka Ermenc to hold such a position in the history of NATO and Slovenia.[23][24][25]

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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.

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

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Note that in many countries outside of NATO and EU, the concept of civilian control of the military is inapplicable. In some countries the minister of defence is often a senior military officer. However, the list below only lists CHOD equivalents and not defense ministers.

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Notes

  1. This is provided when the term given on NATO's homepage is different from the one used in the Wikipedia entry for the position.

References

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