Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (Egypt)

The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (Egyptian Arabic: رئيس أركان حرب القوات المسلحة, romanized: Rayiys 'arkan harb alquaat almusalaha) is the second-in-command of the Egyptian Armed Forces, following the Minister of Defense and the President. The Chief of the General Staff typically holds the second-highest military rank in the Armed Forces. The commanders of the Navy, Air Force and Air Defense Forces report to the Chief of the General Staff, while the Army is under the direct command of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.

Chief of the General Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces
رئيس أركان حرب القوات المسلحة
Emblem of the Egyptian Armed Forces
Incumbent Lieutenant General Ahmed Fathy Khalifa since 3 July 2024
Egyptian Armed Forces
Member of	General Staff Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
Reports to	Minister of Defense
Seat	Cairo
Appointer	President of Egypt
Formation	September 9, 1952 (1952-09-09)
First holder	Lieutenant General Mohamed Ibrahim Selim
Website	Official website

List of chiefs

The following is a list of chiefs of the General Staff of Egypt since the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.

No.	Portrait	Chief of the General Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Ref.
1		Salim, Mohamed IbrahimLieutenant General Mohamed Ibrahim Selim (1916–?)	9 September 1952	8 May 1959	6 years, 241 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
2		Amer, Abdel HakimLieutenant General Abdel Hakim Amer (1919–1967)	9 May 1959	24 March 1964	4 years, 320 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
3		Fawzi, MohamedLieutenant General Mohamed Fawzi (1915–2000)	24 March 1964	10 June 1967	3 years, 78 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
4		Riad, Abdul MunimLieutenant General Abdul Munim Riad (1919–1969)	11 June 1967	9 March 1969 †	1 year, 271 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
5		Ali, Ahmad IsmailLieutenant General Ahmad Ismail Ali (1917–1974)	10 March 1969	11 September 1969	185 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
6		Sadek, Mohammed AhmedLieutenant General Mohammed Ahmed Sadek (1917–1991)	11 September 1969	11 May 1971	1 year, 242 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
7		el-Shazly, SaadLieutenant General Saad el-Shazly (1922–2011)	14 May 1971	12 December 1973	2 years, 212 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
8		el-Gamasy, Mohamed Abdel GhaniLieutenant General Mohamed Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy (1921–2003)	12 December 1973	26 December 1974	1 year, 14 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
9		Fahmy, Mohammed AliLieutenant General Mohammed Aly Fahmy (1920–1990)	28 December 1974	4 October 1978	3 years, 280 days	Egyptian Air Defense Forces	[1]
10		Badawi, AhmedLieutenant General Ahmed Badawi (1927–1981)	5 October 1978	14 May 1980	1 year, 222 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
11		Ghazala, Abd Al-Halim AbuLieutenant General Abd Al-Halim Abu-Ghazala (1930–2008)	17 May 1980	3 March 1981	293 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
12		el-Nabi, Abd RabLieutenant General Abd Rab el-Nabi (1930–2022)	4 March 1981	16 July 1983	2 years, 134 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
13		El-Orabi, IbrahimLieutenant General Ibrahim El-Orabi (1931–2019)	16 July 1983	13 August 1987	4 years, 59 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
14		Shnaaf, Safi al-Din AbuLieutenant General Safi al-Din Abu Shnaaf (1931–2018)	13 August 1987	20 May 1991	3 years, 249 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
14		Halabi, SalahLieutenant General Salah Halabi (1937–2014)	20 May 1991	30 October 1995	4 years, 163 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
15		Hatata, MagdyLieutenant General Magdy Hatata (born 1941)	31 October 1995	31 October 2001	6 years	Egyptian Army	[1]
16		Wahiba, HamdyLieutenant General Hamdy Wahiba	31 October 2001	29 October 2005	3 years, 363 days	Egyptian Army	[1]
16		Anan, SamiLieutenant General Sami Hafez Anan (born 1948)	30 October 2005	12 August 2012	6 years, 287 days	Egyptian Air Defense Forces	[1][2]
16		Sobhy, SedkiLieutenant General Sedki Sobhy (born 1955)	12 August 2012	27 March 2014	1 year, 196 days	Egyptian Army	[1][3]
17		Hegazy, MahmoudLieutenant General Mahmoud Hegazy (born 1953)	27 March 2014	28 October 2017	3 years, 215 days	Egyptian Army	[1][4]
18		Hegazy, Mohammed FaridLieutenant General Mohammed Farid Hegazy (born 1954)	28 October 2017	27 October 2021	3 years, 364 days	Egyptian Army	[5]
19		Askar, OsamaLieutenant General Osama Askar (born 1957)	27 October 2021	2 July 2024	2 years, 249 days*	Egyptian Army	[6]
20		Khalifa, Ahmed FathyLieutenant General Ahmed Fathy Khalifa (born 1966)	3 July 2024	Incumbent	1 year, 40 days*	Egyptian Army	[7]

* Incumbent's time in office last updated: 12 August 2025.

Timeline

See also

• Egypt portal

• Egyptian Armed Forces
• Ministry of Defense (Egypt)