Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces

The Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (Arabic: قائد الجيش اللبناني, romanized: qāʔid al-jayš al-lubnāniyy) is responsible for the operational command of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). According to the Constitution, the President of Lebanon is the commander-in-chief. The commander always holds the General rank. The commander must always be a Maronite Christian according to the National Pact.

Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces
قائد الجيش اللبناني
Emblem of the Lebanese Armed Forces
Flag of the Lebanese Armed Forces
Incumbent Rodolph Haykal since 13 March 2025
Ministry of Defense
Reports to	Minister of Defense
Seat	Yarze
Appointer	President of Lebanon
Formation	1 August 1945
First holder	Fouad Chehab

Appointment

The Army Commander is appointed by general grade officers who have not yet been placed in the reserve with a decree issued from the cabinet based on the proposal of the Minister of National Defense.^[1]

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Commander of the Lebanese Forces include:^[1]

• Organizing and managing units and bureaus and specifying their mission
• Performing operations of employment and on the alert operations when they are decided
• Implementing preparedness and mobilization operations when announced.
• Determining the need of the Army and maintaining the state of equipment and supplies upon their delivery from the General Administration
• Commanding military operations

List of officeholders

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Chehab, FouadMajor General Fouad Chehab (1902–1973)	1 August 1945	22 September 1958	13 years, 52 days	[2]
2		Salem, TouficMajor General Toufic Salem [ar] (1904–1978)	9 October 1958	31 January 1959	114 days	[2]
3		Shehab, AdelMajor General Adel Shehab [ar] (1903–1980)	1 February 1959	30 June 1965	6 years, 149 days	[2]
4		Boustany, EmileGeneral Emile Boustany (1909–2002)	1 July 1965	6 January 1970	4 years, 189 days	[2]
5		Njeim, JeanGeneral Jean Njeim (1915–1971)	7 January 1970	24 July 1971	1 year, 198 days	[2]
6		Ghanem, IskandarGeneral Iskandar Ghanem (1911–2005)	25 July 1971	9 September 1975	4 years, 46 days	[2]
7		Saïd, HannaGeneral Hanna Saïd (1923–1998)	10 September 1975	27 March 1977	1 year, 198 days	[2]
8		Khoury, VictorGeneral Victor Khoury (1929–2017)	28 March 1977	7 December 1982	5 years, 254 days	[2]
9		Tannous, IbrahimGeneral Ibrahim Tannous (1929–2012)	8 December 1982	22 June 1984	1 year, 197 days	[2]
10		Aoun, MichelGeneral Michel Aoun (born 1933)	23 June 1984	27 November 1989	5 years, 157 days	[2]
11		Lahoud, ÉmileGeneral Émile Lahoud (born 1936)	28 November 1989	23 November 1998	8 years, 360 days	[2]
12		Suleiman, MichelGeneral Michel Suleiman (born 1948)	21 December 1998	30 August 2008	9 years, 253 days	[2]
13		Kahwaji, JeanGeneral Jean Kahwaji (born 1953)	30 August 2008	8 March 2017	8 years, 190 days	[2]
14		Aoun, JosephGeneral Joseph Aoun (born 1964)	8 March 2017	9 January 2025	7 years, 307 days	[3]
–		Audi, HassanMajor General Hassan Audi (born 1968) Acting	9 January 2025	13 March 2025	63 days	[4]
15		Haykal, RodolphGeneral Rodolph Haykal (born 1969)	13 March 2025	Incumbent	129 days	[5]

Timeline

See also

• Lebanese Armed Forces