Chief of the Defence Staff (France)

Chief of the Defence Staff; Chef d'état-major des armées (French)
	120px Insignia
	Marque
	File:General Thierry Burkhard, French Chief of the Defence Staff, at the École Militaire in Paris, France participates in a Military Honors Ceremony on June 5, 2024 (cropped).jpg Incumbent; Army General Thierry Burkhard; since 22 July 2021
	Ministry of the Armed Forces
Type	Chief of defence; Chief of staff;
Abbreviation	C.E.M.A.
Member of	Chiefs of Staff Committee
Reports to	Minister of the Armed Forces
Seat	Hexagone Balard, Paris
Appointer	President of the Republic; requires the Prime Minister's countersignature
Constituting instrument	Decree 1982–38; Decree 2005–520; Decree 2009–869; Decree 2013–816;
Formation	28 April 1948; 76 years ago
First holder	Charles Léchères (fr)
Deputy	Major General of the Defence Staff
Website	Official website

The Chief of the Defence Staff (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., CEMA; lit. Chief of Staff of the Armies) is the military head of the Armed Forces of the French Republic, overseeing all military operations (under reserve of the particular dispositions relative to nuclear deterrence). They are responsible to the Minister of the Armed Forces and their deputy is the Major General of the Defence Staff. Since the 1950s, the office has been held only by four-star generals (OF–9), either from the Army, the Navy, or the Air and Space Force. The current Chief is General Thierry Burkhard, who took the position on 22 July 2021.

History

Commander-in-Chief of the Armies

While non-official, the term Generalissimo or « (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) » was employed since 1914 to designate the individual who in reality was Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the North and North-East « (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) ». The term would be made official in 1915 when Joffre was also given command over the Salonika front (a degree of authority not enjoyed by his successors). The rank and post was successively occupied by three generals during World War I: Joseph Joffre, who occupied the rank and functions from August 1914 without bearing the official title, then Robert Nivelle and Philippe Pétain.

Général Ferdinand Foch was the Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Zone under Joseph Joffre in autumn 1914; this role later crystallised into command of French Army Group North, a position which Foch held until December 1916. Subsequently, Foch became Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front with the title Généralissime in 1918 then was designated as « Commandant en Chef des Armées Alliées » (English:Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces) starting 14 May 1918.^[3] Foch was promoted to Marshal of France prior the planning of the offensive that led to the Armistice of 11 November 1918. Following the armistice, Marshal Ferdinand Foch was elevated to the dignity of the Marshal of Great Britain and Poland.

Chief of Staff of National Defence

Toward the end of the Second World War, Charles de Gaulle who was Commander-in-Chief of the Free French Forces was assisted by a Staff of National Defence. It was headed by a Chief of Staff who had authority over all armed forces. This was the first time that a joint staff of the French armed forces was created.^[4]

However the Chiefs of the Army, of the Navy and of the Air Force were opposed to this office after the war as they fear they would lose their independence of action.^[4] This opposition was eventually hushed up and the position of Chief of Staff of the Armies (under various other names until 1962) was created on 28 April 1948.^[2]

Functions

Responsibilities

The CEMA assists the Minister of the Armed Forces in its capacity attributions to make use of the various required forces and their general organisation. They are consulted on direction to be given to planning and programming work and may be charged by the Minister with any study concerning the armies. The Chief of Staff is responsible for coordinating the requirements of the forces in support of joint services. The CEMA, in virtue of decree dispositions of 15 July 2009, under the authority of the President of the French Republic, the French government, and under the reserve of the particular dispositions relative to nuclear deterrence, is responsible for the use of forces and commandment of all military operations. The CEMA is the military counselor of the government.

They bring together the proposals of the Delegate General of Armaments (DGA), the Chiefs of Staff of each army, and the directors of joint services in the areas of planning and programming. After consulting the DGA on technical and industrial possibilities, they shall report to the Minister on all the work and shall propose to them the measures necessary to ensure their consistency with regard to employment and their accounting with the foreseeable financial resources, as assessed by the Secretary General for Administration (SGA), and present a draft decision.

Their responsibilities consist of:

The conduct of operations : plans of use, general articulation of forces, distribution of operational means between theatre commanders (over whom he has full authority)
The joint service organizations and the general organization of the armed forces: oversees the coherence of the armed forces organisation
The expression of the need in material of human resources of the armed forces, the joint institutions, and the definition of the ensemble format of the armed forces. Planning and programming of military capacities. Oversees in effect of coherence in means of the armed forces and participates to the preparation and various executions of associated military and defence budgets.
The preparation and condition assignments of recruiting in the armed forces: is in check of forces aptitude in missions completion and has a permanent right of inspection over these forces.
Support of the armed forces: determines the general organizations and objectives, assures the operational maintenance in condition of all equipments and determines the joint needs of various material infrastructures and that of the armed forces while verifying status of operability
The intelligence assessment of military interest: ensures the general research direction and exploitation of the military intelligence
International military relations: directs French foreign military missions in foreign theatres, organizes the participation of the armed forces in regards to military cooperations, following international mandated negotiations and represents France at the various military committees of international organizations.

File:Ilot Saint-Germain 1877.jpg

The headquarters of the Staff of the Armies between 1890 and 2015.

Authority

The Chief of Staff of the Armies has authority over the:

These four Chiefs constitute the Chiefs of Staff Committee, chaired by the Minister. The CEMA is assisted by a Major General of the Defence Staff, a senior ranked officer of the French Armed Forces, who will deputize if needed.

Additionally, directly under the CEMA authority are:

the General Staff of the Armies (État-Major des Armées, EMA)
the Inspectorate of the Armies (Inspection des Armées, IDA)
the superior commanders in the overseas departments, the commanders in foreign areas (COMSUP and COMFOR), the general officers of the defence and security areas (OGZDS) and the departmental military delegates (DMD)
Joint service institutions:
- Directorate of Military Intelligence (Direction du Renseignement Militaire, DRM)
- Special Operations Command (Commandement des Opérations Spéciales, COS)
- Joint Defence Staff of Strength and Training (État-Major Interarmées de Force et d'Entraînement, EMIA-FE)
- Central Directorate of the Health Service of the Armies (Direction Centrale du Service de Santé des Armées, DCSSA)
- Central Directorate of the Fuel Service of the Armies (Direction Centrale du Service des Essences des Armées, DCSEA)
- Joint Directorate of Infrastructure Networks and Information Systems (Direction Interarmées des Réseaux d'Infrastructures et des Systèmes d'Information, DIRISI)
- Central Directorate of the Commissariat Service of the Armies (Direction Centrale du Service du Commissariat des Armées, DCSCA)
- Joint Ammunitions Service (Service Interarmées des Munitions, SIMu)
- Directorate of Superior Military Education (Direction de l'Enseignement Militaire Supérieur, DEMS)

Name of the office

The office took various names during its history:

President of the Committee of the Chiefs of the General Staffs of the Armed Forces (1948–1950)
President of the Committee of the Chiefs of the Combined Staff of the Armed Forces (1950–1953)^[5]
Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (1953–1958)
Chief of the General Staff of the Armies (1958–1961)
Chief of the Joint Staff (1961–1962)
Chief of Staff of the Armies (1962 – )

List of chiefs

Provisional Government

No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Term			Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.^{[lower-alpha 1]}
No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Took office	Left office	Duration	Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.^{[lower-alpha 1]}
^{[lower-alpha 2]}	100px	Army general Antoine Béthouart	31 October 1943	13 August 1944	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	André Diethelm	Charles de Gaulle	- ^[6]
^{[lower-alpha 2]}	80px	Army general Alphonse Juin	13 August 1944	15 May 1947	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	André Diethelm Edmond Michelet	Charles de Gaulle	^[7] -
^{[lower-alpha 2]}	80px	Army general Alphonse Juin	13 August 1944	15 May 1947			André Diethelm Edmond Michelet	Félix Gouin Georges Bidault Vincent Auriol	^[7] -

Fourth Republic

No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Term			Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.^{[lower-alpha 1]}
No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Took office	Left office	Duration	Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.^{[lower-alpha 1]}
Office established
1	80px	Air corps general Charles Léchères	29 April 1948	25 January 1951	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Air Force	Pierre-Henri Teitgen René Mayer [...] Georges Bidault René Pleven	Vincent Auriol	^[8] -
2	80px	Army general Alphonse Juin	25 January 1951	19 August 1953	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	René Pleven		^[9] -
3	80px	Army general Paul Ély	19 August 1953	4 June 1954	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	René Pleven Marie-Pierre Kœnig		^[10] ^[11]
3	80px	Army general Paul Ély	19 August 1953	4 June 1954			René Pleven Marie-Pierre Kœnig	René Coty	^[10] ^[11]
4	80px	Army general Augustin Guillaume	4 June 1954	2 March 1956	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Marie-Pierre Kœnig Emmanuel Temple [...] Pierre Billotte Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury		^[12] -
5	80px	Army general Paul Ély	2 March 1956	18 May 1958	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury André Morice Jacques Chaban-Delmas Pierre de Chevigné		^[13] -
6	80px	Army general Henri Lorillot	18 May 1958	10 June 1958	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Pierre de Chevigné Charles de Gaulle		^[14] -

Fifth Republic

No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Term			Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.^{[lower-alpha 1]}
No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Took office	Left office	Duration	Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.^{[lower-alpha 1]}
7	80px	Army general Paul Ély	10 June 1958	26 February 1959	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Charles de Gaulle Pierre Guillaumat	René Coty	^[15] -
7	80px	Army general Paul Ély	10 June 1958	26 February 1959			Charles de Gaulle Pierre Guillaumat	Charles de Gaulle	^[15] -
8	80px	Army general Gaston Lavaud	26 February 1959	12 April 1961	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Pierre Guillaumat Pierre Messmer		^[16] -
9	80px	Air army general André Martin	12 April 1961	19 July 1962	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Air Force	Pierre Messmer		^[17] -
10	80px	Army general Charles Ailleret	19 July 1962	30 March 1968	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Pierre Messmer		^[18] -
11	80px	Air army general Michel Fourquet	30 March 1968	9 June 1971	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Air Force	Pierre Messmer Michel Debré		^[19] -
11	80px	Air army general Michel Fourquet	30 March 1968	9 June 1971		Air Force	Pierre Messmer Michel Debré	Georges Pompidou	^[19] -
12	80px	Air army general François Maurin	9 June 1971	1 July 1975	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Air Force	Michel Debré Robert Galley Jacques Soufflet Yvon Bourges	Georges Pompidou	^[20] -
12	80px	Air army general François Maurin	9 June 1971	1 July 1975		Air Force	Michel Debré Robert Galley Jacques Soufflet Yvon Bourges	Valéry Giscard d'Estaing	^[20] -
13	80px	Army general Guy Méry	1 July 1975	20 July 1980	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Yvon Bourges		^[21] -
14	80px	Army general Claude Vanbremeersch	20 July 1980	1 February 1981	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Yvon Bourges Joël Le Theule Robert Galley		^[22] ^[23]
15	80px	Army general Jeannou Lacaze	1 February 1981	1 August 1985	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Robert Galley Charles Hernu		^[24] ^[25]
15	80px	Army general Jeannou Lacaze	1 February 1981	1 August 1985			Robert Galley Charles Hernu	François Mitterrand	^[24] ^[25]
16	80px	Air army general Jean Saulnier	1 August 1985	16 November 1987	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Air Force	Charles Hernu Paul Quilès André Giraud		^[26] ^[27]
17	80px	Army general Maurice Schmitt	16 November 1987	24 April 1991	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	André Giraud Jean-Pierre Chevènement Pierre Joxe		^[28] ^[29]
18	80px	Admiral Jacques Lanxade	24 April 1991	9 September 1995	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Navy	Pierre Joxe François Léotard Charles Millon		^[30] ^[31]
18	80px	Admiral Jacques Lanxade	24 April 1991	9 September 1995		Navy	Pierre Joxe François Léotard Charles Millon	Jacques Chirac	^[30] ^[31]
19	80px	Air army general Jean-Philippe Douin	9 September 1995	9 April 1998	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Air Force	Charles Millon Alain Richard		^[32] ^[33]
20	80px	Army general Jean-Pierre Kelche	9 April 1998	30 October 2002	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Alain Richard Michèle Alliot-Marie		^[34] ^[35]
21	80px	Army general Henri Bentégeat	30 October 2002	4 October 2006	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Michèle Alliot-Marie		^[36] ^[37]
22	80px	Army general Jean-Louis Georgelin	4 October 2006	25 February 2010	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Michèle Alliot-Marie Hervé Morin		^[38] ^[39]
22	80px	Army general Jean-Louis Georgelin	4 October 2006	25 February 2010			Michèle Alliot-Marie Hervé Morin	Nicolas Sarkozy	^[38] ^[39]
23		Admiral Édouard Guillaud	25 February 2010	15 February 2014	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Navy	Hervé Morin Alain Juppé Gérard Longuet Jean-Yves Le Drian	Nicolas Sarkozy	^[40] ^[41]
23		Admiral Édouard Guillaud	25 February 2010	15 February 2014		Navy	Hervé Morin Alain Juppé Gérard Longuet Jean-Yves Le Drian	Nicolas Sarkozy François Hollande	^[40] ^[41]
24		Army general Pierre de Villiers	15 February 2014	20 July 2017	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Jean-Yves Le Drian Sylvie Goulard Florence Parly	Nicolas Sarkozy François Hollande	^[42] ^[43]
24		Army general Pierre de Villiers	15 February 2014	20 July 2017			Jean-Yves Le Drian Sylvie Goulard Florence Parly	François Hollande Emmanuel Macron	^[42] ^[43]
25	80px	Army general François Lecointre	20 July 2017	22 July 2021	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Florence Parly	François Hollande Emmanuel Macron	^[44] ^[45]
25	80px	Army general François Lecointre	20 July 2017	22 July 2021			Florence Parly	Emmanuel Macron	^[44] ^[45]
26	80px	Army general Thierry Burkhard	22 July 2021	Incumbent	Lua error in Module:Age at line 846: attempt to call method 'subtract' (a nil value).	Error creating thumbnail: sh: /usr/local/bin/rsvg-convert: not found Army	Florence Parly	Emmanuel Macron	^[46] ^[47]

Notes

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

References

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

External links

Script error: No such module "In lang". Official website
Gallery of the chiefs since 1971 on defense.gouv.fr

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lexique des termes employés en 1914–1918
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ JORF #22 - P868 - 25 January 1951
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Cite error: <ref> tags exist for a group named "lower-alpha", but no corresponding <references group="lower-alpha"/> tag was found, or a closing </ref> is missing

[1] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[creation-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[3] Lexique des termes employés en 1914–1918

[oc-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[5] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[8] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[9] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[10] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[11] JORF #22 - P868 - 25 January 1951

[12] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[13] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[14] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[15] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[16] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[17] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[18] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[19] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[20] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[21] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[22] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[23] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[24] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[25] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[26] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[27] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[28] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[29] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[30] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[31] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[32] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[33] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[34] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[35] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[36] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[37] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[38] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[39] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[40] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[41] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[42] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[43] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[44] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[45] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[46] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[47] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[48] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[49] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 2]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]

[43]

[44]

[45]

[46]

[47]

v t e French Armed Forces 20px
Armée de Terre (Army) Marine nationale (Navy) Armée de l'air et de l'espace (Air and Space Force) National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie)
Leadership	Minister of the Armed Forces Chief of the Defence Staff Chief of Army Staff Chief of Navy Staff Chief of Air Force Staff
Ranks	Army ranks Navy ranks Air Force ranks
Formations & Commands	Foreign Legion Space Command Paratroopers Marines
Joint forces	Franco-German Brigade Combined Joint Expeditionary Force
Nuclear forces	Force de Dissuasion Strategic Air Forces Command Strategic Oceanic Force
Equipment	Army Navy Air and Space Force
Military bases	Overseas
France and weapons of mass destruction

Chief of the Defence Staff (France)

Contents

History

Commander-in-Chief of the Armies

Chief of Staff of National Defence

Functions

Responsibilities

Authority

Name of the office

List of chiefs

Provisional Government

Fourth Republic

Fifth Republic

See also

Notes

References

External links

Navigation menu

Personal tools

Namespaces

Variants

Views

More

Search

Navigation

Tools

Chief of the Defence Staff Chef d'état-major des armées (French)
120px Insignia
Marque^[1]
File:General Thierry Burkhard, French Chief of the Defence Staff, at the École Militaire in Paris, France participates in a Military Honors Ceremony on June 5, 2024 (cropped).jpg Incumbent Army General Thierry Burkhard since 22 July 2021
Ministry of the Armed Forces
Type	Chief of defence Chief of staff
Abbreviation	C.E.M.A.
Member of	Chiefs of Staff Committee
Reports to	Minister of the Armed Forces
Seat	Hexagone Balard, Paris
Appointer	President of the Republic requires the Prime Minister's countersignature
Constituting instrument	Decree 1982–38 Decree 2005–520 Decree 2009–869 Decree 2013–816
Formation	28 April 1948; 76 years ago (28 April 1948)^[2]
First holder	Charles Léchères (fr)
Deputy	Major General of the Defence Staff
Website	Official website