Chief of defence

Three CHODs leaving Lancaster House in London, 10 June 2011. L-R: U.S. 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.

The Chief of Defence (CHOD) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The term 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 if 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 United Kingdom, and the Chief of Defence (Forsvarssjefen) is the CHOD of Norway.

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

CHOD positions by NATO country

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

Country	Position	Alternative translations	Term in national language used for the position
Albania	Chief of the General Staff		Shefi i shtabit të përgjithshëm (Albanian)
Belgium	Chief of Defence	Chief of the General Staff	Chef Defensie (Dutch), Chef de la Défense (French)
Bulgaria	Chief of the Defence		Началник на отбраната (Bulgarian)
Canada	Chief of the Defence Staff		Chef d'état-major de la défense (French)
Croatia	Chief of the General Staff		Načelnik Glavnog stožera (Croatian)
Czech Republic	Chief of the General Staff		Náčelník Generálního štábu (Czech)
Denmark	Chief of Defence		Forsvarschefen (Danish)
Estonia	Commander of the Defence Forces		Kaitseväe juhataja (Estonian)
France	Chief of the Defence Staff		Chef d'état-major des armées (French)
Germany	Inspector General of the Bundeswehr	Chief of the General Staff, Chief of the Defence Staff	Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr (German)
Greece	Chief of the National Defence General Staff		Αρχηγός του Γενικού Επιτελείου Εθνικής Άμυνας (Greek)
Hungary	Chief of the General Staff		Vezérkari főnök
Iceland	Director of the Defence Department
Italy	Chief of the Defence Staff		Capo di Stato Maggiore della Difesa (Italian)
Latvia	Commander of the National Armed Forces		Bruņoto spēku komandieris (Latvian)
Lithuania	Chief of Defence		Kariuomenės vadas (Lithuanian)
Luxembourg	Chief of Staff	Chief of Defence	Chef d’Etat-Major (French)
Netherlands	Chief of Defence		Commandant der Strijdkrachten (Dutch)
Norway	Chief of Defence	Chief of the General Staff	Forsvarssjefen (Norwegian)
Poland	Chief of the General Staff		Szef Sztabu Generalnego (Polish)
Portugal	Chief of the General Staff		Chefe do Estado-Maior General das Forças Armadas (Portuguese)
Romania	Chief of Defence	Chief of the General Staff	Şeful Statului Major General (Romanian)
Slovakia	Chief of the General Staff		Náčelník generálneho štábu (Slovak)
Slovenia	Chief of the General Staff		Načelnik Generalštaba (Slovene)
Spain	Chief of the Defence Staff		Jefe del Estado Mayor de la Defensa (Spanish)
Turkey	Chief of the General Staff	Commander of the Armed Forces	Genelkurmay Başkanı (Turkish)
United Kingdom	Chief of the Defence Staff
United States	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

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.

Country	Position	Alternative translations	Term in national language used for the position
Austria	Chief of the General Staff		Chef des Generalstabes (German)
Cyprus	Supreme Commander		Αρχηγός (Greek)
Finland	Chief of Defence		Puolustusvoimain komentaja (Finnish) Kommendören för Försvarsmakten (Swedish)
Ireland	Chief of Staff
Malta	Commander Armed Forces Malta (AFM)
Sweden	Supreme Commander		Överbefälhavaren (Swedish)

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 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.

Country	Position	Alternative translations	Term in national language used for the position
Algeria	Chief of Staff of the People's National Army	Chief of the Defence Staff	Arabic: رئيس أركان الجيش الوطني الشعبي‎‎
Australia	Chief of the Defence Force
Brazil	Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces		Portuguese: Chefe do Estado Maior Conjunto das Forças Armadas
China	Chief of Staff	Chief of General Staff Commanding General of the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department	Chinese: 中国人民解放军总参谋部
Ghana	Chief of the Defence Staff
Indonesia	Commander of the Armed Forces		Indonesian: Panglima Tentara Nasional Indonesia
Israel	Chief of General Staff		Hebrew: ראש המטה הכללי‎
Japan	Chief of Staff, Joint Staff		Japanese: 統合幕僚長
New Zealand	Chief of Defence Force
Nigeria	Chief of the Defence Staff
Russia	Chief of the General Staff		Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба
Serbia	Chief of the General Staff		Serbian: Начелник Генералштаба
Singapore	Chief of Defence Force
South Africa	Chief of the National Defence Force
South Korea	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff		Korean: 대한민국 합동참모본부
Sri Lanka	Chief of the Defence Staff
Switzerland	Chief of the Armed Forces		French: Chef de l'Armée German: Chef der Armee Italian: Capo dell'Esercitocode: it is deprecated
Thailand	Chief of the Defence Forces	Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters	Thai: ผู้บัญชาการทหารสูงสุด
Ukraine	Chief of the General Staff		Ukrainian: Начальник Генерального штабу
Vietnam	Chief of the Staff	Chief of the General Staff of the People's Army of Vietnam	Vietnamese: Tổng Tham mưu trưởng Quân đội Nhân dân Việt Nam

External links

• NATO's Who's who? NATO CHODs

• This is provided when the term given on NATO's homepage is different from the one used in the Wikipedia entry for the position.
• NATO: Chief of the General Staff of Belgium, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of the General Staff Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, accessed on October 30, 2008
• Estonian Defence Forces: Commander, accessed on November 12, 2014
• NATO: Chief of the General Staff, Federal Armed Forces of Germany, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of Defence Staff Hungarian Army, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Director of the Defence Department and Chief of Defence of Iceland, accessed on October 30, 2008
• Iceland presents a special case since the country does not have its own armed forces as such. Thus, a civilian at the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs fulfills the role of CHOD in relation to NATO.
• NATO: Chief of Defense Staff of Italy, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Commander of the Latvian National Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of Defence of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg Army, accessed on October 30, 2008
• [1], accessed on November 20, 2012
• NATO: Chief of the General Staff of Norway, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of Defence of Portugal, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of Defence of Romania, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Chief of Defence Staff of Spain, accessed on October 30, 2008
• NATO: Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces, accessed on October 30, 2008
• http://www.afm.gov.mt/commander?l=1 , accessed February 16, 2014