Chief of the Defence Staff
Chef d'état-major des armées (French)
Insignia
Marque[1]
Incumbent Général d'armée aérienneFabien Mandon since 1 September 2025
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 thePrime Minister'scountersignature
Constituting instrument	Decree 1982–38 Decree 2005–520 Decree 2009–869 Decree 2013–816
Formation	28 April 1948; 77 years ago (28 April 1948)[2]
First holder	Charles Léchères [fr]
Deputy	Major General of the Defence Staff
Website	Official website

TheChief of the Defence Staff (French:Chef d'État-Major des Armées,CEMA;lit. 'Chief of Staff of the Armies') is the military head of theArmed Forces of theFrench Republic, overseeing all military operations (under reserve of the particular dispositions relative tonuclear deterrence). They are responsible to theMinister of the Armed Forces and their deputy is theMajor 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 GeneralFabien Mandon, who took the position on 1 September 2025.^[3]

While non-official, the termGeneralissimo or « (French:Généralissime) » was employed since 1914 to designate the individual who in reality wasCommander-in-Chief of the armies of the North and North-East « (French:Commandant en Chef des Armées du Nord et du Nord-Est) ». The term would be made official in 1915 when Joffre was also given command over theSalonika front (a degree of authority not enjoyed by his successors). The rank and post was successively occupied by three generals duringWorld War I:Joseph Joffre, who occupied the rank and functions from August 1914 without bearing the official title, thenRobert Nivelle andPhilippe Pétain.

GénéralFerdinand Foch was the Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Zone underJoseph 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 titleGénéralissime in 1918 then was designated as « Commandant en Chef des Armées Alliées » (English:Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces) starting 14 May 1918.^[4]Foch was promoted toMarshal of France prior the planning of the offensive that led to theArmistice of 11 November 1918. Following the armistice,MarshalFerdinand Foch was elevated to the dignity of theMarshal of Great Britain and Poland.

Toward the end of theSecond World War,Charles de Gaulle who was Commander-in-Chief of theFree 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.^[5]

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.^[5] 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]

The CEMA assists theMinister 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 thePresident of the French Republic, theFrench government, and under the reserve of the particular dispositions relative tonucleardeterrence, is responsible for the use of forces and commandment of all military operations. The CEMA is the military counselor of thegovernment.

They bring together the proposals of theDelegate 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 representsFrance at the various military committees of international organizations.

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

• Chief of Staff of the Army
• Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force
• Chief of Staff of the Navy

These four Chiefs constitute the Chiefs of Staff Committee, chaired by the Minister.The CEMA is assisted by aMajor General of the Defence Staff, a senior rankedofficer of theFrench 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)

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)^[6]
• 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 – )

No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Term			Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.[a]
			Took office	Left office	Duration
[b]		Army general Antoine Béthouart	31 October 1943	13 August 1944	286 days	Army	André Diethelm	Charles de Gaulle	- [7]
[b]		Army general Alphonse Juin	13 August 1944	15 May 1947	2 years, 275 days	Army	André Diethelm Edmond Michelet		[8] -
								Félix Gouin Georges Bidault Vincent Auriol

No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Term			Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.[a]
			Took office	Left office	Duration
Office established
1		Air corps general Charles Léchères	29 April 1948	25 January 1951	2 years, 271 days	Air Force	Pierre-Henri Teitgen René Mayer [...] Georges Bidault René Pleven	Vincent Auriol	[9] -
2		Army general Alphonse Juin	25 January 1951	19 August 1953	2 years, 206 days	Army	René Pleven		[10] -
3		Army general Paul Ély	19 August 1953	4 June 1954	289 days	Army	René Pleven Marie-Pierre Kœnig		[11] [12]
								René Coty
4		Army general Augustin Guillaume	4 June 1954	2 March 1956	1 year, 272 days	Army	Marie-Pierre Kœnig Emmanuel Temple [...] Pierre Billotte Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury		[13] -
5		Army general Paul Ély	2 March 1956	18 May 1958	2 years, 77 days	Army	Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury André Morice Jacques Chaban-Delmas Pierre de Chevigné		[14] -
6		Army general Henri Lorillot	18 May 1958	10 June 1958	23 days	Army	Pierre de Chevigné Charles de Gaulle		[15] -

No.	Portrait	Rank & Name	Term			Branch	Minister	Commander-in-Chief	Ref.[a]
			Took office	Left office	Duration
7		Army general Paul Ély	10 June 1958	26 February 1959	261 days	Army	Charles de Gaulle Pierre Guillaumat	René Coty	[16] -
								Charles de Gaulle
8		Army general Gaston Lavaud	26 February 1959	12 April 1961	2 years, 45 days	Army	Pierre Guillaumat Pierre Messmer		[17] -
9		Air army general André Martin	12 April 1961	19 July 1962	1 year, 98 days	Air Force	Pierre Messmer		[18] -
10		Army general Charles Ailleret	19 July 1962	30 March 1968	5 years, 255 days	Army	Pierre Messmer		[19] -
11		Air army general Michel Fourquet	30 March 1968	9 June 1971	3 years, 72 days	Air Force	Pierre Messmer Michel Debré		[20] -
								Georges Pompidou
12		Air army general François Maurin	9 June 1971	1 July 1975	4 years, 22 days	Air Force	Michel Debré Robert Galley Jacques Soufflet Yvon Bourges		[21] -
								Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
13		Army general Guy Méry	1 July 1975	20 July 1980	5 years, 19 days	Army	Yvon Bourges		[22] -
14		Army general Claude Vanbremeersch	20 July 1980	1 February 1981	196 days	Army	Yvon Bourges Joël Le Theule Robert Galley		[23] [24]
15		Army general Jeannou Lacaze	1 February 1981	1 August 1985	4 years, 181 days	Army	Robert Galley Charles Hernu		[25] [26]
								François Mitterrand
16		Air army general Jean Saulnier	1 August 1985	16 November 1987	2 years, 107 days	Air Force	Charles Hernu Paul Quilès André Giraud		[27] [28]
17		Army general Maurice Schmitt	16 November 1987	24 April 1991	3 years, 159 days	Army	André Giraud Jean-Pierre Chevènement Pierre Joxe		[29] [30]
18		Admiral Jacques Lanxade	24 April 1991	9 September 1995	4 years, 138 days	Navy	Pierre Joxe François Léotard Charles Millon		[31] [32]
								Jacques Chirac
19		Air army general Jean-Philippe Douin	9 September 1995	9 April 1998	2 years, 212 days	Air Force	Charles Millon Alain Richard		[33] [34]
20		Army general Jean-Pierre Kelche	9 April 1998	30 October 2002	4 years, 204 days	Army	Alain Richard Michèle Alliot-Marie		[35] [36]
21		Army general Henri Bentégeat	30 October 2002	4 October 2006	3 years, 339 days	Army	Michèle Alliot-Marie		[37] [38]
22		Army general Jean-Louis Georgelin	4 October 2006	25 February 2010	3 years, 144 days	Army	Michèle Alliot-Marie Hervé Morin		[39] [40]
								Nicolas Sarkozy
23		Admiral Édouard Guillaud	25 February 2010	15 February 2014	3 years, 355 days	Navy	Hervé Morin Alain Juppé Gérard Longuet Jean-Yves Le Drian		[41] [42]
								Nicolas Sarkozy François Hollande
24		Army general Pierre de Villiers	15 February 2014	20 July 2017	3 years, 155 days	Army	Jean-Yves Le Drian Sylvie Goulard Florence Parly		[43] [44]
								François Hollande Emmanuel Macron
25		Army general François Lecointre	20 July 2017	22 July 2021	4 years, 2 days	Army	Florence Parly		[45] [46]
								Emmanuel Macron
26		Army general Thierry Burkhard	22 July 2021	1 September 2025	4 years, 41 days	Army	Florence Parly		[47] [48]
27		Air army general Fabien Mandon	1 September 2025	Incumbent	86 days	Air Force	Sébastien Lecornu	Emmanuel Macron	[49]

• Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Republic
• Head of the Prime Minister's military cabinet
• Head of the Minister of Defence's military cabinet
• Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force
• Chief of Staff of the French Navy
• Chief of Staff of the French Army
• Special Operations Command
• Directorate General of the National Gendarmerie

• (In French)Official website
• Gallery of the chiefs since 1971 on defense.gouv.fr

• Chiefs of the Defence Staff (France)
• French military staff
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