| Chief of the Defence Staff | |
|---|---|
| Chef d'etat major général des armées (French) | |
Incumbent since 12 April 2022Brigadier general Fructueux Gbaguidi | |
| Benin Armed Forces | |
| Reports to | Minister of National Defence |
| Appointer | Thepresident |
| Formation | 1960 |
| First holder | Christophe Soglo |
| Deputy | Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff |
Thechief of the defence staff (French:Chef d'etat major général des armées) is the highest-ranking military officer in theBenin Armed Forces and is responsible for maintaining control over the service branches.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
 | Major general Fernand Amoussou [fr] (born 1955) | 2000 | 17 August 2005 | 4–5 years | Army | ||
.jpg) | Major general Mathieu Amoussa Chabi Boni (born 1956) | 17 August 2005 | 28 March 2012 | 6 years, 224 days | Army | [1] | |
 | Major general Soumanou Oke (born 1955) | 28 March 2012 | 30 June 2012 | 94 days | Army | [2] | |
| Brigadier general Emmanuel Joseph Akpona (born 1957) | 30 June 2012 | 28 January 2013 | 212 days | Army | [3] | ||
 | Counter admiral Denis Hounsou Gbèssèmèhlan | 28 January 2013 | 30 December 2015 | 2 years, 336 days | Navy | [4] | |
| Brigadier general Awal Djibril Bouko Nagnimi | 30 December 2015 | 16 September 2016 | 261 days | Army | [5] | ||
| Brigadier general Laurent Amoussou | 16 September 2016 | 14 November 2018 | 2 years, 59 days | Army | [6] | ||
| Counter admiral Patrick Jean Baptiste Aho (born 1960) | 14 November 2018 | 12 April 2022 | 3 years, 149 days | Navy | [7] | ||
| Brigadier general Fructueux Candide Ahodegnon Gbaguidi | 12 April 2022 | Incumbent | 3 years, 230 days | Army | [8] | ||