Chief of the Defence Staff (France)


The Chief of the Defence Staff is the head of the Armed Forces of the French Republic, ensuring the commandment of all military operations. They are responsible to the Minister of the Armed Forces and their deputy is the Major General of the Defence Staff. Since the 50s, the office has been held only by five stars generals, either from the Army, the Navy or the Air Force. The current Chief is Général François Lecointre since 20 July 2017.

History

Commander-in-Chief of the Armies

While non-official, the term Generalissimo or « » was employed since 1914 to designate the individual who in reality was Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the North and North-East « ». The term would be made official in 1915 when Joffre was also given command over the Salonika front. 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 » starting 14 May 1918. 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.
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. This opposition was eventually hushed up and the position of Chief of Staff of the Armies was created on 28 April 1948.

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, 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, and present a draft decision.
Their responsibilities consist of:

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 office took various names during its history:
The following is a list of chiefs that served under the Fourth Republic and the Fifth Republic:

Fourth Republic

Fifth Republic