Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the head and the highest-ranking officer of the military of the United Commonwealth. He is the leader of the command organization of the Continental Armed Forces, the Joint Staff of the Central Military Commission, essentially functioning as the link between the civilian leadership in the Central Military Commission of the Continentalist Party and the commanders of the various component and theater commands. The Chairman of the Joint Staff ensures that the orders of the Premier of the United Commonwealth and the Party leadership are implemented, and provides support to component commands with planning, logistical management, training and doctrine, and technological development to maintain the combat readiness of the Armed Forces.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Incumbent General Ben Kingston since April 2020
People's Commissariat for Defense
Abbreviation	CJCS
Member of	Joint Staff of the Central Military Commission
Reports to	Chairman of the Central Military Commission
Nominator	President
Appointer	President Subject to formal approval by the Central Committee
Term length	Not fixed (typically 3–4 years)
Precursor	Chief of the Revolutionary War Council
Formation	20 March 1939
First holder	TBD
Deputy	Deputy Chairman of the Joint Staff

Party control over the military is the main guiding principle of the senior command, with the Chairman of the Joint Staff being responsible to the People's Commissar for Defense and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The Chairman of the Joint Staff, usually a four-star or five-star general, is formally appointed by the President of the United Commonwealth after being nominated by the Premier, with the approval of the Central Committee. The practice of promoting the Chairman of the Joint Staff to a five-star rank (Marshal, Fleet Admiral, or Air Marshal of the United Commonwealth) ended in the late 2000s after the post-Cold War reductions to the Armed Forces.

The position began in 1917 with the Chief of the Revolutionary War Council, the leader of a body of senior officers that assisted the Commander-in-chief, Zhou Xinyue, with planning and logistics for the Revolutionary Army during the Continental Revolutionary War. The ad-hoc organization was reformed by 1925 and became the Armed Forces High Command, which was reformed in 1939 as the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

List of Chairmen of the Joint Staff

Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (1925–present)

No.		Holder	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Appointed by
TBD		Marshal of the United Commonwealth Vince Danson (1924–2012)	15 October 1983	3 July 1987	7003135700000000000♠3 years, 261 days	Continental Army	Simon Valure
TBD		Air Marshal of the United Commonwealth Dominic Seidl (1930–2021)	3 July 1987	1 January 1993	7003200900000000000♠5 years, 182 days	Continental Air Force	Simon Valure
TBD		Fleet Admiral of the United Commonwealth Charles Bradley (born 1936)	1 January 1993	29 January 1998	7003185400000000000♠5 years, 28 days	Continental Navy	Jackson Rothko
TBD		Marshal of the United Commonwealth Edgar Convington (born 1942)	29 January 1998	6 March 2002	7003149700000000000♠4 years, 36 days	Continental Army	Jackson Rothko
TBD		Fleet Admiral of the United Commonwealth Raymond Nazarian (born 1947)	6 March 2002	10 November 2008	7003244100000000000♠6 years, 249 days	Continental Navy	Jackson Rothko
TBD		General Nick Thompson (born 1952)	10 November 2008	31 December 2011	7003114600000000000♠3 years, 51 days	Continental Air Force	Ulylan Saunders
TBD		Admiral Gunther Lorenz (born 1955)	31 December 2011	18 February 2016	7003151000000000000♠4 years, 49 days	Continental Navy	Helen Poirier
TBD		General Ian Williams (born 1961)	18 February 2016	1 April 2020	7003147300000000000♠4 years, 12 days	Continental Army	Helene Poirier
TBD		General Ben Kingston (born 1966)	1 April 2020		7003172200000000000♠4 years, 261 days	Continental Marine Corps	Daniel Muir