General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army

Bộ Tổng tham mưu (General Staff)
Insignia of the General Staff
Active	7 September 1945 – present
Country	Vietnam
Allegiance	Vietnam People's Army
Branch	Active duty
Type	Staff
Part of	President Ministry of Defence Vietnam People's Army
Garrison/HQ	Hanoi
Commanders
Current Chief of General Staff	Lt.Gen Phan Van Giang
First Chief of General Staff	Gen. Hoàng Văn Thái

General Staff (Vietnamese: Bộ Tổng tham mưu) is the commanding and managing organisation of the Vietnam People's Army, the paramilitary forces, militia and other activities relating to defence of Vietnam. The General Staff was established on 7 September 1945, right after the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first Chief of the General Staff was General Hoàng Văn Thái. During the Second Indochina War, Vietnam War, Cambodian-Vietnamese War, Sino-Vietnamese War and other skirmishes, the General Staff always had an essential role in organising, commanding the armed forces and planning, operating military campaigns for the Ministry of Defence and the Government of Vietnam. The current Chief of the General Staff is Lt.Gen Phan Van Giang who also holds the position of Deputy Minister of Defence.

History and roles

Right after the August Revolution and the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2 September 1945, the General Staff was established on 7 September 1945.^[1][2] The first Chief of the General Staff was Major General Hoàng Văn Thái who held the position from 1945 to 1953.^[3] During the existence of the General Headquarters of the Vietnam People's Army (Bộ Tổng tư lệnh Quân đội Nhân dân Việt Nam), which had been the supreme commanding organ of the armed forces from 1946 to 1975, the General Staff was directly under the General Headquarters and acted as staff of the General Headquarters according to the decree No. 47/SL which was issued on 1 May 1947.

After the Vietnam War, the General Headquarters was dissolved and the General Staff began to operate under the Ministry of Defence in the position of commanding and managing organisation of the Vietnam People's Army, the paramilitary forces, militia and other activities relating to defence of Vietnam. From 1978, the Chief of Staff was also Deputy Minister of Defence and would take the position of acting minister during the absence of the Minister of Defence.^[4] Following the demise of Colonel General (or Senior Lieutenant General) Nguyễn Khắc Nghiên, the current Chief of Staff is Lt.Gen Phan Van Giang.

Structure

Gen. Phùng Quang Thanh, Chief of the General Staff from 2001 to 2006.

The organisation of the General Staff consists of:^[4]

• Office of the General Staff (Văn phòng Bộ Tổng tham mưu)
• Department of Political Affairs (Cục Chính trị)
• Department of Operations (Cục Tác chiến)
• Department of Personnel (Cục Quân lực)
• Department of Information Technology (Cục Công nghệ thông tin)
• Department of Electronic Warfare (Cục Tác chiến điện tử)
• Department of Politico-Military Training (Cục Quân huấn). This is also the office responsible for the sport activities of the Army including the operation of the Thể Công football club.
• Department of Cartography (Cục Bản đồ)
• Department of Cryptography (Cục Cơ yếu)
• Department of Logistics (Cục Hậu cần)
• Department of Schools (Cục Nhà trường)
• Department of Civil Defence (Cục Dân quân tự vệ)
• Department of Search and Rescue (Cục Cứu hộ cứu nạn)

In addition, the General Staff also directly manages the operation of the 144th Brigade (which protects the Ministry of Defence headquarters), the Military Honor Guard Battalion Hanoi (Đoàn Nghi lễ quân đội), and several companies and project management authorities.

List of Chiefs of General Staff

No.	Image	Name	Began	Ended	Rank in office	Notes
1		Hoàng Văn Thái	1945 1954	1953 1954	Major General	Later promoted to General, Deputy Minister of Defence, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Leader of Vietcong from 1967 - 1973.
2		Văn Tiến Dũng	1953 1954	1954 1978	Army General	Later promoted to General, Minister of Defence, Member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam.[5]
3		Lê Trọng Tấn	1978	1986	Army General	Deputy Minister of Defence, Member of Central Committee, died in 1986.[6]
4		Lê Đức Anh	1986	1987	Army General	Later elected to President of Vietnam, Member of the Politburo.[7]
5		Đoàn Khuê	1987	1991	Army General	Later promoted to Minister of Defence, Member of the Politburo.[8]
6		Đào Đình Luyện	1991	1995	Colonel General	Held at the same time the position of Deputy Minister of Defence, Member of the Central Committee.
7		Phạm Văn Trà	1995	1997	Lieutenant General	Later promoted to full General, Minister of Defence, Member of the Politburo.
8		Đào Trọng Lịch	April 1997	May 22, 1998	Lieutenant General	Deputy Minister of Defence, member of Central Committee, died in an aircraft crash in 1998.[9]
9		Lê Văn Dũng	May 22, 1998	May 2001	Lieutenant General	Later promoted to full General, Director of the General Department of Politics, Secretary of the Central Committee.
10		Phùng Quang Thanh	May 2001	August 31, 2006	Colonel General	Later promoter to full General, Minister of Defence, Member of the Politburo.
11		Nguyễn Khắc Nghiên	August 31, 2006	November 13, 2010	Colonel General	Deputy Minister of Defence, Member of the Central Committee, died in 2010 of cancer.[10]
12		Đỗ Bá Tỵ	December 22, 2010	May 21, 2016	Army General	Deputy Minister of Defence, Member of the Central Committee. Later elected to Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam
13		Phan Văn Giang	May 21, 2016	Incumbent	Lieutenant General	Deputy Minister of Defence, Member of the Central Committee.[11]

Notes

1. Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 110
2. Mai Phương (7 September 2007). "Gặp mặt truyền thống các thế hệ cán bộ" (in Vietnamese). Qdnd.vn.
3. "Hoàng Văn Thái" (in Vietnamese). Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam.
4. Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 53
5. "Văn Tiến Dũng" (in Vietnamese). Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam.
6. "Lê Trọng Tấn" (in Vietnamese). Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam.
7. "Lê Đức Anh" (in Vietnamese). Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam.
8. "Đoàn Khuê" (in Vietnamese). Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam.
9. "Bay qua đỉnh Phy Phả Xây" (in Vietnamese). Tuoitre.com.vn. 6 June 2005.
10. "Nguyễn Khắc Nghiên" (in Vietnamese). National Assembly of Vietnam.
11. "Vietnam's new chief of general staff appointed". e.vnexpress.net/. 22 May 2016.

References

• Ministry of Defence of Vietnam (2009). White book of Defence of Vietnam (in Vietnamese). Hanoi: World Publishing House.