Inspector General of the Bundeswehr


The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, officially translated as Chief of Defence, is the highest-ranking military post held by a commissioned officer in the Bundeswehr, the present-day armed forces of Germany.
All Inspectors General have been of the rank of a general or admiral, and they head the Führungsstab der Streitkräfte, the German Defence Staff within the Federal Ministry of Defence, and is the direct military advisor to the Federal Minister of Defence who is the peacetime holder of the supreme command authority. He is responsible for the overall military defense concept of the Bundeswehr, including the overall planning, preparation, as well as assessment of the whole Bundeswehr operations.
Subordinate to the Inspector General are the commanders of the branches of the Bundeswehr, the Inspector of the Army, Inspector of the Air Force, and Inspector of the Navy, and the commanders of the Joint Support Service and Joint Medical Service.

Title and translations

While official translations of the position is "Chief of Defence", the German term "Generalinspekteur" – "Inspector General" – was specifically created to avoid the term of "Generalstabschef" deemed historically compromised. When the Bundeswehr was created in 1955, many traditional military terms were considered inappropriate after the German Wehrmacht's conduct in World War II. Therefore, Federal German Bundeswehr has no "General Staff", but the "Army Command".

List of officeholders