The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of a chairman (CJCS), a vice chairman (VJCS), the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau. Each of the individual service chiefs, outside their JCS obligations, works directly under the secretaries of their respective military departments, e.g. the secretary of the Army, the secretary of the Navy, and the secretary of the Air Force.
Michael Edward Ryan is a retired United States Air Force general and was the 16th Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from October 1997 to September 2001. He served as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipage of 700,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he and the other service chiefs functioned as military advisers to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council and the President.
General Samuel Egbert Anderson was a United States Air Force four-star general who served as commander of the Air Materiel Command.
Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2019. He was the 36th commandant of the Marine Corps. Dunford is the first Marine Corps officer to serve in four different four-star positions; the others include commander of the International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces – Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014, and as the thirty-second assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from October 23, 2010 to December 15, 2012. He has commanded several units, including the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Steven Lloyd Kwast is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant general. He last served as commander of Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. In that role, he was responsible for the recruiting, training and education of Air Force personnel. The command includes Air Force Recruiting Service, two numbered air forces and Air University. The command operates more than 1,400 trainer, fighter and mobility aircraft, 23 wings, 10 bases and five geographically separated groups. It trains more than 293,000 students per year with approximately 60,000 active-duty, Reserve, Guard, civilian and contractor personnel.
Charles Quinton Brown Jr. is a United States Air Force general who has served as the 21st chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since October 1, 2023. Prior to his appointment, Brown served as the 22nd chief of staff of the Air Force from 2020 to 2023. Brown entered the Air Force in 1984 and served as a fighter pilot, where he has logged over 3,000 flight hours, including 130 hours in combat. He has commanded the Pacific Air Forces, U.S. Air Forces Central Command, 31st Fighter Wing, 8th Fighter Wing, U.S. Air Force Weapons School, and 78th Fighter Squadron. He has also served as deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command.
John William Raymond is a retired United States Space Force general who served as the first chief of space operations from 2019 to 2022. The first guardian, he served as commander of the United States Space Command from 2019 to 2020.
Nina Marion Armagno is a retired United States Space Force lieutenant general who served as the first director of staff of the United States Space Force from 2020 to 2023. She is the service's first female general officer and the only officer to have commanded both the 30th Space Wing and the 45th Space Wing. Before transferring to the Space Force, she was a major general in the United States Air Force, where she served for over 32 years.
Paul Joseph Selva is a retired United States Air Force general who served as the tenth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he was the nation's second-highest-ranking military officer, and the highest-ranking officer in the Air Force. He assumed his last assignment on July 31, 2015, and retired on August 1, 2019. Selva is a command pilot with more than 3,100 hours in the C-5, C-17A, C-141B, C-37, KC-10, KC-135A and T-37.
John Earl Hyten is a retired United States Air Force general who served as the 11th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2019 to 2021. A career space operations and acquisitions officer, he commanded the United States Strategic Command from 2016 to 2019 and the Air Force Space Command from 2014 to 2016.
David Hilberry Berger is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 38th commandant of the Marine Corps from 2019 to 2023.
Gustave F. Perna is a retired United States Army four-star general who last served as the chief operating officer of the federal COVID-19 response for vaccine and therapeutics. He previously served as the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed from July 2020 until the operation's duties and responsibilities were transferred to the White House COVID-19 Response Team in February 2021. As chief operating officer of COVID-19 response, he oversaw the logistics in the United States federal government's distribution of the vaccine to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senate confirmed his nomination as chief operating officer on July 2, 2020, and he assumed the office shortly after.
The chief of space operations (CSO) is the service chief of the United States Space Force. The CSO is the principal military adviser to the secretary of the Air Force for Space Force operations and, as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a military adviser to the National Security Council, the secretary of defense, and the president. The CSO is a statutory office held by a Space Force general, who is typically the highest-ranking officer on active duty in the Space Force.
Anthony Joseph Mastalir is a United States Space Force brigadier general who has served as the commander of the United States Space Forces Indo-Pacific since 2022. He previously served as commander of Space Launch Delta 30 from 2019 to 2021.
Dennis O. Bythewood is a United States Space Force brigadier general who serves the deputy commander of the United States Space Forces – Space. He previously served as the commander of Joint Task Force–Space Defense and deputy commander of the Combined Force Space Component Command.
David R. Iverson is a United States Air Force lieutenant general who serves as the deputy commander of United States Forces Korea, commander of the Air Component Command of the United Nations Command, commander of the Air Component Command of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command, and commander of the Seventh Air Force. He previously served as the director of air and cyberspace operations of Pacific Air Forces.
Brian David Sidari is a United States Space Force brigadier general who serves as the director of intelligence of the United States Space Command. A career intelligence officer, he has commanded 6th Intelligence Squadron and previously served as vice commander of the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing.
