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.
The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is organized, and it is led by the secretary of the Army, who has statutory authority under 10 United States Code § 7013 to conduct its affairs and to prescribe regulations for its government, subject to the limits of the law, and the directions of the secretary of defense and the president.
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.
William E. "Kip" Ward is a retired United States Army three-star general who served as the inaugural Commander of United States Africa Command from October 1, 2007 to March 8, 2011. During his long career in public service, he has taught international affairs and relations at West Point, US Military Academy; served as Commander of Stabilization Force, Operation Joint Forge, Sarajevo, Bosnia; was appointed the Secretary of State's Security Coordinator to the Israel - Palestinian Authority; Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany; and many other progressively responsible assignments. He later retired and served as President and chief operating officer of the logistics, IT, and engineering business, Vectrus.
The structure of the United States Air Force refers to the unit designators and organizational hierarchy of the United States Air Force, which starts at the most senior commands.
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.
Timothy James Kadavy is a retired United States Army lieutenant general, who served as the 20th director of the Army National Guard from March 27, 2015, to March 25, 2019. He previously served as the special assistant to the vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, the adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, deputy director of the Army National Guard, and as the commander of Combined Joint Inter Agency Task Force-Afghanistan, which was part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force mission in that country. Kadavy was nominated by the President to become the Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau with the rank of lieutenant general, on March 5, 2019. The Senate returned his nomination to the president without action on January 3, 2020. After leaving his assignment as the director of the Army National Guard, he served as a two-star special assistant to the chief of the National Guard Bureau from May 23, 2019, until his retirement on August 3, 2020. He retired from the Army with the rank of lieutenant general after over 36 years of service.
John S. Tuohy is a retired brigadier general in the United States Air Force, last serving as the Assistant Adjutant General and Commander of the Washington Air National Guard, in which capacity he commanded 34 units and the 2,100 personnel attached to those units, while managing a budget of $50,000,000. General Tuohy was responsible to the Adjutant General of Washington, Major General Bret D. Daugherty, "to prepare, implement and administer plans, policies and programs to effectively organize, staff, equip and train units for state and federal mobilization." Additionally, General Tuohy oversaw the Washington Youth Academy, a division of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program in Bremerton, Washington, which provides quasi-military training and mentoring programs for 300 at-risk youths each year. Prior to his last assignment, then-Colonel Tuohy served as the Washington National Guard's Director of United States Property and Fiscal Office, in which capacity he was primarily responsible for receiving and accounting for all funds and property - in excess of $1,300,000,000 - of the United States in the possession of the Washington National Guard and ensuring that Federal funds were "obligated and expended in conformance with applicable statutes and regulations."
Stephen Lanza is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as commanding general, I Corps at Joint Base Lewis–McChord from February 6, 2014 to April 3, 2017, when he transferred authority to Lieutenant General Gary J. Volesky. He retired from active service on June 2, 2017.
William J. Walker is a retired United States Army major general and former Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the 38th House Sergeant at Arms and the first African-American to hold the office. He last served as the 23rd Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard. This responsibility includes command of the District of Columbia Army and Air National Guard units. Walker previously served in the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Special Agent and was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in January 2003, with his final assignment being Deputy Assistant Administrator in Charge of the Office of Strategic Warning Intelligence. Walker is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow.
Major General Roy Van McCarty is an officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard who currently serves as South Carolina Adjutant General, he was appointed to the position by Governor Henry McMaster on January 17, 2019. As the states senior military officer, he serves as commander of the South Carolina Military Department which includes the South Carolina Army National Guard, South Carolina Air National Guard, South Carolina State Guard and the Emergency Management Division; he also advises the governor of the state on military matters.
David Wayne Allvin is a United States Air Force four-star general who has served as the 23rd chief of staff of the Air Force since November 2, 2023. He most recently served as the 40th vice chief of staff of the Air Force from November 2020 to November 2023, and as acting chief of staff of the Air Force from September to November 2023.
Lieutenant General William H. Etter is a retired United States Air Force officer who last served as commander of 1st Air Force and commander of Continental North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, from March 2013 to August 2016.
This is a list of all commanders, deputy commanders, senior enlisted leaders, and chiefs of staff of the United States Africa Command.
Antonio M. Fletcher is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who last served as commander of the Allied Special Operations Forces Command from 2021 to 2024. He most recently served as the Deputy Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency from 2020 to 2021. Previously, he served as the Commander of Special Operations Command South from 2018 to 2020.
Steven Scott Nordhaus is a United States Air Force general who has served as the 30th chief of the National Guard Bureau since October 2, 2024. He previously served as the commander of First Air Force from 2023 to 2024. He served as the Director of Operations of the National Guard Bureau from 2019 to 2022. From 2017 to 2019, he was the Commander of the Air National Guard Readiness Center.
This is a list of all commanders, deputy commanders, senior enlisted leaders, and chiefs of staff of the United States European Command.
This is a list of all commanders, deputy commanders, senior enlisted leaders, and chiefs of staff of the United States Strategic Command.
