Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Army

Not to be confused with Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services.

The Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Army, officially the Commander-in-Chief (Army) (Burmese: ကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ် (ကြည်း)), is the highest ranking military officer of the Myanmar Army. Up until 1990, Myanmar Armed Forces has Chief of Staff system and the army was led by Vice Chief of Staff (Army) (ဒုတိယကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ် (ကြည်းတပ်)). A new system was introduced in 1990 during Armed Forces reorganisation and all three branches of Armed Forces are now led by the Commander-in-Chief.^[1] The Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Army also traditionally serves as Deputy Commander-in-Chief.^[2]

Commander-in-Chief of the Army
ကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ် (ကြည်း) (Burmese)
Flag of the Commander in Chief of Myanmar Army
Incumbent Vice-Senior General Soe Win since 1 April 2011
Myanmar Army
Reports to	Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
Appointer	President of Myanmar
Term length	No fixed length
Precursor	Vice Chief of Staff (Army)
Formation	4 January 1948
First holder	Saw Kyar Doe

List of chiefs

Vice Chief of Staff (1948–1990)

No.	Portrait	Vice Chief of Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Notes
1		Doe, SawBrigadier general Saw Kyar Doe (1907–1999)	4 January 1948	31 July 1948	209 days	Karen Officer, then named "Deputy Chief of Army staff. Was replaced with Ne Win in August 1948. So Kya Doe moved to the post of Chief of Operation but forced to retire due to civil war with Karen
2		Win, NeBrigadier general Ne Win (1910–2002)	1 August 1948	1 February 1949	184 days	Member of Thirty Comrades, Became Chief of General Staff in February 1949. Later became President and Chairman of Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) till July 1988
3		Gyi, AungBrigadier general Aung Gyi (1919–2012)	28 April 1959	7 February 1963	3 years, 184 days	Promoted from Colonel General Staff in April 1959 as Vice Chief Staff (Army) but resigned in February 1963 and was imprisoned few times. First Chairman of NLD but left after few months in December 1988
4		Yu, SanBrigadier general San Yu (1918–1996)	9 February 1963	20 April 1972	9 years, 71 days	Later became Chief of Defence Staff in April 1972 // then Became Secretary of Council of State in March 1974 President
5		Oo, TinBrigadier general Tin Oo (1927–2024)	20 April 1972	1 March 1974	1 year, 315 days	Succeeded San Yu as Chief of Defence Staff in 1974 but dismissed two years later and imprisoned for alleged holding of information in coup attempt next year, later founded NLD with Suu Kyi and Aung Gyi and became Vice-Chairman of National League for Democracy and chairman when Aung Gyi left. House arrest for few times and became Vice Chairman of NLD again and later Patron of NLD
6		Htin, KyawBrigadier general Kyaw Htin (1925–1996)	2 March 1974	6 March 1976	2 years, 5 days	Later became Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister // Briefly became Joint General Secretary of BSPP in 1988 July- September
7		Ko, AyeLieutenant general Aye Ko (1921–2006)	2 April 1976	7 August 1981	5 years, 154 days	Later became BSPP general secretary and then Vice President
8		Ye, TunLieutenant general Tun Ye (1926–2014)	7 August 1981	21 July 1983	1 year, 348 days	Retired from Army in 1983 at age 60 and became Member of Council of State till 1988. Then became general secretary and then Chairman of National Unity Party which was re-incarnation of BSPP
9		Maung, SawLieutenant general Saw Maung (1928–1997)	21 July 1983	4 November 1985	2 years, 106 days	Became Chief of Defence Staff in November 1985 // later promoted to Senior General, coup in 1988 and formed State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
10		Shwe, ThanLieutenant general Than Shwe (born 1933)	4 November 1985	18 March 1990	4 years, 134 days	Became Commander in Chief of Tatmadaw in 1992// later promoted to Senior General and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)

Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Army (1990–present)

No.	Portrait	Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Notes
1		Shwe, ThanGeneral Than Shwe (born 1933)	18 March 1990	22 April 1992	2 years, 35 days	.
2		Aye, MaungVice Senior General Maung Aye (born 1937)	22 April 1992	31 March 2011	18 years, 343 days	later promoted to Vice Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
3		Win, SoeVice-Senior General Soe Win (born 1960)	1 April 2011	Incumbent	13 years, 221 days	.

See also

• Myanmar Army

References

1. Selth, Andrew (2002): Burma's Armed Forces: Power Without Glory, Eastbridge. ISBN 1-891936-13-1
2. Maung Aung Myoe (1999). Building the Tatmadaw. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 73. ISBN 9780731527427.