Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Army
Chief of the Myanmar Army
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Commander-in-Chief (Army) (Burmese: ကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ် (ကြည်း)), is the highest ranking military officer of the Defence Services (Army) a.k.a. Myanmar Army, and the third highest in the Defence Services a.k.a. Tatmadaw. After the unification: 187 of Army, Navy, and Air Force in 1955,[1]: 128 the Tatmadaw had the Chief of Staff system and the branches were led by Vice Chief of Staff (Army), Vice Chief of Staff (Navy), and Vice Chief of Staff (Air), respectively,[2] until 1989. A new system was introduced in 1989 during the reorganisation and each branch is now led by its own Commander-in-Chief.[3][4] Since then, except in the special case of the 26-day period in 2026, the Commander-in-Chief (Army) traditionally serves as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services simultaneously.[5]
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Appointer
- Military Appointments General
PrecursorDeputy Inspector General, Burma Army
Formation
- 1 May 1947 (as DGOC)
- 10 May 1989 (as CinC(Army))
| Commander-in-Chief (Army) | |
|---|---|
| ကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ် (ကြည်း) | |
Flag of the Commander-in-Chief (Army) | |
since 30 March 2026 | |
 Myanmar Army | |
| Reports to | Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services |
| Appointer |
|
| Precursor | Deputy Inspector General, Burma Army |
| Formation |
|
| First holder | |
List of DGOC/ VCS(Army)/ CinC(Army)
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
| No. | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Remark | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in Office | |||||
| Deputy General Officer Commanding, Burma Army | |||||||
| * |  |
Colonel Smith Dun |
1 May 1947 | 4 January 1948 | 248 days days | His appointment as DGOC is recorded in the military's official history but he is not acknowledged as the first person in the official list of VCS/DC-in-CDS, C-in-C (Army). Later became the first military chief of independent Burma as GOC | [6] |
| 1. | Brigadier General Saw Kyar Doe |
14 April 1948 | 30 July 1949 | 107 days days | Ethnic Karen Officer, then named "Deputy General Officer Commanding". Saw Kyar Doe moved to the post of Chief of Operation but forced to retire due to civil war with Karen Listed as the first VCS/C-in-CDS, C-in-C (Army) in the official list even though he had retired before 1955 | [7] | |
| 2. | .jpg) |
Major General Ne Win |
1 August 1948 | 1 February 1949 | 184 days days | Listed in the official list of VCS/DC-in-CDS, C-in-C (Army) even though his term of office was before 1955. Promoted to GOC in 1949; subsequently became the first Chief of Staff of the unified Tatmadaw, the Defence Services, in 1955 | [7] |
| Vice Chief of Staff, Defence Services (Army) | |||||||
| 3. | Brigadier General Aung Gyi |
9 April 1959 | 19 February 1963 | 3 years, 316 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 | [7] | |
| 4. |  |
Brigadier General San Yu |
15 February 1963 | 20 April 1972 | 9 years, 65 days | Later became the Chief of Staff in 1972 | [7] |
| 5. | .jpg) |
Brigadier General Tin Oo |
20 April 1972 | 7 March 1974 | 1 year, 321 days | Subsequently promoted to Chief of Staff in 1974. Later became Vice-Chairman of National League for Democracy. | [7] |
| 6. |  |
Brigadier General Thura Kyaw Htin |
8 March 1974 | 6 March 1976 | 1 year, 364 days | Later promoted to Chief of Staff | [7] |
| 7. | Lieutenant General Aye Ko |
2 April 1976 | 7 August 1981 | 5 years, 127 days | Later became BSPP general secretary and then Vice President. | [7] | |
| 8. | Lieutenant General Tun Yi |
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. | [7] | |
| 9. | Lieutenant General Saw Maung |
22 July 1983 | 4 November 1985 | 2 years, 105 days | Later became Chief of Staff and then the first Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services | [7] | |
| 10. |  |
General Than Shwe |
4 November 1985 | 10 May 1989 | 3 years, 187 days | [7][3] | |
| Commander-in-Chief (Army) | |||||||
| (10) | |
General Than Shwe |
10 May 1989 | 23 April 1992 | 2 years, 349 days | Later promoted to the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services | [7][3] |
| 11 |  |
Vice-Senior General Maung Aye |
24 April 1992 | 30 March 2011 | 18 years, 340 days | [7] | |
| 12 |  |
Vice-Senior General Soe Win |
30 March 2011 | 4 March 2026 | 14 years, 339 days | Remained as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services until 30 March 2026. | [7][8] |
| 13 | General Ye Win Oo |
4 March 2026 | 30 March 2026 | 26 days | Subsequently became the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services. | [8] | |
| 14 | General Kyaw Swar Lin |
30 March 2026 | Incumbent | 162 days | [7] | ||
Existing positions named C-in-C and CS
- Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
- Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
- Commander-in-Chief (Army)
- Chief of the General Staff (Army, Navy and Air)
- Commander-in-Chief (Navy)
- Commander-in-Chief (Air)
- 7.
- Chief of Staff (Army)
- Chief of Staff (Navy)
- Chief of Staff (Air)