Chief of Staff of the United States Army

Not to be confused with United States Secretary of the Army.

Chief of Staff of the United States Army CSA
Flag of the Chief of Staff of the Army
Incumbent GEN Mark A. Milley since August 14, 2015
Department of the Army The Army Staff
Member of	Joint Chiefs of Staff
Reports to	Secretary of Defense Secretary of the Army
Seat	The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	4 years Renewable
Constituting instrument	10 U.S.C. § 3033
Precursor	Commanding General of the Army
Formation	August 15, 1903
First holder	LTG Samuel B. M. Young
Deputy	Vice Chief of Staff of the Army
Website	Official Website

The Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) is a statutory office (10 U.S.C. § 3033) held by a four-star general in the United States Army. As the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, the CSA is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army. In a separate capacity, the CSA is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (10 U.S.C. § 151) and, thereby, a military advisor to the National Security Council, the Secretary of Defense, and the President. The CSA is typically the highest-ranking officer on active-duty in the U.S. Army unless the Chairman and/or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are Army officers.

The Chief of Staff of the Army is an administrative position based in the Pentagon. While the CSA does not have operational command authority over Army forces proper (which is within the purview of the Combatant Commanders who report to the Secretary of Defense), the CSA does exercise supervision of army units and organizations as the designee of the Secretary of the Army.

The current Chief of Staff of the Army is General Mark A. Milley.

Responsibilities

The senior leadership of the Department of the Army consists of two civilians, the Secretary of the Army (Head of the department and subordinate to the Secretary of Defense) and the Under Secretary of the Army, and two military officers, the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army.

The Chief of Staff reports directly to the Secretary of the Army for army matters and assists in the Secretary's external affairs functions, including presenting and enforcing army policies, plans, and projections. The CSA also directs the Inspector General of the Army to perform inspections and investigations as required. In addition, the CSA presides over the Army Staff and represents army capabilities, requirements, policy, plans, and programs in Joint fora. Under delegation of authority made by the Secretary of the Army, the CSA designates army personnel and army resources to the Commanders of the Combatant Commands. The CSA performs all other functions enumerated in 10 U.S.C. § 3033 under the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of the Army, or delegates those duties and responsibilities to other officers in his administration in his name. Like the other service counterparts, the CSA has no operational command authority over army forces, dating back to the passage of the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958. The CSA is served by a number of Deputy Chiefs of Staff of the Army, such as G-1, Personnel. The CSA base pay is $$21,147.30.per month. plus Personal Money Allowance (Monthly Amount) in the amount of 333.33, basic allowance for subsistence 253.38, basic allowance for housing from $50.70-1923.30

The Chief of Staff of the Army is nominated by the President and must be confirmed by majority vote from the Senate. By statute, the CSA is appointed as a four-star general.

The Chief of Staff holds an annual future study program called Unified Quest.

History

Prior to 1903, the senior military officer in the army was the Commanding General, who reported to the Secretary of War. From 1864 to 1865, Major General Henry Halleck (who had previously been Commanding General) served as "Chief of Staff of the Army" under the Commanding General, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, thus serving in a different office and not as the senior officer in the army.

The first chief of staff moved his headquarters to Fort Myer in 1908.

List of Chiefs of Staff of the Army (1903–present)

The rank listed is the rank when serving in the office.

#	Name	Photo	Term began	Term ended	Notes
1.	LTG Samuel B. M. Young	50px	August 15, 1903	January 8, 1904
2.	LTG Adna Chaffee		August 19, 1904	January 14, 1906
3.	LTG John C. Bates		January 15, 1906	April 13, 1906	Last Civil War veteran to serve as Chief of Staff
4.	MG J. Franklin Bell	50px	April 14, 1906	April 21, 1910
5.	MG Leonard Wood		April 22, 1910	April 21, 1914
6.	MG William W. Wotherspoon	50px	April 22, 1914	November 16, 1914
7.	MG Hugh L. Scott	50px	November 17, 1914	September 22, 1917
8.	GEN Tasker H. Bliss		September 23, 1917	May 19, 1918
9.	GEN Peyton C. March		May 20, 1918	June 30, 1921
10.	General of the Armies John J. Pershing		July 1, 1921	September 13, 1924
11.	MG John L. Hines	50px	September 14, 1924	November 20, 1926
12.	GEN Charles Pelot Summerall		November 21, 1926	November 20, 1930
13.	GEN Douglas MacArthur		November 21, 1930	October 1, 1935
14.	GEN Malin Craig	50px	October 2, 1935	August 31, 1939
15.	GA George C. Marshall		September 1, 1939	November 18, 1945
16.	GA Dwight D. Eisenhower		November 19, 1945	February 6, 1948
17.	GEN Omar Bradley		February 7, 1948	August 15, 1949	Resigned to become first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
18.	GEN J. Lawton Collins	50px	August 16, 1949	August 14, 1953
19.	GEN Matthew B. Ridgway		August 15, 1953	June 29, 1955	Last World War I veteran to serve as Chief of Staff
20.	GEN Maxwell D. Taylor		June 30, 1955	June 30, 1959
21.	GEN Lyman L. Lemnitzer		July 1, 1959	September 30, 1960
22.	GEN George H. Decker		October 1, 1960	September 30, 1962
23.	GEN Earle G. Wheeler		October 1, 1962	July 2, 1964
24.	GEN Harold K. Johnson	50px	July 3, 1964	July 2, 1968
25.	GEN William C. Westmoreland		July 3, 1968	June 30, 1972
	GEN Bruce Palmer, Jr.		July 1, 1972	October 11, 1972	Acting
26.	GEN Creighton W. Abrams		October 12, 1972	September 4, 1974	Died in office
27.	GEN Frederick C. Weyand		October 3, 1974	September 30, 1976
28.	GEN Bernard W. Rogers		October 1, 1976	June 21, 1979	Last World War II veteran to serve as Chief of Staff
29.	GEN Edward C. Meyer		June 22, 1979	June 21, 1983
30.	GEN John A. Wickham, Jr.	50px	July 23, 1983	June 23, 1987	Last Korean War veteran to serve as Chief of Staff
31.	GEN Carl E. Vuono	50px	June 23, 1987	June 21, 1991
32.	GEN Gordon R. Sullivan		June 21, 1991	June 20, 1995
33.	GEN Dennis J. Reimer	50px	June 20, 1995	June 21, 1999
34.	GEN Eric K. Shinseki		June 21, 1999	June 11, 2003	Last Vietnam War veteran to serve as Chief of Staff
35.	GEN Peter J. Schoomaker		August 1, 2003	April 10, 2007	Recalled from retirement to assume the position of Chief of Staff. He had first retired in 2000
36.	GEN George W. Casey, Jr.		April 10, 2007	April 10, 2011
37.	GEN Martin E. Dempsey		April 11, 2011	September 7, 2011	Term shortened due to appointment as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
38.	GEN Raymond T. Odierno		September 7, 2011	August 14, 2015
39.	GEN Mark A. Milley		August 14, 2015	Incumbent

See also

• Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army
• Army Staff Senior Warrant Officer
• Sergeant Major of the Army

Further reading

• - full text

External links

• The short film Big Picture: Top Soldier is available for free download at the Internet Archive.