Chief of the General Staff of Yugoslav People's Army

The Chief of the General Staff (Serbo-Croatian:Načelnik Generalštaba - NGŠ; Начелник Генералштаба - НГШ Macedonian: Началник на Генералштабот; Slovene: Načelnik Generalštaba) was the chief of staff of the General Staff of Yugoslav People's Army. He was appointed by the President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, who was the commander-in-chief.

The first Chief of the General Staff was Lt. General Arso Jovanović, the Chief of the Main Staff of People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOVJ), who became chief of staff when NOVJ became JA (Yugoslav Army) in 1945. The Yugoslav Army later in 1951 was renamed to Yugoslav Peoples Army, and it existed until the breakup of Yugoslavia. The last chief of staff was Colonel General Života Panić, as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, who became the Chief of the General Staff of "new" Military of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Chiefs of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army (1945-1951)

#	Name	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Arso Jovanović	1907–1948	Lt. General	1 March 1945	15 September 1948	Killed by border guards while allegedly trying to escape to Romania during the Informbiro
2	Koča Popović	1908–1992	Lt. General	15 September 1948	22 December 1951	Since 22 December 1951 Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army

Chiefs of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army (1951-1989)

#	Name	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Koča Popović	1908–1992	Colonel General	22 December 1951	27 January 1953	Until 22 December 1951 Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army
2	Peko Dapčević	1913–1999	Colonel General	27 January 1953	29 April 1955
3	Ljubo Vučković	1915–1976	Colonel General	29 April 1955	16 June 1961
4	Rade Hamović	1916–2009	Colonel General	16 June 1961	15 June 1967
5	Miloš Šumonja	1918–2006	Colonel General	15 June 1967	5 January 1970
6	Viktor Bubanj	1918–1970	Colonel General	5 January 1970	15 October 1972	Died in office
7	Stane Potočar	1919–1997	Colonel General	15 October 1972	10 July 1979
8	Branko Mamula	1921–	Admiral	10 July 1979	5 May 1982
9	Petar Gračanin	1923–2004	Colonel General	5 May 1982	1 September 1985
10	Zorko Čanadi	1925–2003	Colonel General	1 September 1985	15 September 1987
11	Stevan Mirković	1927–	Colonel General	15 September 1987	29 September 1989

Chiefs of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1989-1992)

#	Name	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Blagoje Adžić	1932–	Colonel General	29 September 1989	27 February 1992
2	Života Panić	1933–2003	Colonel General	27 February 1992	20 May 1992	Since 20 May 1992 Chief of the General Staff of the Military of FR Yugoslavia

Source

• Chief of the General Staff: 1876-2000, Ivetić Velimir, Belgrade 2000.