Chief of Staff of the United States Army

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

Chief of Staff of the Army
Incumbent: GEN Raymond T. Odierno Since: September 7, 2011
First	LTG Samuel B. M. Young
Formation	August 15, 1903
Website	Official Website

The Chief of Staff of the Army (acronym: CSA) is a statutory office (10 U.S.C. § 3033) held by a four-star general in the United States Army, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, and as such is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army; and is in a separate capacity 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 Chief of Staff 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, and while the Chief of Staff do not have operational command authority over Army forces proper (that is within the purview of the Combatant Commanders who reports to the Secretary of Defense), the Chief of Staff 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 Raymond T. Odierno.

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 Chief of Staff also directs the Inspector General of the Army to perform inspections and investigations as required. The Chief of Staff also presides over the Army Staff and represents Army capabilities, requirements, policy, plans, and programs in Joint fora.^[1] Under delegation of authority made by the Secretary of the Army, the Chief of Staff also designates army personnel and army resources to the Commanders of the Combatant Commands.^[2] He also 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 Chief of Staff has no operational command authority over Army forces, dating back to the passage of the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958. The Chief of Staff is served by a number of Deputy Chiefs of Staff of the Army, such as G-1, Personnel. The Chief of Staff of the Army base pay is $19,326.60 per month.

Appointment

The Chief of Staff is nominated by the President and must be confirmed by majority vote from the Senate.^[3] By statute, the CSA is appointed as a four-star general.^[3]

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 Wager 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.^{[clarification needed]}

List of Chiefs of Staff of the Army (1903-Present)

#	Name	Photo	Term began	Term ended	Notes
1.	LTG Samuel B. M. Young		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
4.	MG J. Franklin Bell		April 14, 1906	April 21, 1910
5.	MG Leonard Wood		April 22, 1910	April 21, 1914
6.	MG William W. Wotherspoon		April 22, 1914	November 16, 1914
7.	MG Hugh L. Scott		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		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		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
18.	GEN J. Lawton Collins		August 16, 1949	August 14, 1953
19.	GEN Matthew B. Ridgway		August 15, 1953	June 29, 1955
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		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
29.	GEN Edward C. Meyer		June 22, 1979	June 21, 1983
30.	GEN John A. Wickham, Jr.		July 23, 1983	June 23, 1987
31.	GEN Carl E. Vuono		June 23, 1987	June 21, 1991
32.	GEN Gordon R. Sullivan		June 21, 1991	June 20, 1995
33.	GEN Dennis J. Reimer		June 20, 1995	June 21, 1999
34.	GEN Eric K. Shinseki		June 21, 1999	June 11, 2003
35.	GEN Peter J. Schoomaker		August 1, 2003	April 10, 2007
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[4]
38.	GEN Raymond T. Odierno		September 7, 2011	Present

See also

• Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army
• Sergeant Major of the Army

References

1. ^ "General George Casey - Chief of Staff Army". Archived from the original on September 11, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070911193424/http://www.army.mil/leaders/leaders/csa/index.html. Retrieved September 22, 2007. 
2. ^ Law.cornell.edu, 10 USC 165. Combatant commands: administration and support
3. ^ ^{a b} Law.cornell.edu, 10 USC 3033. Chief of Staff
4. ^ Historical Resources Branch, United States Army Center of Military History

• Bell, William Gardner (2005) [1983]. "Appendix B: Chronological List of Senior Officers of the United States Army". Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff 1775-2005: Portraits & Biographical Sketches of the United States Army's Senior Officer. United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 0-16-072376-0. CMH Pub 70-14. http://www.history.army.mil/books/cg&csa/APPDX-B.htm. 

Further reading

• Bell, William Gardner (2005). Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff 1775-2005:Portraits & Biographical Sketches of the United States Army's Senior Officer. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 0-16-072376-0. CMH Pub 70–14. http://www.history.army.mil/books/CG&CSA/CG-TOC.htm. 
• Watson, Mark Skinner. Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and Preparations. United States Army in World War II. Washington D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/csppp/index.htm.  - full text