General Staff (Vietnam)

Bộ Tổng tham mưu (General Staff)
Insignia of the General Staff
Active	7 September 1945 – present
Country	Vietnam
Allegiance	Vietnam People's Army
Branch	Active duty
Type	Staff
Part of	President Ministry of Defence Vietnam People's Army
Garrison/HQ	Hanoi
Commanders
Current Chief of General Staff	Lt.Gen Phan Van Giang
First Chief of General Staff	Gen. Hoàng Văn Thái

General Staff (Vietnamese: Bộ Tổng tham mưu) is the commanding and managing organisation of the Vietnam People's Army, the paramilitary forces, militia and other activities relating to defence of Vietnam. The General Staff was established on 7 September 1945, right after the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first Chief of the General Staff was General Hoàng Văn Thái. During the Second Indochina War, Vietnam War, Cambodian-Vietnamese War, Sino-Vietnamese War and other skirmishes, the General Staff always had an essential role in organising, commanding the armed forces and planning, operating military campaigns for the Ministry of Defence and the Government of Vietnam. The current Chief of the General Staff is Lt.Gen Phan Van Giang who also holds the position of Deputy Minister of Defence.

Right after the August Revolution and the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2 September 1945, the General Staff was established on 7 September 1945. The first Chief of the General Staff was Major General Hoàng Văn Thái who held the position from 1945 to 1953. During the existence of the General Headquarters of the Vietnam People's Army (Bộ Tổng tư lệnh Quân đội Nhân dân Việt Nam), which had been the supreme commanding organ of the armed forces from 1946 to 1975, the General Staff was directly under the General Headquarters and acted as staff of the General Headquarters according to the decree No. 47/SL which was issued on 1 May 1947.