# Chair of the NATO Military Committee

The Chair of the NATO Military Committee (CMC) is the head of the NATO Military Committee, which advises the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on military policy and strategy. The CMC is the senior military spokesperson of the 32-nation alliance and principal advisor to the Secretary General. The chair is one of the foremost officials of NATO, next to the Secretary General and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe. The CMC is assisted by the deputy chair, who advises the Deputy Secretary General and serves as the principal agent for coordination of nuclear, biological, and chemical matters for the Military Committee. Originally titled the Chairman, the post was redesignated in 2021 to reflect the gender-neutrality of the post.
The current Chair of the NATO Military Committee is Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, former Chief of the Defence Staff of Italy, who took office on 17 January 2025.

## Origins

In accordance with Article 9 of the North Atlantic Treaty and the guidance given by the Working Group on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during the first Council session in Washington in 1949, the Defence Committee rapidly established the Military Committee. During its few sessions held behind closed doors in Washington, the Military Committee gave policy guidance on military matters to the Standing Group, and advice on military questions to the Defence Committee and other bodies, and it recommended military measures for the unified defence of the North Atlantic region to the Defence Committee. The Military Committee was directly subordinate to the Defence Committee, and each member nation was represented by its chief of staff or a deputy. Iceland, which had no military forces, was represented by a civilian. Each member state in turn held the Chair of the Military Committee for one year (C1 D-1/2, DC 1/2).
Two other groups which also sat in Washington came directly under the Military Committee:
* the Standing Group, the executive body, set up at the beginning, responsible for Military Committee everyday business;
* the Military Representatives Committee (MRC), created at the end of 1950, to ensure communication of information and points of view between the Standing Group and Alliance member states not represented on it.

## Appointment

The Chair of the Military Committee is elected from among the NATO Chiefs of Defence and appointed for a three-year term of office. They must have served as chief of defence – or an equivalent capacity – in their own country and is traditionally a non-US officer of four-star rank or national equivalent.
The Chair of the Military Committee chairs all meetings and acts in an international capacity. In their absence, the Deputy Chair of the Military Committee takes the chair.

## List

Since the formation of NATO, its Military Chairmen have been:

### NATO Military Committee in Chiefs-of-Staff Session (1949–1963)

| No. | Chairman of the NATO Military Committee | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Nationality |
| 1 | Bradley, OmarGeneral of the Army Omar Bradley (1893–1981) | 5 October 1949 | 2 April 1951 | 1 year, 179 days | United States Army | United States |
| 2 | Baele, EtienneLieutenant General Etienne Baele (1891–1975) | 2 April 1951 | 1952 | 0–1 years | Belgian Land Component | Belgium |
| 3 | Foulkes, CharlesGeneral Charles Foulkes (1903–1969) | 1952 | 1953 | 0–1 years | Canadian Army | Canada |
| 4 | Qvistgaard, E.J.C.Admiral Erhard J.C. Qvistgaard (1898–1980) | 1953 | 1954 | 0–1 years | Royal Danish Navy | Denmark |
| 5 | Guillaume, AugustinArmy General Augustin Guillaume (1895–1983) | 1954 | 1955 | 0–1 years | French Army | France |
| 6 | Pallis, StylianosGeneral Stylianos Pallis | 1955 | 1956 | 0–1 years | Hellenic Army | Greece |
| 7 | Mancinelli, GiuseppeGeneral Giuseppe Mancinelli (1895–1976) | 1956 | 1 January 1957 | 0–1 years | Italian Army | Italy |
| 8 | Hasselman, BenGeneral Ben Hasselman (1898–1984) | 1 January 1957 | 1 February 1958 | 1 year, 31 days | Royal Netherlands Army | Netherlands |
| 9 | Øen, BjarneLieutenant General Bjarne Øen (1898–1994) | 1 February 1958 | 1959 | 0–1 years | Royal Norwegian Air Force | Norway |
| 10 | Ferraz, J. A. BelezaGeneral J. A. Beleza Ferraz (1901–?) | 1959 | 1960 | 0–1 years | Portuguese Army | Portugal |
| 11 | Erdelhun, RüştüGeneral Rüştü Erdelhun (1894–1983) | 23 February 1960 | 3 June 1960 | 101 days | Turkish Land Forces | Turkey |
| 12 | Mountbatten, LouisAdmiral of the Fleet Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979) | 3 June 1960 | June 1961 | 1 year | Royal Navy | United Kingdom |
| 13 | Lemnitzer, LymanGeneral Lyman Lemnitzer (1899–1988) | June 1961 | 1962 | 0–1 years | United States Army | United States |
| 14 | de Cumont, Charles PaulLieutenant General Charles Paul de Cumont (1902–1990) | 1962 | December 1963 | 0–1 years | Belgian Land Component | Belgium |

### NATO Military Committee in Permanent Session (1958–1963)

| No. | Picture | Chairman of the NATO Military Committee | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Nationality |
| 1 | | Hasselman, BenGeneral Ben Hasselman (1898–1984) | 1 February 1958 | April 1961 | 3 years, 2 months | Royal Netherlands Army | Netherlands |
| 2 | | Heusinger, AdolfGeneral Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982) | April 1961 | December 1963 | 2 years, 8 months | West German Army | West Germany |

### NATO Military Committee (1963–present)

| No. | Chairman of the NATO Military Committee | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Nationality |
| 1 | Heusinger, AdolfGeneral Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982) | December 1963 | 1 April 1964 | 4 months | West German Army | West Germany |
| 2 | de Cumont, Charles PaulLieutenant General Charles Paul de Cumont (1902–1990) | 1 April 1964 | 1 June 1968 | 4 years, 61 days | Belgian Land Component | Belgium |
| 3 | Henderson, NigelAdmiral Sir Nigel Henderson (1909–1993) | 1 June 1968 | 1 April 1971 | 2 years, 304 days | Royal Navy | United Kingdom |
| 4 | Steinhoff, JohannesGeneral Johannes Steinhoff (1913–1994) | 1 April 1971 | 28 June 1974 | 3 years, 88 days | West German Air Force | West Germany |
| 5 | Hill-Norton, PeterAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Hill-Norton (1915–2004) | 28 June 1974 | 20 March 1977 | 2 years, 265 days | Royal Navy | United Kingdom |
| 6 | Zeiner-Gundersen, Herman FredrikGeneral Herman Fredrik Zeiner-Gundersen (1915–2002) | 20 March 1977 | 1980 | 2–3 years | Norwegian Army | Norway |
| 7 | Falls, Robert HilbornAdmiral Robert Hilborn Falls (1924–2009) | 1980 | November 1983 | 2–3 years | Canadian Maritime Command | Canada |
| 8 | de Jager, CornelisGeneral Cor de Jager (1925–2001) | November 1983 | 30 September 1986 | 2 years, 333 days | Royal Netherlands Army | Netherlands |
| 9 | Altenburg, WolfgangGeneral Wolfgang Altenburg (1928–2023) | 30 September 1986 | 5 September 1989 | 2 years, 340 days | West German Army | West Germany |
| 10 | Eide, VigleikGeneral Vigleik Eide (1933–2011) | 5 September 1989 | 31 December 1992 | 3 years, 117 days | Norwegian Army | Norway |
| 11 | Vincent, RichardField Marshal Sir Richard Vincent (1931–2018) | 1 January 1993 | 14 February 1996 | 3 years, 45 days | British Army | United Kingdom |
| 12 | Naumann, KlausGeneral Klaus Naumann (born 1939) | 14 February 1996 | 6 May 1999 | 3 years, 81 days | German Army | Germany |
| 13 | Venturoni, GuidoAdmiral Guido Venturoni (born 1934) | 6 May 1999 | 30 June 2002 | 3 years, 55 days | Italian Navy | Italy |
| 14 | Kujat, HaraldGeneral Harald Kujat (born 1942) | 1 July 2002 | 17 June 2005 | 2 years, 351 days | German Air Force | Germany |
| 15 | Henault, RaymondGeneral Raymond Henault (born 1949) | 17 June 2005 | 27 June 2008 | 3 years, 10 days | Canadian Air Command | Canada |
| 16 | Di Paola, GiampaoloAdmiral Giampaolo Di Paola (born 1944) | 27 June 2008 | 18 November 2011 | 3 years, 144 days | Italian Navy | Italy |
| – | Gaskin, Walter E.Lieutenant General Walter E. Gaskin (born 1951) Acting | 18 November 2011 | 2 January 2012 | 45 days | United States Marine Corps | United States |
| 17 | Bartels, KnudGeneral Knud Bartels (born 1952) | 2 January 2012 | 26 June 2015 | 3 years, 175 days | Royal Danish Army | Denmark |
| 18 | Pavel, PetrGeneral Petr Pavel (born 1961) | 26 June 2015 | 29 June 2018 | 3 years, 3 days | Czech Land Forces | Czech Republic |
| 19 | Peach, StuartAir Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach (born 1956) | 29 June 2018 | 25 June 2021 | 2 years, 361 days | Royal Air Force | United Kingdom |
| 20 | Bauer, RobAdmiral Rob Bauer (born 1962) | 25 June 2021 | 17 January 2025 | 3 years, 206 days | Royal Netherlands Navy | Netherlands |
| 21 | Cavo Dragone, GiuseppeAdmiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone (born 1957) | 17 January 2025 | Incumbent | 21 days | Italian Navy | Italy |