Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services

The commander-in-chief of defence services (Burmese: တပ်မတော်ကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ်, romanized: Tatmadaw Kakweyay Uzigyoke) is the supreme commander of the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar. The Tatmadaw is an independent branch of government under control of the commander-in-chief and not answerable to the president of Myanmar, though certain actions of the commander-in-chief require the approval of the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC), which is chaired by the president. According to the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, the commander-in-chief is appointed by the president upon nomination by the NDSC; the commander-in-chief is also a member of the NDSC.

Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
တပ်မတော်ကာကွယ်ရေးဦးစီးချုပ်
Flag of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
Incumbent Senior General Min Aung Hlaing since 30 March 2011
Tatmadaw Ministry of Defence
Style	His Excellency
Type	Supreme Commander
Abbreviation	C-in-C DS
Member of	National Defence and Security Council
Seat	Naypyidaw, Myanmar
Nominator	National Defence and Security Council
Appointer	State President
Formation	1945
First holder	Major General Aung San
Unofficial names	တပ်ချုပ်၊ကာချုပ်
Deputy	Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
Website	Official website

The Constitution frames the commander-in-chief as an expressly political office, stating he "participates in the national political leadership role of the state". Accordingly, he has expansive governance powers under the Constitution, including the ability to appoint the leadership of the Home, Border, and Defence ministries, the right to appoint 25% of the members of both houses of the Assembly of the Union (which appoints the president), the ability to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president, as well as having effective voting control on the NDSC. One of the most significant executive powers retained by the president is discretion in calling meetings of the NDSC. Article 418 of the 2008 Constitution allows the Commander-in-Chief broad authority over the government if the president declares a state of emergency in coordination with the NDSC. This happened after the 2021 coup d'état: military-installed acting president Myint Swe declared a state of emergency and transferred power to Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who then formed a military junta—the State Administration Council.

The current Commander-in-Chief is Min Aung Hlaing, since 30 March 2011. By law, the Commander-in-Chief must be under the age of 65. However, Min Aung Hlaing, who turned 65 on 3 July 2021, has remained in office.

List of commanders-in-chief

No.	Portrait	Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch
1		San, AungMajor General Aung San (1915–1947)	1945	19 July 1947 †	2 years	Patriotic Burmese Forces
2		Yar, LetBrigadier Let Yar (1911–1978)	19 July 1947	4 January 1948	169 days	Burma Army
3		Dun, SmithLieutenant General Smith Dun (1906–1979)	4 January 1948	31 January 1949	1 year, 27 days	Burma Army
4		Win, NeGeneral Ne Win (1910–2002)	1 February 1949	20 April 1972	23 years, 79 days	Burma Army
5		Yu, SanGeneral San Yu (1918–1996)	20 April 1972	1 March 1974	1 year, 315 days	Burma Army
6		Oo, TinGeneral Tin Oo (1927–2024)	1 March 1974	6 March 1976	2 years, 5 days	Burma Army
7		Htin, KyawGeneral Kyaw Htin (1925–1996)	6 March 1976	3 November 1985	9 years, 242 days	Burma Army
8		Maung, SawSenior General Saw Maung (1928–1997)	4 November 1985	22 April 1992	6 years, 170 days	Myanmar Army
9		Shwe, ThanSenior General Than Shwe (born 1933)	22 April 1992	30 March 2011	18 years, 342 days	Myanmar Army
10		Hlaing, MinSenior General Min Aung Hlaing (born 1956)	30 March 2011	Incumbent	14 years, 261 days	Myanmar Army

Timeline