Chief of Staff of the St.Charlie Armed Forces

Chief of Staff of the SCAF Capo di Stato Maggiore delle Forze Armate St.Charliane
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General Flavio Beninati
Formation	November 23, 2008
Term length	Undefined
Appointed by	President of St.Charlie
Inaugural holder	Whisky I

The Chief of Staff of the St.Charlie Armed Forces (Italian: Capo di Stato Maggiore delle Forze Armate St.Charliane), formally known as the Chairman of the Joint Commanders of Staff (Italian: Dirigente dei Comandanti dello Stato Maggiore Uniti) is by St.Charlian law the highest ranking military officer in the St.Charlie Armed Forces, the Minister of Defense of a Government in power and the principal military adviser to the Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of St.Charlie. The Chairman outranks all respective heads of each service branch but does not have operational command authority over them or their service branches. The Joint Commanders of Staff have offices in the Department of Defense, in Fort Caroline, Caroline Charlotte.

The office of Chairman of the Joint Commanders of Staff is considered very important and highly prestigious. Together, the Joint Commanders of Staff as a body have command authority over combatant forces. The chain of command runs from the President to the Ministry of Defense directly to the commanders of each branch. The Chairman has also authority over personnel assignments and oversight over resources and personnel allocated to the combatant commands within their respective services. From January 2010, all duties of Minister of Defense have been merged into the ones of the Chief of Staff, making it officially the head of the Department of Defense of a Government.

President Whisky I served as Chief of Staff during the first week of existence of the Federal Republic. He was later succeded by Karifa Sanfo.

The Chairman is nominated by the Prime Minister for appointment and must be confirmed via majority vote by the St.Charlian Parliament. By statute, the Chairman is appointed as a high-ranking officer.

History

There is no proof of existence of a Chief of the Armed Forces at the time of the Kingdom of St.Charlie. It is therefore believed that the authority was vested by the Monarch. When the November Revolution occured, Whisky I, that at the time was not involved in politics, was nominated Commander-in-Chief of the newborn St.Charlie Armed Forces by NPSC General Secretary Alexander Reinhardt. When later, Reinhardt resigned from the office of de facto chief of the Government, Whisky succeded him, although he kept the title of Chief of the Armed Forces as it was granted to him by the Constitution.

It must be therefore said that the rank of "Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces" was used as a normal rank in the past, but later became a special rank only granted to the Federal President.

Later, in January, after more or less a month in which the Armed Forces had no military commander other than the President, Karifa Sanfo, at the time officer of the SCAF, was nominated Chief of Staff of the recently founded Joint Commanders of Staff, that was indeed established in January, and later officialized by the Parliament. Although Whisky I is known as the first Chief of the Armed Forces, Sanfo is de facto the first military officer that became commander of the SCAF.

List of Chiefs of Staff

	Photo	Name	Branch	Term began	Term ended	Appointed by
1.		Commander-in-Chief Whisky I	Department of the Army	November 23, 2008	December 1, 2008	General Secretary Alexander Reinhardt
2.		General Karifa Sanfo	Department of the Army	January 5, 2009	June 30, 2009	Minister of Defense Nicolas Bermejo
3.		Colonel Alessio Giovanrosa	Department of the Army	June 30, 2009	August 30, 2009	Minister of Defense Nicolas Bermejo
4.		Admiral General Leonard Von Sternberg	Department of the Navy	August 31, 2009	December 31, 2010	Prime Minister Alexander Reinhardt
5.		General Christian Guariberti	Department of the Army	January 8, 2011	May 23, 2014	President Lisa Cassidy
6.		General Flavio Beninati	Department of the Army	May 23, 2014	Incumbent	President Alexander Reinhardt