Army general (Vietnam)

Army general
Đại tướng
Four-star insignia of the rank of Army general
Country Vietnam
Service branch People's Army of Vietnam
Rank groupGeneral officer
FormationMarch 22, 1946 (March 22, 1946)
Next lower rank Colonel general
Equivalent ranks General

Army general (Vietnamese: Đại tướng) is the highest military rank of Vietnam and the highest rank in the People's Army of Vietnam.

According to Article 88 of the 2013 Constitution of Vietnam, the rank of General of the Vietnam People's Army is decided by the President, who is also the Chairman of the National Defense and Security Council.

The rank of General is conferred only on senior officers holding the following positions: Minister of National Defense, Chief of the General Staff and Chairman of the General Department of Politics. Exceptions include:

  • Hoàng Văn Thái was promoted in 1980 while serving as Deputy Minister of National Defense and Deputy Chief of the General Staff, although he was the first Chief of the General Staff from 1945–1954 and acted briefly as Chief of the General Staff in 1954 and 1974).
  • Lê Đức Anh in 1984 when he was Deputy Minister of Defense and commander of Vietnamese volunteer troops in Cambodia.

As of July 12, 2021, the Vietnam People's Army has 16 servicemen conferred the rank of General.

There were two soldiers who were directly promoted to the rank of General without intermediaries: Võ Nguyên Giáp (1948) and Nguyễn Chí Thanh (1959).

Currently[when?], there are 2 Army Generals holding military ranks currently working, namely Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defense; Lương Cường, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army.

Rank insignia

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1946 rank insignia

According to Decree No. 33 of March 22, 1946 signed by the President of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the rank of General of the National Army of Vietnam was first regulated with the rank of 3 gold stars on the shoulder. red background. However, at that time, no soldier had been awarded this rank. It was not until January 20, 1948, that Commander-in-Chief of the National Army and militia and self-defense militia Võ Nguyên Giáp was the first to be conferred this rank.

1958 rank insignia

The rank of General was again redefined with the Law on Service Regulations of Officers of the Vietnam People's Army dated May 31, 1958. And Decree 307-TTg dated June 20, 1958 also stipulates that the rank of General carries 4 gold stars above the rank. And on August 31, 1959, Chairman of the General Department of Politics Nguyễn Chí Thanh was the second person to be conferred the rank of General.

List of Vietnam army generals

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No. Name Lifespan date of appointment left military service Ref.
1 Võ Nguyên Giáp 1911–2013 1948[1] 1991
2 Nguyễn Chí Thanh 1914–1967 1959[2] 1967 died by heart attack
3 Văn Tiến Dũng 1917–2002 1974[3] 2002
4 Hoàng Văn Thái 1915–1986 1980 1986 died by heart attack
5 Chu Huy Mân 1913–2006 1986
6 Lê Trọng Tấn 1914–1986 1984 1986
7 Lê Đức Anh 1920–2019 1992
8 Nguyễn Quyết 1922– 1990 1992
9 Đoàn Khuê 1923–1999 1997
10 Phạm Văn Trà 1935– 2003 2006
11 Lê Văn Dũng 1945– 2007[4] 2011
12 Phùng Quang Thanh 1949–2021 2016
13 Đỗ Bá Tỵ 1954– 2015[5] 2021
14 Ngô Xuân Lịch 1954–
15 Lương Cường 1957– 2019[6] 2024
16 Phan Văn Giang 1960– 2021[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sắc lệnh 110/SL ngày 20 tháng 1 năm 1948". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22.
  2. ^ "Sắc lệnh 036/SL ngày 31 tháng 8 năm 1959". Archived from the original on 2013-03-13.
  3. ^ "13 vị được phong tướng đầu tiên – Kỳ 2: Tướng Văn Tiến Dũng". 2 September 2010.
  4. ^ "Thăng quân hàm đại tướng cho đồng chí Phùng Quang Thanh và Lê Văn Dũng". 7 July 2007.
  5. ^ "Chủ tịch nước thăng quân hàm Đại tướng cho hai tướng quân đội là ông Ngô Xuân Lịch và Đỗ Bá Tỵ". 5 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Phong Đại tướng cho Chủ nhiệm TCCT Lương Cường". 29 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Chủ tịch nước phong quân hàm Đại tướng cho Bộ trưởng Quốc phòng Phan Văn Giang".