Chief of Defence Force (Somalia)

Chief of the General Staff
Taliyaha Ciidanka Xooga Somaaliyeed (Somali)
Lesser coat of arms of the Armed Forces
Flag of the Armed Forces
Incumbent Major General Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow since 19 June 2023
Ministry of Defense and Somali Armed Forces
Style	Jaale
Type	Chief of staff
Status	Highest ranking military officer
Abbreviation	CXDS
Appointer	President of Somalia
Term length	2 years
Formation	12 April 1960
First holder	Daud Abdulle Hirsi
Unofficial names	Commander of the Somali Armed Forces, Commander of the Somali National Army[1]

The Chief of Defence Force (Somali: Taliyaha Ciidanka Xooga Somaaliyeed) is the professional head of the Somali Armed Forces. He is responsible for the administration and the operational control of all branches of the Somali military (Army, Navy and Air Force) and thus is the direct superior to both the Chief of the Navy and the Chief of the Air Force. The post has however only been held by Army officers and the term limit is 2 years.^{[citation needed]} Typically the rank held by the Chiefs is brigadier general, though some, notable Dahir Adan Elmi were granted the rank of major general.

Odawa Raage served from 22 August 2019 to June 2023. He was promoted to major-general in the last days of his tenure, being listed as such in a Somali government briefing of June 21, 2023.^[2][3]

In the weekly briefing of 21 June 2023 it was announced that that the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, had signed the decree appointing the new Commander of the Somali National Army, Brigadier General Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyiddin.^[1]

List of Chiefs

Somali Republic and Somali Democratic Republic (1960–1991)

No.	Portrait	Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Jaale Major general Daud Abdulle Hirsi (1925–1965)	12 April 1960	1965 †	4–5 years	[4]
2		Barre, SiadJaale Major general Siad Barre (1910–1995)	1965	1969	3–4 years	[5]
3		Jaale Lieutenant general Ali Samatar (1931–2016)	1969	1991	17–18 years	–

Transitional Federal Government (2004–2012)

No.	Portrait	Chief of Army	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Naji, Ismail QasimMajor general Ismail Qasim Naji	15 April 2005	10 February 2007	1 year, 301 days	[6]
2		Omar, Abdullahi AliMajor general Abdullahi Ali Omar (born 1947)	10 February 2007	21 July 2007	161 days	[7][8] [9]
3		Jama, Salah HassanMajor general Salah Hassan Jama	21 July 2007	11 June 2008	326 days	[10]
4		Jama, Said DheereMajor general Said Dheere Mohamed	11 June 2008	14 May 2009	337 days	[11]
5		Dhumal, Yusuf OsmanMajor general Yusuf Osman Dhumal	15 May 2009	6 December 2009	205 days	[12]
6		Kahiye, Mohamed GelleMajor general Mohamed Gelle Kahiye	6 December 2009	6 September 2010	274 days	[13]
7		Gedi, Ahmed JimaleMajor general Ahmed Jimale Gedi	6 September 2010	29 March 2011	204 days	-
8		Dini, Abdulkadir Sh.Major general Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini	29 March 2011	13 March 2013	1 year, 349 days	[14][15]

Federal Government (2012–present)

No.	Portrait	Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Elmi, Dahir AdanMajor general Dahir Adan Elmi	13 March 2013	25 June 2014	1 year, 104 days	[15]
2		Anod, AbdullahiMajor general Abdullahi Anod	25 June 2014	24 September 2015	1 year, 91 days	[16]
3		Ahmed, Mohamed AdamMajor general Mohamed Adam Ahmed (born 1950)	24 September 2015	5 April 2017	1 year, 193 days	[15]
4		Jimale, Ahmed MMajor general Ahmed Mohamed Jimale	5 April 2017	12 October 2017	190 days	[17]
5		Hussein, Abdiweli JMajor general Abdiweli Jama Hussein Gorod	12 October 2017	16 August 2018	308 days	[18]
(1)		Elmi, Dahir AdanMajor general Dahir Adan Elmi	16 August 2018	27 August 2020	2 years, 11 days	[19]
6		Rageh, Odowa YusufMajor general Odowaa Yusuf Rageh	27 August 2020	19 June 2023	2 years, 296 days	[20]
7		Muhyadin Addow, Ibrahim SheikhMajor general Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow	19 June 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 139 days	[15]

References

1. "Federal Government of Somalia's Weekly Briefing". 21 June 2023.
2. "Federal Government of Somalia's Weekly Briefing". 21 June 2023.
3. "Dismissed but Not Defeated: General Odowa Speaks Out on Armed Forces and Future Plans". 23 June 2023.
4. Ehrenreich, Frederick (1982). "National Security". In Nelson, Harold N. (ed.). Somalia: a country study (PDF). Area Handbook (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 238. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
5. Ehrenreich 1982, p. 238.
6. "Somali cabinet fills key posts". Al Jazeera. 14 April 2005. Archived from the original on 18 September 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
7. "Somalia's army commander sacked as new ambassadors are appointed". Shabelle Media Network. 10 April 2007. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
8. State collapse and post-conflict ... 12 November 1998. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
9. "Peaceful day for Somalia reconciliation conference". Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
10. "Somalia's Interim President Appoints New Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces" Archived 4 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine hiiraan.com
11. "Somali president names new military chief amid insurgent push" Archived 14 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine topnews.in
12. "Somalia fires heads of police force and military" Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine reuters.com
13. "Somali president fires top commanders" Archived 4 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine hiiraan.com
14. "Salad Gabeyre Kediye Was a Brigadier General in the Somali Military and a Revolutionary". Banaadir Weyne. 2 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
15. "Somalia changes its top military commanders". Shabelle Media Network. 13 March 2013. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
16. "SOMALIA: President Mohamud fires senior military commanders". Raxanreeb. 25 June 2014. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
17. "Somali Defense Minister, Army Chief Resign". 12 October 2017. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
18. "Army chief Gorod replaced as Farmaajo kicks out close ally from Villa Somalia". 16 August 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
19. "General Dahir Adan Elmi Has Been Reappointed as the Commander of the SNA".
20. "Somalia National Army Get the Youngest Commander in History".