Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Surea)

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is by law the highest ranking military officer in the Republic of Surea armed forces, and the principal military adviser to the President of Surea, and the Secretary of Defense. The Chairman outranks all respective heads of each service branch and is the only one to have operational control. He leads the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), comprising the Chairman, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Staff of the Army and  Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the  Chief of Naval Operations, and the  Commandant of the Marine Corps. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have offices in The Octagon.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is assisted by the Director of the Joint Staff, a three-star officer who assists the Chairman with the management of the Joint Staff, an organization composed of approximately equal numbers of officers contributed by the Army, the Navy, Marine Corps, and the Air Force, who have been assigned to assist the Chairman with the unified strategic direction, operation, and integration of the combatant land, naval, and air forces.

The Chairman is nominated by the President for appointment and must be confirmed via majority vote by the National Assembly. By statute, the Chairman is appointed as a four-star general or admiral.

Function
The Chairman of the Chiefs of the Staff has three roles:
 * assisting the Minister of Defense in the preparation and organisation of the armed forces
 * under the authority of the President (who is overall commander in chief of the Republic of Surea Armed Forces), maintaining overall command of military operations and proposing the military measures to adopt (general strategy)
 * Advising the President and the Minister of Defense on military matters.

He is responsible for:
 * the conduct of operations : plans of attack, general articulation of the forces, distribution of operational means between theatre commanders (over whom he has full authority)
 * training : he checks their aptitude for their missions and has a permanent right of inspection over them ;
 * preparation for the future : plans and programmes for military capacity. He oversees the pulling-together of the armed forces' means and participates in the preparation and execution of the defense budget ;
 * inter-branch organisation : he oversees the forces' organisation.
 * military relations with the armed forces of other nations : he directs military missions abroad, organises the Surean forces' participation in international missions and exercises, follows international negotiations and represents Surea on military committees of international organisations.

Directly under his authority are:
 * the Chiefs of Staff of each of the four arms (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps) ;
 * The inter-arm organs:
 * Director of Military Intelligence;
 * Commander of Special Operations;
 * Military Medical Services;
 * Military Fuel Services;
 * the Inter-arm infrastructure and Information Systems directorate.