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Chief of Defence Staff (Guyana)

Chief of Defence Staff
Flag of the Guyana Defence Force
Incumbent Brigadier Omar Khan since 28 April 2023
Reports to	President of Guyana
Formation	May 1967
First holder	Ronald Pope

The Chief of Defence Staff is the professional head of the Guyana Defence Force. He is responsible for the administration and the operational control of the military of Guyana. The current Chief of Defence Staff is Brigadier Omar Khan.

The office was officially known as the 'Chief of Staff' until 2024 when the Defence (Amendment) Act 2024 was passed giving effect to the new name of the office.

•   Acting

No.	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Colonel Ronald Pope	May 1967	March 1969	1 year, 10 months	[1]
2		Brigadier Clarence Price (1922–?)	March 1969	12 July 1979	10 years, 4 months	[2]
3		Major general Norman Gordon Mc Lean (born 1935)	12 July 1979	March 1990	10 years, 7 months	[3]
4		Major general Joseph Singh (born 1945)	March 1990	April 2000	10 years, 1 month	[4]
5		Major general Michael Atherly (born 1949)	April 2000	31 May 2004	4 years, 1 month	[5][6]
6		Major general Edward Orin Collins (born 1945)	31 May 2004	2007	2–3 years	[7]
7		Rear admiral Gary Best (born 1959)	September 2007	16 September 2013	6 years	[8]
8		Brigadier Mark Phillips (born 1961)	16 September 2013	3 October 2016	3 years, 17 days	[9]
9		Brigadier George Lewis (born 1961)	3 October 2016	10 January 2017	99 days	[10][11]
10		Brigadier Patrick West (born 1965)	10 January 2017	1 July 2020	3 years, 173 days	[12][13]
–		Brigadier Godfrey Bess (born 1968)	1 July 2020	4 March 2021	246 days	[14][15]
11			4 March 2021	28 April 2023	2 years, 55 days
12		Brigadier Omar Khan	28 April 2023	24 May 2024	1 year, 26 days	[16]

•   Acting

No.	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Brigadier Omar Khan	24 May 2024	Incumbent	54 days	[17]

• Guyana Defence Force