Before the military reform, the "headquarters" existed in a large number of military organs, ranging from the "headquarters" of the units of various branches of the armed forces or the "headquarters" of the seven major military regions, to the "headquarters" of the regiment-level units.
In the "headquarters" before the military reform, there are two special settings:
One is. The highest-ranking "headquarters" is called the "General Staff", not the "General Headquarters";
The second is. Among the commands at all levels, their military commanders are not "commanders", but are called chiefs of staff and deputy chiefs of staff.
Strictly speaking, however, in the past, the "General Staff" and the "Headquarters" could not be completely equated, but there was only a lot of overlap in functions.
Today, let's talk about the changes from the "headquarters" before the military reform to the "general staff" after the military reform.
1. Before the military reform, a large number of military units had set up "headquarters," and the head of their departments was the "chief of staff."
Before the military reform, the functional departments of the major branches of the military and the seven major military regions were basically the same as the "four major departments" of the Central Military Commission Headquarters, namely:
Headquarters, Political Department, Equipment Department, Logistics Department.
Corresponding to the headquarters of the Military Commission:
General Staff, General Political Department, ** Reserve, General Logistics Department.
Among them, we can see that among the units of various branches of the armed forces and the units of the military regions, the names of the three major departments of "administration, armament, and logistics" are the same as those of the general departments of the "government, armament, and logistics," and only the headquarters corresponds to the "general staff" of the headquarters of the Central Military Commission.
In addition, the functional departments of the army-level and vice-army-level units are basically set up as "four major departments," while the divisional-level and regimental-level units do not set up "equipment departments" but set up three major departments: "headquarters, political departments, and logistics support departments."
The department chiefs of each command are "chief of staff".
However, although the "headquarters" of the units at all levels correspond to the "general staff" of the Central Military Commission General Headquarters, strictly speaking, the headquarters and the general staff are not the same thing, but they overlap to a high degree in function.
2. After the military reform, a large number of "headquarters" have been abolished and a large number of "general staffs" have been set up instead
After the military reform, as the "four general departments" of the Central Military Commission were changed into 15 functional departments, the original "General Staff Headquarters" was also reorganized into a number of functional departments, and the successor to the command and combat functions was the "Joint Staff Department."
The Joint Staff Department is also the "only three" of the 15 functional departments at the regular theater level (the other two are the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission and the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Central Military Commission).
In the 5th major theater, the original "headquarters" structure was abolished and the "joint staff" was established.
As for the units of the navy, the rocket force, the air force, and other services, the original "headquarters" structure was also abolished and a "general staff" was set up instead, but the head of the staff department was the same as before.
The title of the head of the command "has not changed, it remains as "chief of staff".
However, as before the military reform, the conditions for the establishment of a "general staff" are still that grass-roots combat units at or above the regimental level that have been awarded military flags may set up "general staff."
As for non-combat units, they are generally not set up as "general staff", but as "training departments" or similar functional departments.
3. After the military reform, the functional departments of the Central Military Commission and a number of provincial military districts will no longer set up the post of "chief of staff."
Although after the military reform, many institutions have set up "general staff" as an institution, but a large number of "chief of staff" posts have also been abolished in the 15 newly established functional departments of the Central Military Commission and a large number of provincial military districts.
In the "four general departments" system before the military reform, not only the General Staff Headquarters had combat units under its jurisdiction, but also some subordinate units under the General Logistics Department, so the "Headquarters" was also set up, for example.
General Logistics Headquarters ** Reserve Headquarters", and its corresponding position is "Chief of Staff of the General Logistics Headquarters ** Chief of Staff of the Headquarters of the General Logistics Department".
With the deepening of the military reform and the "main construction of the Central Military Commission," the combat units of the functional departments have gradually been separated from the units of the various services, and with the exception of the combat units under the jurisdiction of the "Joint Staff Department," almost all of the remaining 14 functional departments no longer have jurisdiction over the combat units, so they no longer have the posts of "headquarters" and "chief of staff."
The same is true of provincial military districts; before the military reform, the provincial military districts (garrison areas and garrison areas) were the second-line troops, and the group armies were the same, under the jurisdiction of the seven military regions, and the post of "chief of staff" was also established.
After the military reform, with the exception of the Beijing Garrison, the Xinjiang Military Region, and the ** Military Region, all 28 provincial military regions were transferred to the National Defense Mobilization Department.
Fourth, before and after the military reform, the "headquarters" was changed to the "general staff," which was not just a change in name.
Although the chief officers of the original "headquarters" and the current "general staff" are both chiefs of staff, their functions have also undergone "qualitative" changes.
For example, the "General Staff," the former Supreme Command, not only exercised the functions of the "Joint Staff" today, but also had jurisdiction over it.
Lessons Department, Planning Department, Mobilization Department".
and other departments. That is to say, the previous "General Staff" not only needed the main "battle", but also the main "construction".
However, after the military reform, with the separation of functions, the former General Staff Mobilization Department was restructured into the National Defense Mobilization Department of the Central Military Commission, the former General Staff Lesson Department was reorganized into the Training and Management Department of the Central Military Commission, and the former General Staff Planning Department was reorganized into the Strategic Planning Office of the Central Military Commission.