title: Chief of Defence Staff (Trinidad and Tobago)
text: # Chief of Defence Staff (Trinidad and Tobago)
  
  The Chief of Defence Staff is the professional head of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. He is responsible for the administration and the operational control of the military. The current chief is Air Vice Marshall Darryl Daniel who was appointed on 25 March 2019, Air Commodore and promoted to Air Vice Marshall effective November 01,2020 . Unlike other Caribbean nations, the chief is not called the more common "Chief of Staff". This is due to the strong ties Trinidad and Tobago had to the British equivalent during the establishment of the TTDF.
  
  ## List of officeholders
  
  | No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Ref. |
  | 1 | | Lt. Col. Pearce Gould | 1 June 1962 | 1964 | 1–2 years | Army | |
  | 2 | | Col. Joffre Serrette | 1964 | February 1968 | 3–4 years | Army | |
  | 3 | | Stanley Johnson | February 1968 | 1970 | 1–2 years | | |
  | (2) | | Brigadier Joffre Serrette | 1970 | 1978 | 7–8 years | Army | |
  | 4 | | Commodore Mervyn O. Williams | 1976? | 1979 | 2–3 years | Navy | |
  | | | Brigadier Joseph Theodore | 1990 | 1991 | 0–1 years | Army | |
  | | | Brigadier Ralph Brown | 1991 | 1994 | 2–3 years | Army | |
  | | | Brigadier Carlton Alfred Alfonso | 1994 | 1999 | 4–5 years | Army | |
  | | | John CE Sandy | 2000 | 2002 | 1–2 years | | |
  | | | Brigadier Ancil Antoine | 26 January 2002 | 2006 | 3–4 years | Army | |
  | | | Major general Edmund Dillon | 2006 | 6 November 2011 | 4–5 years | Army | |
  | | | Brigadier Roland Maundy | 6 November 2011 | 2012 | 0–1 years | Army | |
  | | | Major general Kenrick Maharaj | 2011 | 2011 | 0 years | Army | |
  | | | Major general Kenrick Maharaj | 2011 | 2015 | 3–4 years | Army | |
  | | | Major general Rodney Smart | 2015 | 9 August 2017 | 1–2 years | Army | |
  | | | Rear admiral Hayden Pritchard | 9 August 2017 | 25 March 2019 | 1–2 years | Navy | |
  | | | Air Commodore Darryl Daniel | 25 March 2019 | Incumbent | 4 years, 124 days | Air force | |
  