Senior general () is the highest rank in the Tatmadaw (the armed forces of Myanmar), only held by the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services (CinCDS). A five star rank, it is equivalent to Field Marshal in the British Army and General of the Army in the United States Army. Since 2011, an officer appointed as CinCDS has to be quickly promoted one higher rank every year until he gets to the rank of Senior general.
An officer holding the rank of Senior general can wear any uniform from any of the branches of the Tatmadaw (armed forces of Myanmar.Fleet Exercise-2020 conducted with involvement of attack submarine Minye Theinkhathu of Tatmadaw (Navy) to enhance defence prowess of State
History In 1990, the Myanmar Armed Forces underwent structural changes, during which Commander-in-Chief General Saw Maung elevated himself to the rank of Senior General on 18 March 1990, becoming the first person to hold this rank. Than Shwe was subsequently promoted directly from the rank of General to Senior General on 23 April 1993. He served in this position until his retirement on 30 March 2011. In March 2013, Min Aung Hlaing was promoted to Senior General from his prior role as Vice-senior general.
List of rank holders Portrait Name Term of service Notes Promoted Retired Time serving 1 Saw Maung 18 March 1990 24 April 1992 Promoted directly from General 2 Than Shwe 23 April 1993 30 March 2011 Promoted directly from General 3 Min Aung Hlaing March 2013 10 April 2026 Promoted from Vice-senior general. Despite having retired from the office of Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services on 30 March 2026, he still used the military rank of Senior General until hours before his inauguration as president on 10 April 2026. ကြေးမုံသတင်းစာ (၂၈.၃.၂၀၁၃) (The Mirror Newspaper (28.3.2013)) (in Burmese)ကြေးမုံသတင်းစာ (၂၅.၃.၂၀၁၃) (The Mirror Newspaper (25.3.2013)) (in Burmese)
See also Military ranks of Myanmar Four-star rank (Myanmar)
References