Editing Bulgarian Armed Forces (section)

=== Defence Staff ===
The Bulgarian Armed Forces are headquartered in [[Sofia]], where most of the Defence staff is based. Until recently the supreme military institution was the General Staff and the most senior military officer was known as the Chief of the General Staff. After the latest military reform has been implemented the General Staff became a department within the Ministry of Defence and for that matter its name had to be changed to match the new situation. For that reason the former GS became the Defence Staff and the supreme military commander became the Chief of Defence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mod.bg/en/ministry_shtabOtbrana.html|title=Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=Mod.bg|access-date=15 October 2017|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070943/http://mod.bg/en/ministry_shtabOtbrana.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Currently headed by Chief of Defence admiral [[Emil Eftimov]], the Defence Staff is responsible for operational command of the Bulgarian Army and its three major branches. Deputies: Vice Admiral Petar Petrov, General Atanas Zaprianov, General Dimitar Zekhtinov.

'''Supreme officer rank assignments in the Bulgarian Army and other militarised services'''

Established by Executive Order of the [[President of Bulgaria|President]] No. 85 / 28.02.2012,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lex.bg/en/laws/ldoc/2135780015 | title=Lex.bg - Закони, правилници, конституция, кодекси, държавен вестник, правилници по прилагане }}</ref> most recent amendment published in the [[State Gazette]] Issue 96 from December 2, 2022:<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ciela.net/svobodna-zona-darjaven-vestnik/document/2137213260/issue/6440/ukaz-%E2%84%96-168-ot-12072021-g-za-utvarzhdavane-na-dlazhnostite-vav-vaorazhenite-sili-na-republika-balgariya-i-natsionalnata-sluzhba-za-ohrana-iziskvashti-visshi-ofitserski-zvaniya | title=Безплатен Държавен Вестник издание - Официален раздел , брой 59 от 16.VII.2021 }}</ref>

Ministry of Defence
* Chief of Defence – General / Admiral
* Deputy Chief of Defence – Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral
* Deputy Chief of Defence – Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral (until October 1, 2014, Major-General / Rear-Admiral)
* Defense Staff
** Director of the Defence Staff – Major-General / Rear-Admiral (established on May 6, 2018, the de facto Chief of Staff of the BAF)
** Director, "Operations and Training" Directorate – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
** Director, "Logistics" Directorate – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
** Director, "Strategical Planning" Directorate – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
** Director, "Communication and Information Systems" Directorate – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
** Director, "Defence Policy and Planning" Directorate (established on January 1, 2019) – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
* Joint Forces Command
** Commander, Joint Forces Command – Major-General / Rear-Admiral (until August 31, 2021, Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral)
** Deputy Commander, Joint Forces Command – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral (until August 31, 2021, Major-General / Rear-Admiral)
** Chief of Staff, Joint Forces Command – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
* Land Forces
** Commander, Land Forces – Major-General
** Deputy Commander, Land Forces – Brigade General
** Chief of Staff, Land Forces – Brigade General
** Commander, 2nd Mechanised Brigade – Brigade General
** Commander, 61st Mechanised Brigade – Brigade General
* Air Forces
** Commander, Air Forces – Major-General
** Deputy Commander, Air Forces – Brigade General
** Commander, 3rd Air Base – Brigade General
** Commander, 24th Air Base – Brigade General
* Navy
** Commander, Naval Forces – Rear-Admiral
** Deputy Commander, Naval Forces – Flotilla Admiral
** Commander, Combat and Support Ships Fltilla – Flotilla Admiral
* Joint Special Forces Command
** Commander, Joint Special Forces Command – Major-General
* Logistics Support Command (established on September 1, 2021)
** Commander, Logistics Support Command – Brigade General
* Communications and Information Support and Cyber-Defence Command (established on September 1, 2021, on the basis of the Stationary Communications and Information System)
** Commander, Communications and Information Support and Cyber-Defence Command – Brigade General
* Military Police Service, directly subordinated to the Minister of Defense
** Director, Military Police Service – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral
* Military Intelligence Service, directly subordinated to the Minister of Defense
** Director, Military Intelligence Service – Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral or civil servant equal in rank
* Military education institutions, directly subordinated to the Minister of Defense
** Chief of the "[[Georgi Stoykov Rakovski]]" Military Academy – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
** Chief of the Military Medical Academy and the Armed Forces Medical Service – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
** Chief of the "[[Vasil Levski]]" National Military University – Brigade General
** Chief of the "[[Georgi Benkovski]]" Higher Air Force School (re-established on January 1, 2020) – Brigade General
** Chief of the "[[Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov]]" Higher Naval School – Flotilla Admiral
* Other positions at the Ministry of Defense 
** Military Advisor on Military Security Matters to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
** Military Representative of the Chief of Defense at the NATO Military Committee and at the EU Military Committee – Lieutenant-General / Vice-Admiral
** Director of the Cooperation and Regional Security Directorate at the NATO Military Committee – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
** National Military Representative at the NATO [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe]] – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
** Deputy Commander of the [[NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Greece]] (Thessaloniki) – Major-General / Rear-Admiral
** Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, [[Multinational Corps Southeast]] – Sibiu, Romania<ref>{{Cite web |title=Развивайте съвременни способности, адекватни на заплахите {{!}} Otbrana.com |url=https://otbrana.com/%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8_17882 |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=otbrana.com}}</ref> – Brigade General

In addition to the aforementioned positions, there are general rank positions in the National Intelligence Service and the National Close Protection Service (the bodyguard service to high-ranking officials and visiting dignitaries). These two services are considered part of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria, but are directly subordinated to the President of Bulgaria and fall out of the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense.
* National Intelligence Service
** With the transformation of the National Intelligence Service into the State Agency for Intelligence the positions of Director, National Intelligence Service (Major-General / Rear-Admiral) and deputy director, National Intelligence Service (Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral) were stricken from the list of supreme officer assignments through Executive Order of the President No.58/22.03.2016. The newly established positions are the civilian assignments of chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the State Agency for Intelligence. 
* National Close Protection Service
** Director, National Close Protection Service - Major-General / Rear-Admiral
** Deputy Director, National Close Protection Service - Brigade General / Flotilla Admiral

With the establishment of the [[State Agency for National Security]] - SANS (Bulgarian: Darzhavna Agentsiya za Natsionalna Sigurnost - DANS, Държавна агенция за национална сигурност - ДАНС) part of the military security personnel came under its authority. Before that the security aspects of the armed forces were handled by a unified organisation under the General Staff - the "Military Service of Security and Military Police". After the formation of SANS the service was split, with the military counter-intelligence personnel entering the newly formed structure and the military police personnel staying under Ministry of Defense subordination. While technically civilian servants not part of the armed forces, the military counter-intelligence personnel of the State Agency of National Security retain their military ranks.