Ethiopian National Defense Force
combined military forces of Ethiopia
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (Amharic: የኢፌዴሪ መከላከያ ሰራዊት, romanized: Ye'īfēdērī mekelakeya šerawīt, lit. 'FDRE Defense Force'; ENDF) is the combined military force of Ethiopia. ENDF is consisted of 8 command forces which is controlled by Defense Commanders council chaired by Chief of General Staff.
Strategic Commanders
Strategic commanders are senior military leaders responsible for planning and directing a country’s overall defense strategy, coordinating large-scale operations
and commanding the entire security forces in Ethiopia.
Commander in Chief – Taye Atske Selassie
Prime Minister – Abiy Ahmed Ali
Chief of the General Staff – Field Marshal Birhanu Jula Gelelcha
Deputy Chief of the General Staff – General Abebaw Taddese Asres
Notable High Commanders –
Highest award
Ethiopia presents this award for citizens who have a Great contribution and incredible achievement.
There are two highest awards presented by President of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Prime minister of the Federal Democratic republic of Ethiopia (Government of Ethiopia).
These are
1. The Black Lion Heroes High Medal
2. The Adwa heroes High Medal
The Black Lion award is presented to
- Field Marshal Birhanu Jula Gelelcha
- General Abebaw Taddesse Asres
- General Bacha Debele Buta
- Lieutenant General Alemshet Degife Balcha by the President of Ethiopia and Prime Minister of Ethiopia (Government of Ethiopia) on Jan 9, 2022 for their Greatest and Tremendous achievement during Tigray war.
The Adwa Heroes medal is presented to
- General Getachew Gudina Selbana
- Lieutenant General Zewdu Belay Malefya
- Lieutenant General Solomon Etefa Lemu
- Lieutenant General Mesele Meseret Tegegn
- Lieutenant General Yilma Merdassa Napa
- Lieutenant General Abdurahman Ismael Alo
- Lieutenant General Shuma Abdeta Hika
- Lieutenant General Belay Seyoum Akele by the President of Ethiopia and the Prime minister of Ethiopia (Government of Ethiopia) on Jan 9, 2022, for their Greatest and Tremendous achievement during Tigray War.
Defense Commanders Council
The Defense commander's Council have the following powers and functions-
1, Discusses and makes decisions on operational and strategic plans and the organization of the army.
“Ethiopian National Defense Force” enters the record as combined military forces of Ethiopia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ethiopian, National and Defense can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q257656. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2022.
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