Chief of Defence Staff (Trinidad and Tobago)

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) 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 CDS reports directly to the Minister of Defence, who holds political responsibility for defence matters, as outlined in Section 191(2) of the Defence Act, Chapter 14:01. The current CDS is Commodore Don Polo, the former commanding officer of the Coast Guard. He was appointed as CDS on 7 October 2025 and promoted to the rank of Commodore, effective October 14, 2025, a week after first being appointed CDS as a Captain "owing to the exigencies." Air Vice Marshal Darryl Daniel appointment as CDS was revoked on 7 October 2025, by the government.

Air Vice Marshal Darryl Daniel was appointed on 25 March 2019 as a Air Commodore and promoted to Air Vice Marshall effective November 1, 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.

The Vice Chief of Defence Staff (VCDS) was Brigadier General Dexter Francis, he was reported in the media to be going into retirement in November 2023.