Chief marshal of the branch (Russian: Главный маршал рода войск, romanized: Glavny marshal roda voysk) was a senior military rank of the Soviet Armed Forces.

The ranks of chief marshal of aviation, artillery, armoured troops, engineer troops, and signals were established on 27 October 1943.

During the next forty years, the ranks of chief marshal were conferred mainly on deputy defense ministers – commanders of the corresponding branch.

The youngest chief marshal was aviator Golovanov, 40 when promoted in 1944.

Three of thirteen people who held the chief marshal rank did not retire normally: Novikov was imprisoned for seven years; Nedelin perished in the flame of an exploded rocket; Varentsov was accused of heedlessness, dismissed and degraded (his subordinate, Oleg Penkovsky, had been found to be a spy).