The Defence Staff (Spanish: Estado Mayor de la Defensa, ESMADE) is an advisory body of the Ministry of National Defense of Uruguay on issues related to the planning and coordination of activities carried out by the Armed Forces.
[1] Created from Law 18,650 of February 19, 2010,[2] its current headquarters was inaugurated in 2011, and is located on Avenida Luis Alberto de Herrera at its intersection with Monte Caseros St.[3] The powers of the Defense Staff are included in Article 16 of Law No.
[6] Likewise, no type of rotation is established between each branch of the Armed Forces, since the designation is given by confidence of the Executive.
[6] The holder of the position may remain in activity for up to five years counted from the promotion, having as an exception the cessation as Commander-in-Chief due to appointment as Chief of the General Staff.
In the event of being dismissed from his position, the chief of the defense staff must go into mandatory retirement.