This book is designed to supply a long-felt need for a biographical directory of military and civilian personnel in senior position in military establishments in all nations of the world. While recognizing that some nations publish little information on senior military officers, the editors have sought to assemble as complete and as balanced a collection of biographies as possible, gathering the information from official sources and from open publications. Although there have inevitably been some changes of rank and position that have taken place since the book went to press, until that moment all changes were entered and a few have been made during the publication process.

Within the limits of availability of information each entry includes as many as possible of the following items of information: name, rank, current position or assignment, date of assuming position, date of birth, place of birth, education and professional training, date of commissioning, experience in active theaters of war, recent positions and assignments, most important honors, decorations, and awards, professional affiliations, dates of promotion to senior grades, publications, and other pertinent data.

The book is arranged for the convenience of the reader with two sections. In the first section are the biographies, listed in alphabetical order. In the second the names of all entries are listed under the name of the country which they serve. In effect it serves as an index to the biographical section.

It is the intention of the editors to update the biographies in subsequent editions, to be published biennially. To assist them in this they are soliciting comments, additions and corrections.

The editors, Paul Martell and Grace P. Hayes, are both staff members of T.N. Dupuy Associates, of which the executive editor, Trevor N. Dupuy, is President. All have spent many years in military service, Mr. Martell and Mr. Dupuy in the Army and Mrs. Hayes in the Navy. All are contributors to T.N. Dupuy Associates' other biennial publication, The Almanac of World Military Power, and have written extensively in the fields of military science, military history, and political science, both for publication and in a number of government-sponsored research studies in the areas of military history and operations analysis.