Right after the August Revolution and the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2 September 1945, the General Staff was established on 7 September 1945.^[1][2] The first Chief of the General Staff was Major General Hoàng Văn Thái who held the position from 1945 to 1953.^[3] During the existence of the General Headquarters of the Vietnam People's Army (Bộ Tổng tư lệnh Quân đội Nhân dân Việt Nam), which had been the supreme commanding organ of the armed forces from 1946 to 1975, the General Staff was directly under the General Headquarters and acted as staff of the General Headquarters according to the decree No. 47/SL which was issued on 1 May 1947.

After the Vietnam War, the General Headquarters was dissolved and the General Staff began to operate under the Ministry of Defence in the position of commanding and managing organisation of the Vietnam People's Army, the paramilitary forces, militia and other activities relating to defence of Vietnam. From 1978, the Chief of Staff was also Deputy Minister of Defence and would take the position of acting minister during the absence of the Minister of Defence.^[4]

The organisation of the General Staff consists of:^[4]

• Office of the General Staff (Văn phòng Bộ Tổng tham mưu)
• Department of Political Affairs (Cục Chính trị)
• Department of Operations (Cục Tác chiến)
• Department of Personnel (Cục Quân lực)
• Department of Information Technology (Cục Công nghệ thông tin)
• Department of Electronic Warfare (Cục Tác chiến điện tử)
• 144th Guard Brigade (Lữ đoàn 144)
• Department of Military Political Training and Public Affairs (Cục Quân huấn). This is also the office responsible for the sport activities of the Army including the operation of the Viettel FC (Thể Công) football club.
• Department of Cartography (Cục Bản đồ)
• Department of Cryptography (Cục Cơ yếu)
• Department of Logistics (Cục Hậu cần)
• Department of Military Education (Cục Nhà trường)
• Department of Militias and Reserve Forces (Cục Dân quân tự vệ)
• Department of Disaster Response and SAR (Cục Cứu hộ cứu nạn)

In addition, the General Staff also directly manages the operation of the 144th Brigade (which protects the Ministry of Defence headquarters), the Military Honour Guard Battalion (Đoàn Nghi lễ quân đội), and several companies and project management authorities.

The Chief of the General Staff (Vietnamese: Tổng tham mưu trưởng) is the chief of staff of the General Staff of the People's Army of Vietnam. He is appointed by the President of Vietnam, who is the Commander-in-Chief.