Adjutant General
An Adjutant General is a rank and a role that may represent the principal staff officer of an army; through him, the commanding general receives communications and issues military orders.
In the United States, the Adjutant General is the chief military officer of the National Guard units in any one of the American States. This use of the term reflects the early history of the US where each of the 50 States retains partial sovereignty, including the right to maintain military forces; the Army and Air National Guard are state units that can be called to federal duty in case of national emergency.
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