The Adjutant General of North Carolina is the head of the

North Carolina National Guard The North Carolina National Guard (NCNG), commonly known as the North Carolina Guard, is a component of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the National Guard of the United States. It is composed of Army and Air National Guard uni ...

. The position was created in 1806, when the

Militia Acts of 1792 Two Militia Acts were enacted by the 2nd United States Congress in 1792 that provided for the organization of militias and empowered the President of the United States to take command of the state militias in times of imminent invasion or insur ...

required the state to establish the position to better train the state militia. The office is appointed by the Governor of North Carolina and requires five years prior military service.

History

In its early history, North Carolina's militia lacked organization. Following the passage of the

and 1795 by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

created the Department of the Adjutant General in 1806 to provide more structure to the militia system. The statutory duties of the adjutant general were to pass orders from the governor to the militia, supplying forms to militia officers, attending reviews of forces, and reporting to the governor, the General Assembly, and the president of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Shortly after North Carolina seceded from the United States in 1861 and joined the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

to fight in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the General Assembly passed a new militia law which authorized the adjutant general to serve as quartermaster and paymaster general and chief of ordnance of North Carolina's forces. The defeat of the Confederacy left the militia and the Department of the Adjutant General disorganized. In 1877 the General Assembly reorganized the militia into the North Carolina State Guard, still under the leadership of the adjutant general. During the

Spanish-American War Spanish Americans ( es, españoles estadounidenses, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in th ...

of 1898, state guard forces were not called into federal service, but the Department of the Adjutant General reorganized the North Carolina forces to allow members to leave and volunteer for federal duty. In 1903 the name of the North Carolina State Guard was changed to

in compliance with federal legislation. The adjutant general assisted with federal deployments of the National Guard during the

Pancho Villa Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the p ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and helped administer the

Selective Service System The Selective Service System (SSS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States government that maintains information on U.S. Citizenship of the Unite ...

. The Department of the Adjutant General also assisted with a post-war reorganization of the National Guard. In 1941 the General Assembly passed a law mandating that the adjutant general reestablished the State Guard while the state National Guard units were pressed into federal service, which had occurred due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The State Guard was disbanded in 1947 as the National Guard was relinquished from federal duty, and the adjutant general assisted with the post-war reorganization.

Duties and structure

The adjutant general is appointed by the governor of North Carolina. A candidate for the office is required to have at least five years of active service in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. The adjutant general serves as the director of the

List of Adjutant Generals

This is a list of persons who have held the office of

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

References

Works cited

* {{Citation, last = Walker, first = Jim, title = General Records. 1807-1950, publisher = Adjutant General's Department, North Carolina Army National Guard , date = February 8, 1968, url = https://archives.ncdcr.gov/media/520/open Military in North Carolina Adjutants general of the National Guard of the United States