Pictured above: Brig. Gen. Linda L.
Singh will assume the duties of the 29th Adjutant General and will replace Maj.
Gen. James A. Adkins who will retire from a military career that spans more
than 40 years of service. She will be the first African-American and first female
to serve as the Adjutant General of Maryland. December 23, 2014 [Maryland
National Guard shared Change Maryland's post]
About the Adjutants General of Maryland and the Maryland
Military Department
I was
working
on a story about the Adjutant General, Maryland National Guard and the
Maryland Military Department and came across these Maryland state government websites:
About the Maryland Military
Department
For more detailed information on
the Maryland Military Department, see the Maryland State Archives informational
site
The
following is a History of the Adjutants General of Maryland. As in other
states, the Adjutant General is the senior military official of the National
Guard and any other military or para-military units that may be maintained by
the state.
See more
below
Origin
of the Military Department
Authorization for military force in Maryland began when the
Maryland Charter of 1632 empowered Lord Baltimore to raise troops to put down
insurrection or rebellion and subdue enemies of the province. It continued in
the eighteenth century as Maryland militia units fought during the French and
Indian War and distinguished themselves in the American Revolution.
Under State government, the office of Adjutant General was
authorized first in 1793 and made a Constitutional office in 1951. The Adjutant
General heads the Military Department and exercises powers and duties under the
Militia Law of Maryland.
Functions
and Responsibilities
The Military Department is responsible for the Maryland Air
National Guard, the Maryland Army National Guard, the Maryland Defense Force,
and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. The Military Department also
builds and maintains the armories and other facilities used by the Maryland
National Guard.
All State forms and records required for militia use and the
reports and returns required by the federal government are prepared by the
Military Department, and service records of all officers and enlisted persons
who have served or are serving in the Maryland National Guard are maintained by
the Department as well.
Structure
The Military Department is controlled by the Office of the
Adjutant General, and is made up of the following agencies:
State Operations
The State Operations section manages many of the fiscal and
administrative duties of the Military Department. The Freestate ChalleNGe
program and Honor Guard also fall under this group.
Maryland Air National Guard
The Maryland Air National Guard provides air combat forces and
airlift aircraft, as well as emergency support, to the U.S. Air Force and other
unified commands.
Maryland Army National Guard
The Maryland Army National Guard provides combat troops to the
U.S. Army, and engineer, transportation and medical units, and military police
for State service.
Maryland Defense Force
The Maryland Defense Force is separate and distinct from the
Maryland National Guard, and is composed of officers, commissioned or assigned,
and all able-bodied citizens of the State who volunteer and are accepted for
service. They may be ordered to active duty in the State by the Governor
whenever the National Guard has been called into the military service of the
United States.
Maryland Emergency Management
The Maryland Emergency Management Agency provides for a civil
defense system to protect life and property from attack and offer relief and
assistance to people struck by natural disasters. Although it is organized
within the Military Department, the Agency may report directly to the Governor
in emergency situations.
More
Information
+++++++++++++++++++
The following is a
History of the Adjutants General of Maryland. As in other states, the Adjutant
General is the senior military official of the National Guard and any other
military or para-military units that may be maintained by the state.
The office of Adjutant
General in MarylandEdit
From the Report of the
Adjutant General of Maryland 1906-1907 Chapter LII, Laws of Maryland, 1793,
(Thomas Sim Lee, Governor), provided for the office of an Adjutant General of
the State Militia in "an Act to regulate and discipline the militia of
this State," in compliance with the Act of Congress of 1792, entitled,
"An Act more effectually to provide for the national defence, by
establishing a uniform militia throughout the United States," from which
the fo1lowing excerpt is quoted:
"There shall be
an Adjutant-General appointed in each State, whose duty it shall be to
distribute all orders from the Commander-in-Chief of the State to the several
corps; to attend all public reviews, when the Commander-in-Chief of the State
shall review the militia, or any part thereof; to obey all orders from him
relative to carrying into execution and perfecting the system of military
discipline established by this Act; to furnish blank forms of different returns
that may be required, and to explain the principles on which they should be
made; to receive from the several officers of the different corps throughout
the State, returns of the militia under their command, reporting the actual
situation of their arms, accoutrements and ammunition, their delinquencies and
every other thing which relates to the general advancement of good order and
discipline; all which the several officers of the divisions, brigades,
regiments and battalions are hereby required to make in the usual manner, so
that the said Adjutant-General may be duly furnished therewith; from all which
returns he shall make proper abstracts, and lay the same annually before the
Commander-in-Chief of the State."
In October of the year
1794, an Adjutant General of Maryland was appointed for the first time and a
resolution was passed at the November session of the General Assembly, as
follows: "Resolved, That the treasurer of the Western Shore / be and he is
hereby authorized and required to pay to The Adjutant-General of this State for
the time being, the sum of two hundred pounds current money, in quarterly
payments, provided the said Adjutant-General reside or keep an office at the
seat of government." In 1797, the annual salary of the office was
"five hundred and thirty-three dollars and one-third of a dollar,;"
six hundred dollars in 1799, and was later "fixed and established" by
law, (chapter 168, Laws of Maryland. 1S07), at five hundred dollars annually,
to be paid in quarter yearly payments. By subsequent enactments, the amount was
increased at various times until the present salary was attained and
established. The Adjutant General of Maryland was given the relative military
rank of "Colonel of Artillery in the line" by Chapter 251, Laws of
Maryland, 1834; the relative rank of "Brigadier-General" by Chapter
284, Laws of Maryland, 1864; and finally, the present rank of
"Major-General" by Chapter 337, Laws of Maryland, 1867.
Biographical
The following sketches
have been adapted and borrowed from a variety of sources, including the
Maryland State Archives and the The Report of the Adjutant General of Maryland
1906-1907.
