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Back to article: ADJUTANT (from Lat. adjutare, to aid)

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ADJUTANT (from Lat. adjutare, to aid), a helper or junior in command, one who assists his superior, especially an officer who acts as an assistant to the officer commanding a corps of troops. In the British army the appointment of adjutant is held by a captain or lieutenant. The adjutant acts as staff officer to
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the commanding officer, issues his orders, superintends the work of the orderly room and the general administration of the corps, and is responsible for musketry duties and the training of recruits. Regular officers are appointed as adjutants to all units of the auxiliary forces. On the European continent the word is not restricted to the lower units of organization; for example, in Germany the Adjutantur includes all " routine " as distinct from " general " staff officers in the higher units, and the aides-de-camp of royal persons and of the higher commanders are also styled adjutant-generals, fliigel-adjutanten, &c. For the so-called adjutant bird see JABIRU.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL, an army official, originally (as indicated by the word) the chief assistant (Lat. adjuvare) staff-officer to a general in command, but now a distinct high functionary at the head of a special office in the British and American war departments. In England the second military member of the Army Council is styled adjutant-general to the forces. He is a general officer and at the head of his department of the War Office, which is charged with all duties relative to personnel. The adjutant-general of the United States army is one of the principal officers in the war department, the head of the bureau for army correspondence, with the charge of the records, recruiting, issue of commissions, &c. Individual American states also have their own adjutant-general, with cognate duties regarding the state militia. In many countries, such as Germany anti Russia, the term has retained its original meaning of an officer on the personal staff, and is the designation of personal aides-de-camp to the sovereign.
By a looseness of translation, the superintendents of provinces, in the order of Jesuits, who act as officials under the superintendence of and auxiliary to the general, are sometimes called adjutants-general.