| Administrative History Note: | The position of Adjutant General of the Continental Army was established by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress, June 16, 1775, and it was abolished with the disbandment of the revolutionary army, November 5, 1783. Administrative functions in the War Department were delegated to an officer known as the Adjutant and Inspector, by an act of March 5, 1792 (1 Stat. 241). The office was replaced by the Adjutant General's Department, established by an act of March 3, 1813 (2 Stat. 819), under an officer designated as the Adjutant General, and who also served as the Inspector General. An act of March 2, 1821 (3 Stat. 615) established a separate Adjutant General's Office (AGO or TAGO) to head the Adjutant General's Department. AGO combined with the Record and Pension Office of the War Department to form the Military Secretary's Office, pursuant to General Order 76, War Department, April 28, 1904, by authority of the Army Appropriation Act (33 Stat. 262), April 23, 1904. The Adjutant General's Office was reestablished by the redesignation of the Military Secretary's Office and placed under the direction of the Chief of Staff, by General Order 46, War Department, March 4, 1907, pursuant to the Army Appropriation Act (34 Stat. 1158), March 2, 1907.
Until 1903 the Adjutant General's Office operated under the direction of the Secretary of War. With the creation of the general staff in 1903, the Adjutant General's Office was under the general supervision of the Chief of Staff. Following the general reorganization of the War Department in February 1942, TAGO was placed under the Commanding General, Service of Supply, later designated Army Service Forces. The latter organization was discontinued in June 1946, and TAGO resumed its functions as an agency of the Army Staff.
The Adjutant General's Office provided administrative and support services to the War Department(after September 18, 1947, the Department of the Army) chiefly with regard to military personnel administration, staff and administrative correspondence, and current and noncurrent records administration. Among its personnel-related functions TAGO administered many of the Army's recruiting and procurement operations; developed and applied psychological tests and other classification tests; supervised the initial selection and assignment of personnel; maintained individual personnel records and certain types of unit records, including rosters, strength returns, and directories; operated the Army's system of decorations and awards; controlled and disseminated casualty information; and oversaw the Army's personnel statistical and accounting system. Until July 1942, TAGO supervised the Army's correctional facilities, primarily U.S. disciplinary barracks.
The Adjutant General's Office was the central office of record for the War Department and its successor, the Department of the Army. It filed and indexed central records, and provided reference services. TAGO administered the routing and distribution of incoming and outgoing correspondence, except for radio messages, which were usually handled by the Signal Corps; recorded, authenticated, and communicated departmental orders, directives, bulletins, circulars, and regulations to all Army organizations and units; and supervised the Army postal system. TAGO served as a central collecting point for unit operations reports and command reports. The Adjutant General's Office compiled and issued the Army Register and the Army List and Directory. It controlled the Army's records management program, including the accumulation and disposition of records by operating units, and supervised the transfer of all permanent Army records to the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Adjutant General's Office was abolishedincrementally. Policy direction relating to the Army records management program was assigned to the Assistant Chief of Staff for Information Management (ACSIM), effective September 30, 1985, pursuant to message, Brig. Gen. R.M. Bunker, Director of Management, DTG 132108Z, September 13, 1985; and to the Information Management Support Agency (IMSA), ACSIM, with operational responsibility vested with the Army Records Management Operations Ofice (ARMOO), IMSA, effective February 20, 1986, by ACSIM memorandum DAIM-ZB, and supporting message, DTG 201334Z, Col. Thomas F. Sikora, Policies and Strategies Directorate, ACSIM, February 20, 1986. Operational responsibility for records management was assigned to the U.S. Army Information Systems Command (USAISC) effective October 1, 1986, pursuant to Permanent Orders 127-1, U.S. Army Information Systems Command, November 14, 1986. Program policy came under the control of the Director of Information Systems for Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (DISC4), effective April 1, 1987, by authority of Department of the Army Letter 10-87-4, April 22, 1987, implementing the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act (100 Stat. 992), October 1, 1986. The Institute of Heraldry was assigned to the Military Personnel Center (MILPERCEN) by Chief of Staff memorandum of November 17, 1986. Declassification and historical access programs were reassigned to the U.S. Army Center for Military History pursuant to a May 6, 1987 memorandum of agreement between the Chief of Military History and DSC4. The Adjutant General's Office proper was abolished by memorandum of the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, November 17, 1986, which removed the Adjutant General from the Army Staff and assigned the title and lineage to the Director of Personnel Service Support, Military Personnel Center. |
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