GA Code § 38-2-152 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 38 - Military, Emergency Management, and Veterans Affairs|Chapter 2 - Military Affairs|Article 2 - Military Administration|Part 3 - Adjutant General and Other Executives|§ 38-2-152. Assistant Adjutants General; Eligibility; Appointment; Duties; Compensation; Tenure

  The Governor shall appoint an assistant adjutant general for army and an assistant adjutant general for air to assist the adjutant general in the discharge and performance of his or her duties. Each of the assistant adjutants general, at the time of appointment, shall be a federally recognized officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher. An officer who has retired or resigned from the Georgia National Guard or any other component of the Army or Air Force shall be eligible for appointment as assistant adjutant general for army or air; provided, however, that the officer shall have served in a federally recognized status in the active Army or Air National Guard or any other component of the Army or Air Force, as appropriate, and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher; and provided, further, that the appointment of the officer shall be within five years after the date of his or her retirement or resignation and prior to his or her attaining age 60. Each of the assistant adjutants general shall have the rank of not less than brigadier general, the specific rank to be determined by the Governor. Each of the officers shall receive the pay and allowances for his or her rank as provided by law for an officer of equivalent rank in the regular armed forces of the United States. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the adjutant general, and until his or her successor is appointed and qualified as provided by law, the assistant adjutant general who is senior in rank shall perform the duties required of the adjutant general in connection with the military division, as provided by law. Assistant adjutants general shall hold no other state office, and they shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.   The adjutant general may appoint, designate, or detail officers of the National Guard as deputy assistant adjutants general for army and for air who shall perform the military duties assigned by the adjutant general. Deputy assistant adjutants general shall be of field grade or general officer rank, the specific rank to be determined by the adjutant general. Deputy assistant adjutants general shall serve at the pleasure of the adjutant general.    (Ga. L. 1916, p. 158, § 3; Code 1933, § 86-501; Ga. L. 1935, p. 95, § 1; Ga. L. 1951, p. 311, § 9; Ga. L. 1955, p. 10, § 25; Ga. L. 1963, p. 10, § 3; Ga. L. 1970, p. 299, § 2; Ga. L. 1971, p. 84, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1258, § 2; Ga. L. 2001, p. 26, § 2; Ga. L. 2004, p. 105, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 52, § 1/HB 800.)   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL   Assistant adjutants general not covered by merit system.   - Legislative intent of this section is that assistant adjutants general should not be covered under the state merit system. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-71.   Positions of assistant adjutant general for army, assistant adjutant general for air, and deputy director for civil defense (now emergency management), being specifically excluded by law from the classified service, are not counted against the five discretionary positions which the adjutant general may designate for inclusion in the unclassified service. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-81.    Assistant adjutant general for air is not required  by orders to perform hazardous duty and is not entitled to a salary equivalent to the pay and allowances of a brigadier general who also receives incentive pay. 1972 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 72-10.   RESEARCH REFERENCES   C.J.S.   - 6 C.J.S., Armed Services, § 341.