The office of Adjutant General is older than our nation itself. On 16 June 1775, nearly a year before the issuance of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress appointed Horatio Gates as the Army’s first Adjutant General, commissioning him as a Brigadier General. Gates organizational skills proved to be a godsend to Washington and the fledgling Army as he worked to transform individual state militias into the Continental Army.
And while the specific missions assigned to those serving as Adjutant Generals or in the Adjutant General’s Corps (officially established in 1950) have changed over the decades, often reflecting pressing issues of the day, the ultimate goal is still to ensure an efficient, strong Army in which each Soldier is able to maximize his or her contribution to the effort to keep our nation free.
The Adjutant General’s Corps Regimental Distinctive insignia, or unit crest, features the red, white, and blue shield found on the Corps’ Shoulder Sleeve Insignia with thirteen stars (“mullets”) and surmounted by the year of Horatio Gates’ commissioning. A gold laurel wreath around the shield is an emblem of excellence, and the red border surrounding the blue field is an emblem of shed blood and the valor that was required to "Defend and Serve" America Soldiers and the American people.
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