Adjutant

An adjutant is a military staff officer who assists a commanding officer by handling administration, orders, and communications. The term derives from French adjutant, from Latin adjutare meaning to help.

In many armies, the adjutant is the commander's chief administrative aide at the regimental or battalion level, often holding the rank of captain or major. Duties typically include preparing orders, maintaining personnel records, managing correspondence, coordinating staff work, arranging logistics, and supervising discipline and ceremonial matters. The adjutant acts as a liaison with other units, the adjutant's office, and higher headquarters, and may supervise the regimental sergeant major or quartermaster as appropriate. In some forces the adjutant's functions are combined with those of a quartermaster; in others the role is a distinct appointment.

At higher levels, the term adjutant-general denotes a senior staff officer responsible for personnel, administration, and records, or even the head of a separate Adjutant General's Corps. Examples include the Adjutant General in the United States Army or the British Army's Adjutant General's Department, which provide personnel management, legal, and administrative services for the army.

Other uses include Adjutant storks, a common name for two large Asian herons, the greater adjutant stork and the lesser adjutant stork (Leptoptilos spp.), which are unrelated to the military sense but share the same name.