Chief of the National Guard Bureau


The Chief of the National Guard Bureau is the highest-ranking officer of the United States National Guard and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Chief of the National Guard Bureau is a federally recognized commissioned officer who has served at least 10 years of federally recognized active duty in any of the Reserves of the Army or Air Force, either from the United States Army Reserve, the Army National Guard of the United States, the United States Air Force Reserve or the Air National Guard of the United States. The Chief is nominated for appointment by the President from any eligible National Guard officers holding the rank of major general or above, who also meets the requirements for the position as determined by defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, under the advice and/or recommendation from their respective state governors and their service secretary. The nominee must be confirmed via majority vote from the Senate. The Chief serves a four-year term of office at the pleasure of the President. By statute, the Chief is appointed as a four-star general in the Army or Air Force, serving as a reserve officer on active duty.

History

In 1908, the United States Army created the Militia Bureau to oversee training and readiness for the National Guard as part of implementing the Militia Act of 1903. From 1908 to 1911, Erasmus M. Weaver Jr. served as head of the Army's Militia Bureau, the first person to hold the position. The National Defense Act of 1920 included a provision that the Chief of the Militia Bureau be a National Guard officer. In 1921 Pennsylvania National Guard officer George C. Rickards became the first Guardsman to serve as Chief, and he held the post until his 1925 retirement.
In September 1947, the Air National Guard was created, and the positions of Chief the Army Division Chief and Chief of the Air Division were established, with the directors subordinate to the NGB Chief. In 1953, Air National Guard Director Earl T. Ricks served as acting Chief of the National Guard Bureau, making him the first Air Guard officer to hold the chief's position. In the mid-1970s, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau position was upgraded from major general to lieutenant general, and La Vern E. Weber became the first NGB chief to wear three stars.
In 2009, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau Craig R. McKinley was granted the rank of full general, the first bureau chief to hold that rank. The position also became the seventh member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2012 with the third expansion of the Joint Chiefs in the 2012 defense bill signed on 31 December 2011. McKinley was also bureau chief at that time. The sitting Joint Chiefs had opposed the addition of another member, but President Obama promised in his 2008 campaign to do so.
On 30 June 2016, Lieutenant General Joseph L. Lengyel, the Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau, was confirmed by the United States Senate for appointment as CNGB and promotion to General. He was promoted and completed a transfer of authority ceremony with his predecessor on 2 August.

List of chiefs of the National Guard Bureau

Previous flag

This positional flag for the Chief of the National Guard Bureau was used from 1998 to 2008. The dark blue represented the Army National Guard, the light blue represented the Air National Guard. The badge in the center is the branch insignia of the National Guard Bureau. The two triangles in the upper fly are "flight devices" and represent the Air National Guard.
The version of the flag which appears in the information box at the top of the page was adopted in 2008 when the position of Chief of the National Guard Bureau was upgraded to full General.