Chief of the National Guard Bureau
U.S. general officer who is the highest-ranking officer of the United States National Guard
The chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB) is the highest-ranking officer of the National Guard and the head of the National Guard Bureau. The position is a statutory office (10 U.S.C. § 10502), held by a federally recognized commissioned officer who has served at least 10 years of federally recognized active duty in the National Guard; the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard. In a separate capacity as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (10 U.S.C. § 151), the chief is a military adviser to the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, the secretary of defense, and the president on matters pertaining to the National Guard.
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 chief and vice chief of the National Guard Bureau cannot be from the same service. 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.
The current chief of the National Guard Bureau is General Steven Nordhaus, who assumed command on 2 October 2024.
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.
The public source identifies “Chief of the National Guard Bureau” as u.S. general officer who is the highest-ranking officer of the United States National Guard. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Chief, National and Guard.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5097068. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2024, 1908 and 1903.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chief of the National Guard Bureau” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.