Any officer receiving public property for military use shall be accountable and responsible for the articles so received by him, and he shall not transfer such property, or any portion thereof, to another, either as a loan or permanently, without the authority of the Adjutant General, but the Adjutant General shall have authority to order this transfer, either as a loan or permanently, whenever in his discretion the good of the service requires it, of any property of the state in the custody of the militia between different units and headquarters. An officer shall be liable to make good to the state all such property defaced, injured, destroyed, or lost by any neglect or default on his part in an action instituted in the name of the state by the Attorney General when so requested by the Adjutant General. The Adjutant General shall be the exclusive custodian of all state property in the custody of the militia, or of any unit or headquarters thereof, and he shall maintain a perpetual inventory thereof, and shall prescribe reasonable rules and regulations for the care, accountability, responsibility, and disposition thereof.