The head of the Military Department shall be a commissioned officer of the National Guard of Alabama and shall be designated as the Adjutant General. He shall be designated and assigned to duty as the Adjutant General by the Governor and shall serve as Adjutant General at the pleasure of the Governor. He may be commissioned as an officer on the state staff, in the Adjutant General’s office, and he may have such rank as is now or may hereafter be provided for an officer of the state staff, Adjutant General’s office, under the provisions of the National Defense Act and Department of Defense regulations promulgated thereunder. The officer of the National Guard of Alabama assigned to duty by the Governor as the Adjutant General may be commissioned by the Governor as a general officer in the National Guard of Alabama, with the consent of the Senate. The Adjutant General shall be appointed from among active officers of the federally recognized National Guard, and he shall have had at least six years’ service therein, two years of which must have been in the line, and he shall have served as a commissioned officer in the active National Guard for not less than four years. The Adjutant General of the state shall be in direct charge of the military department and shall be responsible to the Governor and Commander in Chief for the proper performance of his duties. All the powers conferred and duties imposed by law upon the Adjutant General shall be exercised or performed by him under the direction and control of the Governor. The Adjutant General shall be chief of the state staff, National Guard of Alabama, the personal staff of the Governor, and similar military agencies of the state. He shall supervise the receipt, preservation, repair, distribution, issuance, and collection of all arms, military equipment and stores of the state and of the United States. He shall supervise all troops, arms and branches of the militia, such supervisory powers covering primarily all duties pertaining to organization, armament, discipline, training, recruiting, inspecting, instructing, pay, subsistence, and supplies. He shall maintain a roster of all the officers and men of the National Guard and Naval Militia of the state and keep on file in his office copies of all orders, reports, and communications received and issued by the Military Department in its several branches and sections. He shall, from time to time, cause the laws and all state regulations that may be written thereunder to be printed, bound, and distributed at the expense of the state. The Adjutant General shall, from time to time, prepare and publish, by order of the Governor, such orders, rules, and regulations, consistent with the laws, as are necessary to bring the organization, armament, equipment, training, and discipline of the various classes of the Militia of Alabama to a state of efficiency as near as possible to that of the United States Army and Navy. He shall prepare such reports and returns as the Secretary of Defense of the United States may prescribe and require. He shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by the Commander in Chief. The Comptroller of Alabama shall draw warrants on the Treasury for all expenses incurred under this section on bills regularly presented to, and approved by, the Governor. It shall be the duty of the Adjutant General, if ordered by the Governor, to visit and inspect each company, troop, or battery at least once a year, and to report to the Commander in Chief the condition of armories and other military buildings and properties, and of the arms, equipment, and personnel of the companies, troops, or batteries, and make such recommendations as he thinks proper in regard thereto; provided that, the Adjutant General may designate members of the state staff or field officers of the National Guard as inspecting officers for the purposes in question. The Adjutant General shall assist all persons residing in Alabama or other states having claims against the state or the United States for compensation, pension, retired pay, bounty, or back pay or service medals and decorations awarded by the United States or the State of Alabama, where such claims and requests have arisen out of, or by reason of, service in any of the wars or insurrections concerning the United States or the State of Alabama. He shall furnish to claimants or their accredited representatives, or assist them in procuring, all necessary certificates and certified abstracts from the records and documents in the State Military Department and other departments of the state or the United States; provided that any or all of these services shall be rendered without charge to the claimant. The Adjutant General shall have a seal of office, to be approved by the Commander in Chief, and all copies of papers in his office duly certified and authenticated under the seal shall be evidence in all cases in like manner as if the original were produced.