STAFF, in a military sense, consists of a body of skilled officers, whose duty it is to combine anal give vitality to the movements and mechanical action of the several regi ments and drilled bodies composing the force. The distinction between an officer on the staff of an army and a regimental officer is that the latter is concerned with his own regiment alone, while the former deals with hie army, or section of an army exceeding a regiment, and regulates the combined action of the several arms and bodies of men. A. good staff is allmnportant to the success of a military enterprise.
The General Slaff of an army comprises the general in actual command, with the subordinate generals commanding the several divisions anti brigades: as assistants to these, the officers of the adjt..general's department—i.e., the adjut.. general, his deputy. assistants, and deputy-assistants, if the army be large enough to require all. Similarly, the officers of the quartermaster-general's department: the briemle-major; the provost-marshal; and the judge-advocate; and the controller (at the head of the civil de partments); the functions of all of whom are described under their respective heads. The head of the general staff of the British army is at present a field-marshal command ing.in-chief, whose head-quarters arc at the war ollice, of which department he is an en oj'ini, member. Ile is responsible for the discipline of the army, and is assisted by the general officers in command of the military districts in England and Scotland, the semi independent commander-in-chief in Ireland, and the commanders-in-chief in the various foreign possessions and colonies. India forms a nearly conunand, under a commander-in-chief, whose head-quarters are in 13engal: There are subordinate com manders-in-chief in Bombay and Minims; and in each presidency there are several mili ta•y divisions. A certain period of military service, and certain qualifications, are re quired in an officer before he can be appointed to the general staff, and it proportion of the posts is given to officers who have passed the staff college. The fact of having
passed through it, however, is not held to constitute any claim to a staff appointment.
The Perminal Staff consists of the aids-de-camp and military secretaries to the re spective general officers. These officers are appointed, within certain limits, by the gen erals whom they serve.
The Garrison Staff consists of the officers governing in fortresses and garrisons; as commandants (q.v.), fort-majors (q.v.), town-majors (q.v.), fort-adjutants (q.v.), and garrison-adjutants.
The Oivil or Departmental Staff includes those non-combatants officers who have to provide for the daily requirements of the troops. These are the commissaries for sup plies and stores, chaplains, medical and veterinary departments. These departments are described under their several names.
The Recruiting Staff consists of an inspector-general (at the war office), and of the officers of the several brigade depots. The Pensioner Staff includes only the staff officers of the enrolled force. The 1?egimentat Staff includes the col., lient.col., acljutiint pay master, quartermaster, inspector of musketry, and medical officers. See LECRUITiNG, PENSIONERS, REGIMENT.
In the French and most continental armies, the staff is divided into the or general staff intendaace, under au which comprises all the civil departments. There is a regimental staff in addition. The want of concentration of the civil departments often felt in the British service, led to the creation, in 1869, of the control department, subsequently split into two branches, the commissariat (q.v.) and the ordnance store departments. Sec INTENDANT.
In the navy, the staff of a fleet consists of the flag-officers (q.v.), the flag-lieutenants (q.v.), and secretaries (q.v.it; also of the inspector-general of hospitals (see .1EDICAL DE PARTMENT, NAVY),Sliel an Inspector of machinery.
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