# National Guard Bureau **Status: stub — expand.** **NGB.** The joint activity of the [[Department of Defense]] that channels communications between the Departments of the Army and Air Force and the fifty-four state and territorial [[National Guard]] organizations — the administrative hinge of the federal–state Guard relationship. The **Chief of the National Guard Bureau** is a four-star officer and, since the FY2012 NDAA, a member of the **Joint Chiefs of Staff**. The Chief does not command Guard forces: state Guards answer to their governors in state and Title 32 status, and to the President through the combatant commands once federalized. The Bureau's leverage is over resourcing, readiness standards, and policy, not operations. As of September 2026 the Chief is **Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus, USAF**, the 30th holder of the post, who assumed responsibility October 15, 2024. ## See also - [[National Guard Federalization Flow]] · [[National Guard]] · [[Posse Comitatus Act]] · [[Insurrection Act]]