The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) was established on April 11, 1973, by the Pennsylvania General Assembly

Pennsylvania General Assembly

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...

. It is overseen by the adjutant general

Adjutant general

An Adjutant General is a military chief administrative officer.-Imperial Russia:In Imperial Russia, the General-Adjutant was a Court officer, who was usually an army general. He served as a personal aide to the Tsar and hence was a member of the H. I. M. Retinue...

, a cabinet-level position appointed by the Governor.

The Pennsylvania National Guard

Pennsylvania National Guard

The Pennsylvania National Guard is composed of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. It is one of the largest National Guards in the nation. It has the largest Army National Guard of all the states and the fourth largest Air National Guard. These forces are...

 is a component of the DMVA. The agency employs more than 2,400 commonwealth

Commonwealth (United States)

Four of the constituent states of the United States officially designate themselves Commonwealths: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia....

employees and approximately 19,000 Pennsylvania National Guard members in more than 90 communities across the commonwealth, ranking it as one of the state's top 10 largest employers.