It oversees the Georgia National Guard as part of the total force policy and trains its units to fight and to win on battlefields with modern technology and weaponry.

The Georgia Army National Guard consists of more than 11,100 citizen-soldiers training in more than 79 hometown armories and regional facilities across the state.

Since September 11, 2001, more than 12,000 citizen-soldiers from every deployable line unit in the Georgia Army National Guard have seen federal service in support of Overseas Contingency Operations, often with multiple rotations.

Volunteers are trained to assist the National Guard, provide search and rescue, medical support, and disaster relief.

[9] The Joint Staff, through the JFHQ, provides a community-based response force that offers support in defense of the state, region, and country.

The Georgia National Guard runs the state and federally funded Youth ChalleNGe Academy (YCA) program.

Each young person that enrolls is matched with a qualified mentor who follows the student during the residential phase and then formally assists and monitors their success during the 12 months following graduation.

The program exposes students and their teachers to real-world applications of math and science, through experiential learning, simulations and experiments in aviation and space-related fields.

The program provides students with 20–25 hours of experience, exposing youth to the technological environments found within the Georgia National Guard.

The Georgia Department of Defense also acquired Clay National Guard Center from the Navy, where a new $30 million JFHQ building is under construction, the Fort Benning joint use armory, AASF 2 being renovated to house its parachute rigger company, and a new Language Lab.

[15] The Adjutant General is the senior military officer and de facto commander of the Georgia National Guard.