(1) Officer attached to a superior for various assignments. In the Soviet Army prior to 1954, also a line position in individual battalions (divisions).
(2) In the prerevolutionary Russian Army, also the position of the officer in charge of clerical duties on staffs and administrations (senior, regimental, battalion, and divisional adjutant). Appeared first in the second half of the 17th century under the name of esaul. The position of adjutant was legitimated by the 1716 Troop Regulations.
(3) Court military office in the retinue of a monarch. Adjutant of the rank of a general is called an adjutant general and of an officer rank, aide-de-camp.