Gov. Napolitano has named Brig. Gen. Hugo Salazar the new adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard.

Salazar will replace Maj. Gen. David Rataczak, who is retiring.

Salazar will begin his stint Dec. 16, serving the remainder of Rataczak's term until 2012, the Governor's Office said.

Rataczak will reach mandatory retirement age of 64 next month. According to state law, the adjutant general is appointed to a five-year term or until the age of 64, whichever comes first.

"General Salazar has done a great job leading the Arizona Army National Guard day-to-day during a time when there have been more demands placed on our National Guard than ever before," Napolitano said in a statement.

Salazar has served as the assistant adjutant general for the Army National Guard since January 2007. He has been with the Arizona Army National Guard full time in the past 17 years.

In a statement, Napolitano called Rataczak a "truly exceptional adjutant general."

Rataczak was first appointed as adjutant general by then Gov. Jane Hull in 1999. By the time he leaves his post, he will have served more than two dozen years in Arizona, from operations officer to chief of staff to assistant adjutant general, and finally as head of the Arizona National Guard.

In 2007, Sen. Jack Harper, chairman of the Senate Government Committee, refused to hear Rataczak's reappointment to a 5-year term. Harper was miffed that the general testified against his proposal in 2003 to stage the National Guard training on the border with Mexico.

Rataczak's appointment had been in limbo until early this year, when he won swift and unanimous approval for his nomination.

Rataczak enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1965 and flew more than 1,000 combat hours in Vietnam. He later served as an officer in the Minnesota Army National Guard, and in 1982 he transferred to the Arizona Army National Guard.