I got my military to work without too much trouble by making sure the AD had no other tasks, so I didnt mind him.
No he has gone, it got me thinking. It was one dwarf out of my 40 odd neutralised, so that the military acted like it did before when the pop. was less than 20. In other words you could have taken the role and dwarf away, and there would be no change, so he didnt add anything.
Some thoughts on what the AD might do:
Cloth uniforms are disabled without an AD. Not armour, just cloth. With an AD you can set detailed dyed and metal uniforms for each squad, and the AD will talk to the Manager, and arrange for them to be made, stored, then used.
Perhaps all uniforms are disabled without the AD, and all dwarves chose their favourite weapons and go for max armour. Would still need to be able to determine which dwarf is melee or ranged without the AD though. Cloth as above.
In the first above, the military is completely under our control, and the AD is used to dress them in particular colour.
In the second, the military is basic, but generally all I want is a melee squad and a ranged squad, in the best armour I have atm, but the AD would provide more detailed control.
Perhaps the AD could also provide more detailed control over uniforms, so Bone, Shell, Bronze or Copper could be specified for particular squads. I still hanker after a Royal Guard in Forgotten Beast armour.