§ 187. Armory employees; grades, employment, duties and compensation. 1. Positions created to provide for the security, maintenance and operation of armories, including the surrounding premises and public property located therein, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, shall be classified and allocated to salary grades for comparable positions in the classified service of the state as set forth in section one hundred thirty of the civil service law.

2. Subject to the provisions of this chapter and within the appropriation therefor, the adjutant general shall employ, assign, transfer and discharge as many employees of each classification or grade as may be necessary. Subject to the approval of the director of the budget, the adjutant general may classify or reclassify, allocate or reallocate any position established under subdivision one of this section for the purpose of providing appropriate title, salary grade and rate of compensation which may be descriptive of duties and responsibilities. Notwithstanding any other law or any general or special statute to the contrary, when salary grades or rates of compensation for the comparable classified service positions of the state as contained in section one hundred thirty of the civil service law are amended, the salary grades or rates of compensation of positions authorized by subdivision one of this section shall be adjusted correspondingly.

3. Armory employees shall perform duties as prescribed by the adjutant general and by the officer in charge and control of the armory in which they are employed.

4. The adjutant general is hereby authorized to employ any incumbent armory employee appointed pursuant to former section one hundred eighty-seven of this chapter as it existed on March thirty-first, nineteen hundred sixty-one, in a position created pursuant to this section but no such employee shall thereby suffer any diminution in the annual amount of compensation received by him on such date.