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Tulsi Gabbard is currently enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard and running for president. If elected, she would become commander-in-chief, as opposed to Major (O-4), her current rank. Would she have to be formally discharged from the military? If not, how would that chain of command be managed?

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It's a well established constitutional principle that the commander in chief is a civilian, so yes, she would have to resign. I could not find a statute or regulation stating this explicitly, however.

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    As an off-topic curiosity, in my country Finland, when elected president, traditionally, once elected, he/she even cancels his/her party membership. This is symbolic, but I think good symbolic meaning. Still, typically if/when running for their 2nd terms, they tend to run representing their former parties. [Our current one, a guy with a cute dog, see link at the end, now on his 2nd term, made an exception and successfully ran as an independent candidate for his 2nd term] huffpost.com/entry/…
    – Tuomo
    Commented Sep 14, 2019 at 13:17

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