Special Regulations

1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Army of the United States shall consist of the Regular Army, the National Guard while in the service of the United States, and the Organized Reserves, including the Officers' Reserve Corps and the Enlisted Reserve Corps. (Sec. 1, National Defense Act, as amended June 4, 1920.)

2. Organization of the Army.-The organized peace establishment, including the Regular Army, the National Guard, and the Organized Reserves, shall include all of those divisions and other military organizations necessary to form the basis for a complete and immediate mobiliza-, tion for the national defense in the event of a national emergency declared by Congress. The Army shall at all times be organized so far as practicable into brigades, divisions, and army corps, and, whenever the President may deem it expedient, into armies. For purposes of administration, training, and tactical control the continental area of the United States shall be divided on a basis of military population into corps areas. Each corps area shall contain at least one division of the National Guard or Organized Reserves and such other troops as the President may direct. The President is authorized to group any or all corps areas into army areas or departments. (Sec. 3, National Defense Act, as amended June 4, 1920.)

3. The initial organization of the National Guard and the Organized Reserves. In the reorganization of the National Guard and in the initial organization of the Organized Reserves, the names, numbers, and other designations, flags, and records of the divisions and subordinate units thereof that served in the World War between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, shall be preserved as such as far as practicable. * 3a, National Defense Act, as amended June 4, 1920.)

* (Sec,

4. General Staff Corps.-The General Staff Corps shall consist of the Chief of Staff, the War Department General Staff, and the General Staff with troops.. * * The initial eligible list shall be prepared by a

board consisting of the general of the Army, the commandant of the General Staff College, the commandant of the General Service Schools, and two other general officers of the line, selected by the Secretary of War, who are

not then members of the General Staff Corps. This board shall select and report the names of all officers of the Regular Army, National Guard, and Officers' Reserve Corps of the following classes who are recommended by them as qualified by education, military experience, and character for General Staff duty.

(a) Those officers graduated from the Army Staff College or the Army War College prior to July 1, 1917, who, upon graduation, were specifically recommended for duty as commander or chief of staff of a division or higher tactical unit, or for detail in the General Staff Corps;

(b) Those officers who, since April 6, 1917, have commanded a division or higher tactical unit, or have demonstrated by actual service in the World War that they are qualified for General Staff duty.

After the completion of the initial General Staff Corps eligible list, the name of no officer shall be added thereto unless upon graduation from the General Staff School he is specifically recommended as qualified for GeneralStaff duty, *

All policies and regulations affecting the organization, distribution, and training of the National Guard and the Organized Reserves, and all policies and regulations affecting the appointment, assignment, promotion, and discharge of reserve officers, shall be prepared by committees of appropriate branches or divisions of the War Department General Staff, to which shall be added an equal number of reserve officers, including reserve officers who hold or have held commissions in the National Guard, and whose names are borne on lists of officers suitable for such duty, submitted by the governors of the several States and Territories. For the purposes specified herein, they shall be regarded as additional members of the General Staff while so serving; (Sec. 5, National Defense Act, as amended June 4, 1920.)

* *

5. Eligibility for appointment in the Regular Army.-Except as otherwise herein provided, appointments shall be made in the grade of second lieutenant, first, from graduates of the United States Military Academy; second, from warrant officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army between the ages of 21 and 30 years, who have had at least two years' service; and, third, from reserve officers, and from officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men of the National Guard, members of the Enlisted Reserve Corps, and graduates of technical institutions approved by the Secretary of War, all between the ages of 21 and 30 years. Any vacancy in the grade of captain in the Judge Advocate General's Department, not filled by transfer or detail from another branch, may, in the discretion of the President, be filled by appointment from reserve judge advocates between the ages of 30 and 36 years, and such appointee shall be placed upon the promotion list immediately below the junior captain on said list. Appointments in the Medical and Dental Corps shall be made in the grade of first lieutenant from reserve medical and dental officers, respectively, between the ages of 23 and 32 years; in the Veterinary Corps in the grade of second lieutenant from reserve veterinary officers between the ages of 21 and 30 years; and in the Medical Administrative Corps in the grade of second lieutenant from enlisted men of the Medical Department between the ages of 21 and 32 years, who have had at least two years' service. To be eligible for appointment in the Dental Corps, a candidate must be a graduate of a recognized dental college, and have been engaged in the practice of this profession for at least two years subsequent to graduation. Appointments as chaplains shall be made from among persons duly accredited by some religious denomination or organization, and of good standing therein, between the ages of 23 and 45

years.

1920.)

(Sec. 24e, National Defense Act, as amended June 4,

6. Officers' Reserve Corps.-For the purpose of providing a reserve of officers available for military service when needed, there shall be organized an Officers' Reserve Corps consisting of general officers, of sections corresponding to the various branches of the Regular Army, and of such additional sections as the President may direct. The grades in each section and the number in each grade shall be as the President may prescribe. Reserve officers shall be appointed and commissioned by the President alone, except general officers, who shall be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Appointment in every case shall be for a period of five years, but an appointment in force at the outbreak of war, or made in time of war, shall continue in force until six months after its termination. Any reserve officer may be discharged at any time in the discretion of the President. A reserve officer appointed during the existence of a state of war shall be entitled to discharge within six months after its termination if he makes application therefor. In time of peace, a reserve officer must, at the time of his appointment, be a citizen of the United States or of the Philippine Islands, between the ages of 21 and 60 years. Any person who has been an officer of the Army at any time between April 6, 1917, and June 30, 1919, or an officer of the Regular Army at any time, may be appointed as a reserve officer in the highest grade which he held in the Army or any lower grade; any person now serving as an officer of the National Guard may be appointed as a reserve officer in his present or any lower grade; no other person shall in time of peace be originally appointed as a reserve officer of Infantry, Cavalry, Field Artillery, Coast Artillery, or Air Service in a grade above that of second lieutenant. In time of peace appointments in the Infantry, Cavalry, Field Artillery, Coast Artillery, and Air Service shall be limited to former officers of the Army, graduates of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, as provided in section 47b, hereof, warrant officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army, National Guard, and Enlisted Reserve Corps, and persons who served in the Army at some time between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918. Promotions and transfers shall be made under such rules as may be prescribed by the President, and shall be based so far as practicable upon recommendations made in the established chain of command, but no reserve officer shall be promoted to any grade in time of peace until he has held a commission for at least one year in the next lower grade. So far as practicable, reserve officers. shall be assigned to units in the locality of their places of residence Nothing in this act shall operate to deprive a reserve officer of the reserve commission he now holds. Any reserve officer may hold a commission in the National Guard without thereby vacating his reserve commission. (Sec. 37, National Defense Act, as amended June 4, 1920.)

7. Reserve officers on active duty.-To the extent provided for from time to time by appropriations for this specific purpose, the President may order reserve officers to active duty at any time and for any period; but except in time of a national emergency expressly declared by Congress, no reserve officer shall be employed on active duty for more than 15 days in any calendar year without his own consent. A reserve officer shall not be entitled to pay and allowances except when on active duty. When on active duty he shall receive the same pay and allowances as an officer of the Regular Army of the same grade and length of active service, and mileage from his home to his first station and from his last station to his home, but

« Previous Continue »

Books