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Army, the officers to be detailed from those authorized in section 4 hereof. On July 1, 1920, all officers of the Philippine Scouts on the active list, who are citizens of the United States and are found qualified under such regulations as the President may prescribe, shall be recommissioned in some one of the branches provided for by this Act, and those not so recommissioned shall continue to serve under their commissions as officers of the Philippine Scouts. No further appointments shall be made as officers of Philippine Scouts except of citizens of the Philippine Islands, who may be appointed in the grade of second lieutenant, under such regulations as the President may prescribe. Officers commissioned in the Philippine Scouts shall be subject to promotion, classification, and elimination, as hereinafter prescribed for officers of the Regular Army. Those now on the retired list shall hereafter receive the same pay as a retired second lieutenant of equal service. Officers of the Philippine Scouts shall hereafter be retired under the same conditions, and those hereafter placed on the retired list shall receive the same retired pay, as other officers of like grades and length of service, and shall be equally eligible for advancement on account of active duty performed since retirement. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter in any respect the present status of enlisted men of the Philippine Scouts."

SEC. 23. That section 23 of said Act be, and the same is hereby, amended by striking out the same and inserting the following in lieu thereof:

"SEC. 23. PROVISIONAL APPOINTMENTS.-All laws providing that certain appointments of officers shall be provisional for a period of time are hereby repealed."

SEC. 24. That section 24 of said Act be, and the same is hereby, amended by striking out the same and inserting the following in lieu thereof:

"SEC. 24. FILLING OF VACANCIES.-Not less than one-half of the total number of vacancies caused by this Act, exclusive of those in the Medical Department and among chaplains, shall be filled by the appointment, to date from July 1, 1920, and subject to such examination as the President may prescribe, of persons other than officers of the Regular Army who served as officers of the United States Army at any time between April 6, 1917, and the date of the passage of this Act. A suitable number of such officers shall be appointed in each of the grades below that of brigadier general, according to their qualifications for such grade as may be determined by the board of general officers provided for in this section. No such person above the age of fifty years shall be appointed in a combatant branch, or above the age of fifty-eight in a noncombatant branch. No such person below the age of forty-eight years shall be appointed in the grade of colonel, or below the age of forty-five years in the grade of lieutenant colonel, or below the age of thirty-six years in the grade of major. Not less than three such persons shall be appointed to the grade of colonel

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in the Judge Advocate General's Department, and not less than eight to the grade of lieutenant colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Department, provided a sufficient number of applicants for such appointments are legally eligible and are found by the board provided for in this section to be properly qualified. Any person originally appointed under the provisions of this Act at an age greater than forty-five years shall, when retired, receive retired pay at the rate of 4 per centum of active pay for each complete year of commissioned service in the United States Army, the total to be not more than 75 per centum. Vacancies remaining in grades above the lowest which are not filled by such appointments shall be filled by promotion to date from July 1, 1920, in accordance with the provisions of section 24c hereof. The selection of officers to be appointed under the provisions of this section, under such rules and regulatins as may be approved by the Secretary of War, shall be made by a board consisting of the General of the Army, three bureau chiefs, and three general officers of the line, to be appointed by the Secretary of War: Provided, That no officer shall be appointed in any branch of the service under the provisions of this section except with the approval of the chief of such branch or officer acting as such.

"SEC. 24а. PROMOTION LIST.-For the purpose of establishing a more uniform system for the promotion of officers, based on equity, merit, and the interests of the Army as a whole, the Secretary of War shall cause to be prepared a promotion list, on which shall be carried the names of all officers of the Regular Army and Philippine Scouts below the grade of colonel, except officers of the Medical Department, chaplains, professors, the military storekeeper, and certain second lieutenants of the Quartermaster Corps hereinafter specified. The names on the list shall be arranged, in general, so that the first name on the list shall be that of the officer having the longest commissioned service; the second name that of the officer having the next longest commissioned service, and so on. In computations for the purpose of determining the position of officers on the promotion list there shall be credited all active commissioned service in the Army performed while under appointment from the United States Government, whether in the Regular, provisional, or temporary forces, except service under a reserve commission while in attendance at a school or camp for the training of candidates for commission; also commissioned service in the National Guard while in active service since April 6, 1917, under a call by the President; and also commissioned service in the Marine Corps when detached for service with the Army by order of the President. In determining position on the promotion list, and relative rank, commissioned service in the Regular Army, or the Philippine Scouts, if continuous to the present time, shall be counted as having begun on the date of original commission. The original promotion list shall be formed by a board of officers appointed by the Secretary of War, consisting 185116-20-3

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of one colonel of each of six branches of the service in which officers are permanently commissioned under the terms of this Act, and one officer who, as a member of the personnel branch of the General Staff, has made a special study of merging the present promotion lists into a single list. The steps in the formation of the original promotion list shall be as follows:

"First, officers below the grade of colonel in the Corps of Engineers, Signal Corps, Infantry, Cavalry, Field Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps, Porto Rico Regiment, and Philippine Scouts, who were originally appointed in the Regular Army or Philippine Scouts prior to April 6, 1917, shall be arranged without changing the present order of officers on the lineal lists of their own branches, but otherwise as nearly as practicable according to length of commissioned service. The following shall be omitted:

"(a) Officers who, as a result of voluntary transfer, occupy positions on the lineal list other than those they would have held if their original commissions had been in their present branches;

"(b) Officers of other branches appointed in the Field Artillery or the Coast Artillery Corps to fill vacancies created by the Act approved January 25, 1907;

"(c) Officers appointed in the Regular Army since January 1, 1903, while serving as officers of the Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry or Philippine Scouts;

"(d) Former officers of the Regular Army or Philippine Scouts who have been reappointed in these forces and who are now below normally placed officers of less commissioned service than theirs.

"Officers of classes (a), (b), and (c) shall be placed on the list in the positions they would have occupied if they had remained in their original branches of the service. Officers of class (d) shall be placed on the list in the position that would normally be occupied by an officer of continuous service equal to the total active commissioned service of such officers in the Army.

"Second, officers of the Judge Advocate General's Department, Quartermaster Corps, and Ordnance Department shall be placed on the list according to length of commissioned service, except those second lieutenants of the Quartermaster Corps who are found not qualified for promotion as provided in section 24b hereof.

"Third, captains and lieutenants of the Regular Army and Philippine Scouts, originally appointed since April 6, 1917, shall be arranged among themselves according to commissioned service rendered prior to November 11, 1918, and shall be placed at the foot of the list as prepared to this point.

"Fourth, persons to be appointed as captains or lieutenants under the provisions of section 24, hereof, shall be placed according to commissioned service rendered prior to November 11, 1918, among the officers referred to in the next preceding clause;

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and where such commissioned service is equal, officers now in the Regular Army shall precede persons to be appointed under the provisions of this Act, and the latter shall be arranged according to age.

"Fifth, persons appointed as lieutenant colonels or majors under the provisions of section 24 hereof, shall be placed immediately below all officers of the Regular Army who, on July 1, 1920, are promoted to those grades respectively under the provisions of section 24 hereof: Provided, That the board charged with the preparation of the promotion list may in its discretion, assign to any such officer a position on the list higher than that to which he would otherwise be entitled, but not such as to place him above any officer of greater age, whose commissioned service commenced prior to April 6, 1917, and who would precede him on the list under the general provisions of this section. "Any former officer of the Regular Army and any retired officer who may hereafter be appointed to the active list in the manner provided by law shall be placed on the promotion list in accordance with his total active commissioned service; except that former officers appointed to field grades on July 1, 1920, under the provisions of section 24, may be placed as provided in the next preceding paragraph of this section. A reserve judge advocate appointed in the Regular Army shall be placed as provided in section 24c.

"Other officers on original appointment shall be placed at the foot of the list. The place of any officer on the promotion list once established shall not thereafter be changed, except as the result of the sentence of a court-martial.

"SEC. 24b. CLASSIFICATION OF OFFICERS.-Immediately upon the passage of this Act, and in September of 1921 and every year thereafter, the President shall convene a board of not less than five general officers, which shall arrange all officers in two classes, namely: Class A, consisting of officers who should be retained in the service, and Class B, of officers who should not be retained in the service. Until otherwise finally classified, all officers shall be regarded as belonging to Class A, and shall be promoted according to the provisions of this Act to fill any vacancies which may occur prior to such final classification. No officer shall be finally classified in Class B until he shall have been given an opportunity to appear before a court of inquiry. In such court of inquiry he shall be furnished with a full copy of the official records upon which the proposed classification is based and shall be given an opportunity to present testimony in his own behalf. The record of such court of inquiry shall be forwarded to the final classification board for reconsideration of the case, and after such consideration the finding of said classification board shall be final and not subject to further revision except upon the order of the President. Whenever an officer is placed in Class B, a board of not less than three officers shall be convened to determine whether such classification is due to his neglect, misconduct, or avoidable habits. If the

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finding is affirmative, he shall be discharged from the Army; if negative, he shall be placed on the unlimited retired list with pay at the rate of 21 per centum of his active pay multiplied by the number of complete years of commissioned service, or service which under the provisions of this Act is counted as its equivalent, unless his total commissioned service or equivalent service shall be less than ten years, in which case he shall be honorably discharged with one year's pay. The maximum retired pay of an officer retired under the provisions of this section prior to January 1, 1924, shall be 75 per centum of active pay, and of one retired on or after that date, 60 per centum. If an officer is thus retired before the completion of thirty years' commissioned service, he may be employed on such active duty as the Secretary of War considers him capable of performing until he has completed thirty years' commissioned service. The board convened upon the passage of this Act shall also report the names of those second lieutenants of the Quartermaster Corps who were commissioned under the provisions of section 9 of the Act of June 3, 1916, who are not qualified for further promotion. The officers so reported shall continue in the grade of second lieutenant for the remainder of their service and the others shall be placed upon the promotion list according to their commissioned service, as hereinbefore provided.

"SEC. 24C. PROMOTION OF OFFICERS.-Up to and including June 30, 1920, except as otherwise provided herein, promotions shall continue to be made in accordance with law existing prior to the passage of this Act, and on the basis of the number heretofore authorized for each grade and branch. On and after July 1, 1920, vacancies in grades below that of brigadier general shall be filled by the promotion of officers in the order in which they stand on the promotion list, without regard to the branches in which they are commissioned. Existing laws providing for the examination of officers for promotion are hereby repealed, except those relating to physical examination, which shall continue to be required for promotion to all grades below that of brigadier general, and except also those governing the examination of officers of the Medical, Dental, and Veterinary Corps. Officers of said three Corps shall be examined in accordance with laws governing examination of officers of the Medical Corps, second lieutenants of the Veterinary Corps being subject to the same provisions as first lieutenants.

"SEC. 24d. TRANSFER OF OFFICERS.-Upon his own application any officer may be transferred to another branch without loss of rank or change of place on the promotion list.

"SEC. 24e. APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS.-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 twenty-one and thirty years, who have had at least two years' service; and, third, from reserve officers, and from officers, warrant officers