commanders of Coast Artillery districts, subject to the control and direction of the War Department.

SEC. 38. The President is hereby authorized to station in each divisional area, as soon as practicable after the passage of this act, the proper proportion of available officers and enlisted men of the permanent personnel of the several arms, corps, and departments, and to cause the commanders of divisional areas to organize the permanent personnel so stationed in each such area into provisional training regiments, battalions, and schools of application, and to employ such portion of such personnel as may be required therefor upon any duties or work necessary or convenient for carrying the provisions of this act into effect: Provided, That, as far as may be practicable, such provisional training regiments, battalions, and schools of application shall be temporarily stationed on existing military reservations.

SEC. 39. The commander of each divisional area and each commander of each oversea department is hereby authorized to convene, as soon as practicable after the passage of this act, such number of boards of officers composed of permanent officers stationed within such area or department as he may deem necessary or convenient for conducting the examinations, in accordance with regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of War, of such persons resident within such area or stationed therein as may apply, as hereafter provided, for appointment to vacancies already existing or created by this act in the permanent commissioned personnel of the United States Army, and to prescribe at what place or places within such area such board shall meet for the transaction of the business for which appointed: Provided, That, as far as may be practicable and consistent with economy, such board shall be ordered to meet at such places as will require the least amount of travel on the part of the majority of the applicants to be examined.

SEC. 40. Any officer of the National Guard or Organized Militia, or any enlisted man of the Regular Army or of the permanent personnel of the United States Army, not over forty years of age, or any other male citizen of the United States who is not over said age and who has had previous military training, service, or experience, may apply to the commander of the divisional area or to the commander of the oversea department in which he resides or is stationed for appointment in the permanent commissioned personnel of the United States Army, and for authority to take the prescribed examination to determine his fitness for such appointment and for appointment as an officer candidate. The application of each such person shall be submitted upon a form approved by the Secretary of War, and a copy of such form shall be furnished without cost to any bona fide applicant by the postmaster at his station or place of residence, and each such application shall be accompanied by such affidavits, references, and vouchers with respect to the physical condition, moral character, age, and military record of the applicant as the Secretary of War may prescribe. Each such application and its accompanying documents, which, together, shall indicate that the applicant is eligible for appointment in accordance with the provisions of this act, shall be referred by the commander of the divisional area of over-sea department to the board appointed to meet at the place within such area or department nearest to the residence or station of the applicant. Upon the receipt of each such application that board shall, as soon thereafter as practicable, notify the applicant that he is authorized to take the prescribed examination, and shall inform him in writing of the place and time appointed for such examination. At the time and place appointed such board shall proceed to conduct the preliminary examination of such applicant in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of War, and upon the conclusion of such examination shall forward a report of its proceedings and findings in the case, together with its recommendation in the premises, direct to the commander of the divisional area or over-sea department for his action. Whenever any applicant shall have been found by any such board to be not qualified for appointment in the permanent commissioned personnel of the United States Army, and such finding, after such further examination as the commander of the divisional area or over-sea department may deem advisable, shall have been approved by him, such applicant shall be held to be ineligible for such appointment. Applicants who have been found by such boards to be qualified for such appointment shall, except as herein otherwise provided, when such finding has been approved by the commander of the divisional area or over-sea department, be ordered by him as officer-candidates to temporary duty in the divisional area or department in which resident or stationed with a training

unit or at a school of application or with a unit of an over-sea garrison. Officer-candidates shall from date of appointment as such to date of discharge or to date of appointment to the permanent commissioned personnel or in the Reserve Officers' Corps, as the case may be, receive one hundred dollars per month and the allowances of a second lieutenant, and during such periods all such officer-candidates shall be subject to the Rules and Articles of War, so far as they may be applicable to persons whose permanent retention in the service is uncertain. As soon as practicable after each officer-candidate shall have completed four months' service and training with a provisional training regiment or battalion, or in a school of application, or with a unit of the over-sea garrison, his qualifications with respect to military capacity, adaptability for the military service, character, and habits, as determined by his service in such unit or school, shall be reported upon, in accordance with regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of War, by a board of permanent officers appointed by the commander of the divisional area or over-sea department in which such officer-candidate has been serving. Each such report shall contain a statement whether, in the opinion of the board, the officer-candidate reported upon is qualified for appointment in the permanent commissioned personel of the United States Army, and, if so, a recommendation as to the arm, corps, or department in which he should be appointed and the grade therein in which he should be appointed. Whenever any such officer-candidate is so reported as not qualified for appointment in such permanent commissioned personnel, the board shall report whether he is qualified for appointment in the Reserve Officers' Corps, and, if so, in what arm, corps, or department and grade therein. Officer-candidates who have been reported by such boards as not qualified for appointment in the permanent commissioned personnel of the United States Army may, except as otherwise provided herein, be discharged forthwith by the commander of the divisional area or over-sea department, or, with their consent, may be ordered by him to such further period of service with a training unit or in a school of application as he may deem necessary, and all officer-candidates so ordered shall be again reported upon in like manner by such boards upon the completion of such additional period of service.

The proceedings of such boards in the cases of all officer candidates reported as qualified for appointment in either the permanent commissioned personnel or in the Reserve Officers' Corps shall be forwarded by the commander of the divisional area, or over-sea department, with his recommendations in each case, to the War Department for the action of the President.

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The President is hereby authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint officer candidates who have been so reported by such boards as qualified for appointment in the permanent commissioned personnel of the United States Army to vacancies existing or created by this act in the grades of second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain, but no officer candidate shall be so appointed to the grade of second lieutenant who is under twenty-one or over twenty-seven years of age, or to the grade of first lieutenant who is under twenty-seven or over thirty-two years of age, or to the grade of captain who is under thirty-two or over forty years of age, except that no enlisted man of the Regular Army or of the permanent personnel of the United States Army shall be so appointed to the grade of captain, and no such enlisted man who is less than twenty-seven years of age shall be so appointed to the grade of first lieutenant, and no such enlisted man who is over twenty-seven years of age shall be so appointed to the grade of second lieutenant: Provided, That applicants for appointment other than officers of the National Guard or Organized Militia and enlisted men of the Regular Army or of the permanent personnel of the United States Ariny who have been reported by the boards appointed for their preliminary examinations as qualified for appointment in the permanent commissioned personnel, and who pursuant to the provisions of this act are eligible only for appointment as second lieutenants, shall, if such report is approved by the commander of the divisional area, or over-sea department, be reported by him to the War Department, and the President alone is hereby authorized to immediately appoint persons so recommended to the grade of temporary second lieutenant in the permanent personnel, with pay at the rate of one hundred dollars per month and the allowances of a second lieutenant, for a period of one year. All temporary second lieutenants shall be assigned by the commander of the divisional area, or oversea department, to duty with a provisional training regiment at a school of application or with a unit of an over-sea garrison, and upon the completion of eleven months of such duty shall be examined by a board of three permanent

officers appointed by such commander. Such board shall report which of such temporary second lieutenants are qualified for permanent appointment as second lieutenants in the United States Army, and the names of all persons so reported shall be transmitted by the commander of the divisional area, or over-sea department, together with his recommendations in each case, to the War Department for the action of the President.

The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, is hereby authorized to appoint and commission during each calendar year, from among the temporary second lieutenants so reported as eligible therefor, such number of second lieutenants in the permanent personnel of the United States Army as will not exceed twenty per centum of the total number of temporary second lieutenants holding appointment as such during such year.

Any temporary second lieutenant not appointed in the permanent personnel pursuant to this section may, with his consent, be reappointed a temporary second lieutenant for a further period of one year, and so on from year to year, or if he so elects and is eligible therefor may be appointed to membership in the Reserve Officers' Corps. Temporary second lieutenants shall take rank among themselves according to length of commissioned service computed in accordance with section twenty-nine of this act, and such temporary second lieutenants who have had no prior commissioned service shall take rank among themselves according to lot in a manner prescribed by the Secretary of War. Enlisted men of the Regular Army or of the permanent personnel of the United States Army who fail of appointment as provisional second lieutenants shall be returned to their proper enlisted grades in their several organizations and the time they shall have served as provisional second lieutenants shall be counted as part of their enlistment periods.

For the purposes of relative rank and future promotion only each such officer-candidate so appointed to the grade of first lieutenant shall be credited with four years' constructive commissioned service, and each such officercandidate so appointed to the grade of captain shall be credited for said purposes only with nine years' constructive commissioned service: Provided, That such constructive service for the purpose only of determining relative rank shall be in addition to any and all previous actual commissioned service to which persons so appointed shall be entitled in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-nine of this act.

The relative rank of all persons so appointed in each grade shall be in accordance with actual prior commissioned service determined in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-nine of this act, and of any two such officers that one shall be the senior who shall have had the longer prior commissioned service; and where two or more such officers shall have had the same prior commissioned service they shall take rank among themselves according to age, the oldest to be the senior; and all such officers who shall have had no prior commissioned service shall take rank among themselves according to age, the oldest to be the senior, and where two or more such officers are of the same age their seniority among themselves shall be decided by lot, in accordance with regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of War.

Any officer appointed pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be eligible for assignment at the discretion of the President to any vacancy in his grade existing or created by this act in the over-sea garrisons, the frontier forces, or the training forces, as the interests of the service may require: Provided, That nothing in this section shall operate to prevent the President from appointing graduates of the United States Military Academy or enlisted men to commissions in the permanent personnel as provided by existing law.

The President alone is hereby authorized to appoint officer-candidates reported as provided in this section as qualified for appointment in the Officers' Reserve Corps as officers in such corps, subject to the provisions of section fortytwo of this act.

SEC. 41. As soon as practicable after the passage of this act the President is hereby authorized to provide for the recruitment of the additional enlisted personnel required to bring the permament personnel of the over-sea garrisons, the frontier forces, and the training forces to their authorized strength and to utilize for this purpose such officers and enlisted men of the recruiting service and of the divisional areas as he may deem necessary therefor, and as soon as the necessary commissioned and enlisted permanent personnel shall have been obtained he is further authorized to organize in each divisional area the permanent personnel of the units of the training forces which are to be main

tained therein: Provided, That enlistments effected under the provisions of this section may be for one year as provided in section three of this act.

SEC. 42. For the purpose of securing a reserve of officers available for service as temporary officers in the lower grades in the training personnel as line and staff officers in the first and second reserves and as officers of the several staff corps and departments, as officers at the various mobilization points and depots, and as officers available for such other duties as the President may direct, there shall be organized under such regulations as the President may prescribe & Reserve Officers' Corps of the United States Army. Said corps shall consist of sections corresponding to the various arms and to the several staff corps and departments of the United States Army. Except as otherwise provided in this act, an officer of the Reserve Officers' Corps shall not, without his consent, be liable to active duty in time of peace, and whenever called out for service shall not, without his consent, be so called out in a lower grade than that held by him in said corps: Provided, That the Secretary of War may, in time of peace, order first lieutenants of the medical section of the Reserve Officers' Corps, with their consent, to active duty in the service of the United States in such numbers as the public service may require and the funds appropriated may permit, and he may relieve them from such duty when their services are no longer necessary. While on such duty they shall receive the pay and allowances, including pay for periods of sickness and leaves of absence of permanent officers of corresponding grades and lengths of service on the active list.

All persons now carried as duly qualified and registered pursuant to section twenty-three of the act of Congress approved January twenty-first, nineteen hundred and three, and all persons appointed in the Reserve Officers' Corps pursuant to section thirty-seven of the act of Congress approved June third, nineteen hundred and sixteen, shall, for a period of two years after the passage of this act, and without any further examination except a physical examination, be eligible for appointment in the Reserve Officers' Corps in the section corresponding to the arm, corps, or department in which they shall have been qualified or appointed, pursuant to the above-described laws: Provided, That no persons shall be appointed in the Reserve Officers' Corps in any grade above that of lieutenant colonel.

The President alone is hereby authorized to appoint and commission members of the Reserve Officers' Corps, but no person shall be appointed a member of said corps who is less than nineteen years of age, and for a period of three years after the passage of this act no person shall be appointed in the grade of second lieutenant, first lieutenant, or captain therein who is more than forty years of age, and no person, except a commissioned officer of the National Guard or Organized Militia, shall be appointed in the grade of major or lieutenant colonel therein who is more than sixty years of age, and no officer of the National Guard or Organized Militia shall be appointed in the grade of major or lieutenant colonel therein who is more than sixty-three years of age. The commissions of all members of the Reserve Officers' Corps shall continue in full effect until terminated by death, promotion, resignation, or dismissal, but upon reaching the age of sixty-four years all reserve officers shall be permanently transferred to the unorganized reserves, and thereafter such officers shall not in time of peace be eligible for employment with units or organizations of the United States Army. In time of actual or threatened hostilities officers in the unorganized reserves may with their consent be assigned to such duty as the President may direct.

As soon as practicable after the preliminary organization of reserve units authorized in section fifty-one of this act shall have been effected, the commander of each divisional area shall cause to be posted in a conspicuous place in each post office within such area the number of reserve officers of each grade in each arm, corps, and department required to fill the vacancies existing in each reserve unit within such divisional area. At any time within three months thereafter any officer of the National Guard or Organized Militia, or any enlisted man of the Regular Army or of the permanent personnel of the United States Army, or any other male citizen of the United States of previous military service, training, or experience within the age limits prescribed in this act, may apply to the commander of the divisional area in which he resides or is stationed, for appointment in the Reserve Officers' Corps, subject to such examinations as the Secretary of War may prescribe. No such applications received after such three months' period shall have elapsed shall be considered, except in 74663-17-4

cases where the applicants concerned were, by unavoidable causes, prevented from making application within such period. All such applications shall be made upon a form approved by the Secretary of War, which form shall be furnished without cost to any bona fide applicant by the postmaster at his place of residence or station, and such application shall be accompanied by such affidavits, vouchers, and references relative to his age, character, and previous military record as the Secretary of War may prescribe. Each such application, which, together with the documents accompanying same, shall indicate that the applicant is eligible for appointment in the Reserve Officers' Corps, shall be referred by the commander of the divisional area to that one of the examining boards convened pursuant to section thirty-nine of this act for the examination of applicants for appointment in the permanent commissioned personnel whose place of meeting is nearest to the residence or station of the applicant. Upon the receipt of each such application the board shall, as soon as practicable, notify the applicant when and where to report for examination, and shall, at such time and place, proceed, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe, to determine whether the applicant is qualified physically, in general education, and in moral character for appointment in the Reserve Officers' Corps. Any officer of the National Guard or Organized Militia or enlisted man of the Regular Army or United States Army who is found by such board to be not qualified for appointment on account of physical disability or unsatisfactory military record in the National Guard or Organized Militia, or in moral character, shall, if such finding be approved by the commander of the divisional area, be rejected forthwith. Any officer of the National Guard or Organized Militia or enlisted man of the Regular Army or United States Army who is found by such board to be qualified physically and morally, and who has a satisfactory military record in the National Guard or Organized Militia or in the Regular Army or United States Army, shall. if such report is approved by the commander of the divisional area, be reported to the War Department for the action of the President as eligible for appointment in the same grade as that held by him in the National Guard or Organized Militia and in the same arm of the service; and in the case of such enlisted men in such grades, within the limits of this section, as may be recommended by said board: Provided, That no officer of the National Guard or Organized Militia or such enlisted men shall be appointed in the Reserve Officers' Corps in any grade higher than that of lieutenant colonel, and any such officer who applies for appointment therein in a grade below that of colonel but higher than that held by him in the National Guard or Organized Militia, as the case may be; or in an arm, corps, or department other than that in which he was commissioned in the National Guard or Organized Militia, shall be required to undergo such further examination relative to his qualifications therefor as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

Any applicant for appointment in the Reserve Officers' Corps, other than an officer of the National Guard or Organized Militia, who is found by such board to be not qualified for such appointment because of physical disability, bad moral character, or defective general education, shall be discharged forthwith, and any such enlisted man shall be returned to his permanent organization, except that honorably discharged soldiers of the Regular Army of good charaeter who are rejected because of defective general education and any other male citizens of the United States rejected solely for the same reason, may be accepted as reserve noncommissioned officers. Applicants who pass the aboveprescribed preliminary examination, including officers of the National Guard or Organized Militia, who desire appointment in higher grades than those held by them in the National Guard or Organized Militia or in another arm of the service than those in which commissioned in the National Guard or Organized Militia, shall be further examined by the board with respect to their past military and civil record and their general capacity, aptitude, and qualifications for the military service. Upon the completion of each such examination the board shall report whether in its opinion the applicant is qualified for appointment in the Reserve Officers' Corps, and if so, will recommend the highest grade below that of colonel and the arm, corps, or department in which he should be appointed, and such report will include such facts determined by the examination relative to said applicant's civil and military record and such other information as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

The commander of the divisional area shall, as soon as practicable, forward all reports of such examinations which have received his approval to the War Department for the action of the President, and the President alone is author