Chapter 150. To increase the efficiency of the Medical Department of the United States Army
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CHAP. 150.— An Act To increase the efficiency of the Medical Department of the United States Army. April 23, 1908.[[S. 1424](/us/bill/70/hr/1424).][[Public, No. 101.](/us/pl/70/101)] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That from and after theArmy.Medical Department.Medical Corps, etc., authorized.R. S. sec. 1168, p. 210. approval of this Act the Medical Department of the United States Army shall consist of a Medical Corps and a Medical Reserve Corps, as hereinafter provided; and the Hospital Corps, the nurse corps, and dental surgeons, as now authorized by law.
Sec. 2. That the Medical Corps shall consist of one Surgeon-General,Composition of. with rank of brigadier-general, who shall be chief of the Medical 67 Department; fourteen colonels, twenty-four lieutenant-colonels, one hundred and five majors, and three hundred captains or first lieutenants, who shall have rank, pay, and allowances of officers of corresponding grades in the cavalry arm of the service. ImmediatelyOfficers in active service to be recommissioned, etc. following the approval of this Act all officers of the Medical Department then in active service, other than the Surgeon-General, shall be recommissioned in the corresponding grades in the Medical Corps established by this Act in the order of their seniority and without loss of relative rank in the Army, as follows:
Assistant surgeons-general,Grades and rank. with the rank of colonel, as colonels; deputy surgeons-general, with rank of lieutenant-colonel, as lieutenant-colonels; surgeons, with the rank of major, as majors; assistant surgeons, who at the time of the approval of this Act shall have served three years or more, as captains; and assistant surgeons, with the rank of first lieutenant, who at the time of the approval of this Act shall have served less than three years as such, as first lieutenants; and hereafter first lieutenants shall bePromotio promoted to the grade of captain after three years’ service in the Medical Corps.
Sec. 3. That promotions in the Medical Corps to fill vacancies inVacancies. the several grades created or caused by this Act, or hereafter occurring, shall be made according to seniority, but all such promotions and all appointments to the grade of first lieutenant in said corps shall be subject to examination as hereinafter provided: *Provided*, That*Provisos*.Maximum yearly increase in grades. the increase in grades of colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major provided for in this Act shall be filled by promotion each calendar year of not exceeding two lieutenant-colonels to be colonels, three majors to be lieutenant-colonels, fourteen captains to be majors, and of the increase in the grade of first lieutenant not more than twenty-five per centum of the total of such increase shall be appointed in any one calendar year: *Provided further*, That those assistant surgeons whoRank of assistant surgeons, etc. at the time of the approval of this Act shall have attained their captaincy by reason of service in the volunteer forces under the provisions of the Act of February second, nineteen hundred and one, sectionVol. 31, p. 752. eighteen, or who will receive their captaincy upon the approval of this Act by virtue of such service, shall take rank among the officers in or subsequently promoted to that grade, according to date of entrance into the Medical Department of the Army as commissioned officers.
Sec. 4. That no person shall receive an appointment as first lieutenantExamination for appointment as first lieutenant. in the Medical Corps unless he shall have been examined and approved by an army medical board consisting of not less than three officers of the Medical Corps designated by the Secretary of War. Sec. 5. That no officer of the Medical Corps below the rank ofPromotions of officers below rank of lieutenant-colonel.Examinations required. lieutenant-colonel shall be promoted therein until he shall have successfully passed an examination before an army medical board consisting of not less than three officers of the Medical Corps, to be designated by the Secretary of War, such examination to be prescribed by the Secretary of War and to be held at such time anterior to the accruing of the right to promotion as may be for the best interests of the service: *Provided*, That should any officer of the Medical Corps*Proviso*.Retirement if physically disabled. fail in his physical examination and be found incapacitated for service by reason of physical disability contracted in the line of duty, he shall be retired with the rank to which his seniority entitled him to be promoted; but if he should be found disqualified for promotion for anyNo second examination if otherwise disqualified.Appointment of board of review. other reason, a second examination shall not be allowed, but the Secretary of War shall appoint a board of review to consist of three officers of the Medical Corps superior in rank to the officer examined, none of whom shall have served as a member of the board which examined him.
If the unfavorable finding of the examining board isAction if disqualified for promotion. concurred in by the board of review, the officer reported disqualified for promotion shall, if a first lieutenant or captain, be honorably discharged 68 from the service with one year’s pay; and, if a major, shall be debarred from promotion and the officer next in rank found qualified shall be promoted to the vacancy. If the action of the examiningPromotion if finding be favorable. board is disapproved by the board of review, the officer shall be considered qualified and shall be promoted.
Sec. 6. That nothing in this Act shall be construed to legislate outRank and service of present officers not affected. of the service any officer now in the Medical Department of the Army, nor to affect the relative rank or promotion of any medical officer now in the service, or who may hereafter be appointed therein, as determined by the date of his appointment or commission, except as herein otherwise provided in section three. Sec. 7. That for the purpose of securing a reserve corps of medicalMedical Reserve Corps authorized.Graduates of medical schools to be commissioned as first lieutenants. officers available for military service, the President of the United States is authorized to issue commissions as first lieutenants therein to such graduates of reputable schools of medicine, citizens of the United States, as shall from time to time, upon examination to be prescribed by the Secretary of War, be found physically, mentally, and morally qualified to hold such commissions, the persons so commissioned to constitute and be known as the Medical Reserve Corps.
The commissionsRights, etc., of, when on active duty. so given shall confer upon the holders all the authority, rights, and privileges of commissioned officers of the like grade in the Medical Corps of the United States Army, except promotions, but only when called into active duty, as hereinafter provided, and during the period of such active duty. Officers of the Medical Reserve CorpsRank. shall have rank in said corps according to date of their commissions therein, and when employed on active duty, as hereinafter provided, shall rank next below all other officers of like grade in the United States Army: *Provided*, That contract surgeons now in the military service*Provisos*.Contract surgeons. who receive the favorable recommendation of the Surgeon-General of the Army shall be eligible for appointment in said reserve corps without further examination: *Provided further*, That any contract surgeonEligible to appointment in regular corps. not over twenty-seven years of age at date of his appointment as contract surgeon shall be eligible to appointment in the regular corps.
Sec. 8. That in emergencies the Secretary of War may order officersEmergency service. of the Medical Reserve Corps to active duty in the service of the United States in such numbers as the public interests may require, and may relieve them from such duty when their services are no longer necessary: *Provided*, That nothing in this Act shall be construed as*Provisos*.Declination of service allowed. authorizing an officer of the Medical Reserve Corps to be ordered upon active duty as herein provided who is unwilling to accept such service, nor to prohibit an officer of the Medical Reserve Corps not designated for active duty from service with the militia, or with the volunteerMay serve with militia, etc. troops of the United States, or in the service of the United States in any other capacity, but when so serving with the militia or with volunteer troops, or when employed in the service of the United States in any other capacity, an officer of the Medical Reserve Corps shall not be subject to call for duty under the terms of this section: *And*Honorable discharge when no longer required. *provided further*, That the President is authorized to honorably discharge from the Medical Reserve Corps any officer thereof whose services are no longer required: *And provided further*, That officersApplications for admission to Medical Corps. of the Medical Reserve Corps who apply for appointment in the Medical Corps of the Army may, upon the recommendation of the Surgeon-General, be placed on active duty by the Secretary of War and ordered to the Army Medical School for instruction and further examination to determine their fitness for commission in the Medical Corps: *And provided further*, That any officer of the Medical Reserve CorpsForfeiture of commission. who is subject to call and who shall be ordered upon active duty as herein provided and who shall be unwilling and refuse to accept such service shall forfeit his commission.
Sec. 9. That officers of the Medical Reserve Corps when called uponPay and allowance. active duty in the service of the United States, as provided in section 69 eight of this Act, shall be subject to the laws, regulations, and orders for the government of the Regular Army, and during the period of such service shall be entitled to the pay and allowances of first lieutenants of the Medical Corps with increase for length of service now allowed by law, said increase to be computed only for time of active duty: *Provided*, That no officer of the Medical Reserve Corps shall be*Provisos*.Not entitled to retirement, etc. entitled to retirement or retirement pay, nor shall he be entitled to pension except for physical disability incurred in the line of duty while in active duty: *And provided further*, That nothing in this ActAppointments in time of war. shall be construed to prevent the appointment in time of war of medical officers of volunteers in such numbers and with such rank and pay as may be provided by law.
Sec. 10. That all Acts and parts of Acts in conflict with the provisionsRepeal. of this Act are hereby repealed. Approved, April 23, 1908.