Chapter 15. To authorize the President to increase temporarily the Military Establishment of the United States
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CHAP. 15.— An Act To authorize the President to increase temporarily the Military Establishment of the United States. May 18, 1917.[[H. R. 3545](/us/bill/65/hr/3545).][[Public, No. 12](/us/pl/65/12).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Army emergency increase. That in view of the existing emergency, which demands the raising of troops in addition to those now available, the President be, and he is hereby, authorized— First.
Maximum strength to be immediately raised, etc.Vol. 39, p. 182. Immediately to raise, organize, officer, and equip all or such number of incremente of the Regular Army provided by the national defense Act approved June third, nineteen hundred and sixteen, or such parte thereof as he may deem necessary; to raise all organizations of the Regular Army, including those added by such increments, toTemporary appointments to fill Army vacancies created thereby. the maximum enlisted strength authorized by law.
Vacancies in the Regular Army created or caused by the addition of increments as herein authorized which can not be filled by promotion may be filled by temporary appointment for the period of the emergency or untilProvisional appointments.Vol. 39, p. 181. replaced by permanent appointments or by provisional appointments made under the provisions of section twenty-three of the national defense Act, approved June third, nineteen hundred and sixteen, andTermination of. hereafter provisional appointments under said section may be terminated whenever it is determined, in the manner prescribed by the President, that the officer has not the suitability and fitness requisite for permanent appointment.
Second. National Guard and Reserve, drafted into service.Vol. 39, p. 211. To draft into the military service of the United States, organize, and officer, in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred and eleven of said national defense Act, so far as the provisions of said section may be applicable and not inconsistent with the terms of this Act, any or all members of the National GuardTerm of service. and of the National Guard Reserves, and said members so drafted into the military service of the United States shall serve therein for*Proviso*.State designations retained. the period of the existing emergency unless sooner discharged: *Provided*, That when so drafted the organizations or unite of the National Guard shall, so far as practicable, retain the State designations of their respective organizations.
Third. Additional 500,000 enlisted men to be raised by draft.*Post*, p. 894. To raise by draft as herein provided, organize and equip an additional force of five hundred thousand enlisted men, or such part or parts thereof as he may at any time deem necessary, andSelection of officers. to provide the necessary officers, line and staff, for said force and for organizations of the other forces hereby authorized, or by combining organizations of said other forces, by ordering members ofVol. 39, p. 190. the Officers’ Reserve Corps to temporary duty in accordance with the provisions of section thirty-eight of the national defense ActAppointments, etc. approved June third, nineteen hundred and sixteen; by appointmentVol. 32, p. 779. from the Regular Army, the Officers’ Reserve Corps, from those duly qualified and registered pursuant to section twenty-three of the Act of Congress approved January twenty-first, nineteen hundred and three (Thirty-second Statutes at Large, page seven hundred and seventy-five), from the members of the National Guard drafted into the service of the United States, from those who have been graduated from educational institutions at which military instruction is compulsory, or from those who have had honorable service in the Regular Army, the National Guard, or in the volunteer forces, or from the country at large; by assigning retired officers of the Regular Army to active duty with such force with their rank on the retired list and the full pay and allowances of their grade; or by the appointment of retired officers and enlisted men, active or retired, of the Regular*Provisos*.To correspond with Army.Changes of typical organizations authorized.
Army as commissioned officers in such forces: *Provided*, That the organization of said force shall be the same as that of the corresponding organizations of the Regular Army: *Provided further*, That the President is authorized to increase or decrease the number of organizations prescribed for the typical brigades, divisions, or army corps of the Regular Army, and to prescribe such new and different77organizations and personnel for army corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, squadrons, companies, troops, and batteries as the efficiency of the service may require: *Provided further*, That theRegimental, retained. number of organizations in a regiment shall not be increased nor shall the number of regiments be decreased: *Provided further*, ThatMachine-gun companies. the President in his discretion may organize, officer, and equip for each Infantry and Cavalry brigade three machine-gun companies, and for each Infantry and Cavalry division four machine-gun companies, all in addition to the machine-gun companies comprised in organizations included in such brigades and divisions: *Provided further*,Armored motor-car companies.
That the President in his discretion may organize for each division one armored motor-car machine-gun company. The machine-gunPersonnel. companies organized under this section shall consist of such commissioned and enlisted personnel and be equipped in such manner as the President may prescribe: *And provided further*, ThatAppointment of officers. officers with rank not above that of colonel shall be appointed by the President alone, and officers above that grade by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate: *Provided further*,Coast Guard.Former officers in, may be recommissioned.
That the President may in his discretion recommission in the Coast Guard persons who have heretofore held commissions in the Revenue-Cutter Service or the Coast Guard and have left the service honorably, after ascertaining that they are qualified for service physically, morally, and as to age and military fitness. Fourth. The President is further authorized, in Iris discretion andDraft of additional 500,000 men for training. at such time as he may determine, to raise and begin the training of an additional force of five hundred thousand men organized, officered, and equipped, as provided for the force first mentioned in the preceding paragraph of this section.
Fifth. To raise by draft, organize, equip, and officer, as providedRecruit training units. in the third paragraph of this section, in addition to and for each of the above forces, such recruit training units as he may deem necessary for the maintenance of such forces at the maximum strength. Sixth. To raise, organize, officer, and maintain during the emergencyArtillery organizations to be raised. such number of ammunition batteries and battalions, depot batteries and battalions, and such artillery parks, with such numbers and grades of personnel as he may deem necessary.
Such organizationsPersonnel. shall be officered in the manner provided in the third paragraph of this section, and enlisted men may be assigned to said organizations from any of the forces herein provided for or raised by selective draft as by this Act provided. Seventh. The President is further authorized to raise and maintainVolunteer infantry divisions authorized. by voluntary enlistment, to organize, and equip, not to exceed four infantry divisions, the officers of which shall be selected in the manner provided by paragraph three of section one of this Act: *Provided*,*Provisos*.Organization.
That the organization of said force shall be the same as that of the corresponding organization of the Regular Army: *And provided further*,Enlistment ago. That there shall be no enlistments in said force of men under twenty-five years of age at time of enlisting: *And provided further*,Acceptance Limited. That no such volunteer force shall be accepted in any unit smaller than a division. Sec. 2. That the enlisted men required to raise and maintain theEnlisted men.For Army and National Guard by voluntary enlistment or draft. organizations of the Regular Army and to complete and maintain the organizations embodying the members of the National Guard drafted into the service of the United States, at the maximum legal strength as by this Act provided, shall be raised by voluntary enlistment, or if and whenever the President decides that they can not effectually be so raised or maintained, then by selective draft ; and allOther forces by draft. other forces hereby authorized, except as provided in the seventh paragraph of section one, shall be raised and maintained by selective draft exclusively; but this provision shall not prevent the transfer to any force of training cadres from other forces.
Such draft asBasis of draft.*Post*, pp. 885, 955.78 herein provided shall be based upon liability to military, service of all male citizens, or male persons not alien enemies who have declared their intention to become citizens, between the ages of twenty-one and thirty years, both inclusive, and shall take place and be maintained under such regulations as the President may prescribe notDetermination quotas.*Post*, p. 884. inconsistent with the terms of this Act. Quotas for the several States, Territories, and the District of Columbia, or subdivisions thereof, shall be determined in proportion to the population thereof,Credits allowed men in service. and credit shall be given to any State, Territory, District, or subdivision thereof, for the number of men who were in the military service of the United States as members of the National Guard on April first, nineteen hundred and seventeen, or who have since said date entered the military service of the United States from any such State, Territory, District, or subdivision, either as members of theForces subject Army laws, etc.
Regular Army or the National Guard. All persons drafted into the service of the United States and all officers accepting commissions in the forces herein provided for shall, from the date of said draft or acceptance, be subject to the laws and regulations governing thePromotions excepted. Regular Army, except as to promotions, so far as such laws and regulations are applicable to persons whose permanent retention in the military service on the active or retired list is not contemplatedPeriod of service. by existing law, and those drafted shall be required to serve for the*Proviso*.Special and technical troops. period of the existing emergency unless sooner discharged: *Provided*, That the President is authorized to raise and maintain by voluntary enlistment or draft, as herein provided, special and technical troops as he may deem necessary, and to embody them into organizations and to officer them as provided in the third paragraph of section oneLocal origin of forces to be considered. and section nine of this Act.
Organizations of the forces herein provided for, except the Regular Army and the divisions authorized in the seventh paragraph of section one, shall, as far as the interests of the service permit, be composed of men who come, and of officers who are appointed from, the same State or locality. Sec. 3. Bounty and substitute prohibitions. No bounty shall be paid to induce any person to enlist in the military service of the United States ; and no person liable to military service shall hereafter be permitted or allowed to furnish a substitute for such service; nor shall any substitute be received, enlisted, or enrolled in the military service of the United States; and no such person shall be permitted to escape such service or to be discharged therefrom prior to the expiration of his term of service by the payment of money or any other valuable thing whatsoever as consideration for his release from military service or liability thereto.
Sec. 4. Exemptions from draft.Classes designated. That the Vice President of the United States, the officers, legislative, executive, and judicial, of the United States and of the several States, Territories, and the District of Columbia, regular or duly ordained ministers of religion, students who at the time of the approval of this Act are preparing for the ministry in recognized theological or divinity schools, and all persons in the military and naval service of the United States shall be exempt from the selectiveReligious exemptions. draft herein prescribed; and nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to require or compel any person to serve in any of the forces herein provided for who is found to be a member of any well-recognized religious sect or organization at present organized and existing and whose existing creed orNoncombatant service not included. principles forbid its members to participate in war in any form and whose religious convictions are against war or participation therein in accordance with the creed or principles of said religious organizations, but no person so exempted shall be exempted from service in any capacity that the PresidentOther exclusions. shall declare to be noncombatant; and the President is hereby authorized to exclude or discharge from said selective draft and from the draft under the second paragraph of section one hereof, or to draft for partial military service only from those liable to draft as in this79 Act provided, persons of the following classes:
County and municipalClasses specified. officials; customhouse clerks; persons employed by the United States in the transmission of the mails; artificers and workmen employed in the armories, arsenals, and navy yards of the United States, and such other persons employed in the service of the United States as the President may designate; pilots; mariners actually employed in the sea service of any citizen or merchant within the United States; persons engaged in industries, including agriculture, found to be*Post*, p. 955. necessary to the maintenance of the Military Establishment or the effective operation of the military forces or the maintenance of national interest during the emergency; those in a status with respect to persons dependent upon them for support which renders their exclusion or discharge advisable; and those found to be physically or morally deficient.
No exemption or exclusion shall continue when a cause therefor no longer exists; *Provided*, That notwithstanding the*Provisos*.Quotas not diminished. exemptions enumerated herein, each State, Territory, and the District of Columbia shall be required to supply its quota in the proportion that its population bears to the total population of the United States. The President is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to create andLocal draft boards created. establish throughout the several States and subdivisions thereof and in the Territories and the District of Columbia local boards, and where, in his discretion, practicable and desirable, there shall be created and established one such local board in each county or similar subdivision in each State, and one for approximately each thirty thousand of population in each city of thirty thousand population or over, according to the last census taken or estimates furnished by the Bureau of Census of the Department of Commerce.
Such boardsAppointment from local authorities, etc. shall be appointed by the President, and shall consist of three or more members, none of whom shall be connected with the Military Establishment, to be chosen from among the local authorities of such subdivisions or from other citizens residing in the subdivision or area in which the respective boards will have jurisdiction under the rules and regulations prescribed by the President. Such boardsJurisdiction as to exemptions, etc. shall have power within their respective jurisdictions to hear and determine, subject to review as hereinafter provided, all questions of exemption under this Act, and all questions of or claims for including or discharging individuals or classes of individuals from the selectivePersons in exempted industries excepted.*Supra*. draft, which shall be made under rules and regulations prescribed by the President, except any and every question or claim for including or excluding or discharging persons or classes of persons from the selective draft under the provisions of this Act authorizing the President to exclude or discharge from the selective draft “ Persons engaged in industries, including agriculture, found to be necessary to the maintenance of the Military Establishment, or the effective operation of the military forces, or the maintenance of national interest during the emergency.
” The President is hereby authorized to establish additional boards,District boards of appeals, etc. one in each Federal judicial district of the United States, consisting of such number of citizens, not connected with the Military Establishment, as the President may determine, who shall be appointed by the President. The President is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to establish more than one such board in any Federal judicial district of the United States, or to establish one such board having jurisdiction of an area extending into more than one Federal judicial district.
Such district boards shall review on appeal and affirm, modify, orReview of decisions of local board. reverse any decision of any local board having jurisdiction in the area in which any such district board has jurisdiction under the rules and regulations prescribed by the President. Such district boardsOriginal action os to exempted industries. shall have exclusive original jurisdiction within their respective areas to hear and determine all questions or claims for including or excluding or discharging persons or classes of persons from the selective80 draft, under the provisions of this Act, not included within the original jurisdiction of such local boards.
Finality of decisions, etc.The decisions of such district boards shall be final except that, in accordance with such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe, he may affirm, modify or reverse any such decision. Filling vacancies in boards.Any vacancy in any such local board or district board shall be filled by the President, and any member of any such local board or district board may be removed and another appointed in his place by the President, whenever he considers that the interest of the nation demands it.
Rules and regulations of procedure, etc., to be made.The President shall make rules and regulations governing the organization and procedure of such local boards and district boards, and providing for and governing appeals from such local boards to such district boards, and reviews of the decisions of any local board by the district board having jurisdiction, and determining and prescribing the several areas in which the respective local boards and district boards shall have jurisdiction, and all other rules and regulations necessary to carry out the terms and provisions of this section, and shall provide for the issuance of certificates of exemption, or partial or limited exemptions, and for a system to exclude and discharge individuals from selective draft.
Sec. 5. Registration.Ages liable.Presentation for, on notice given by proclamation, etc.*Post*, p. 1664.*Post*, pp. 884, 855, 955. That all male persons between the ages of twenty-one and thirty, both inclusive, shall be subject to registration in accordance with regulations to be prescribed by the President; and upon proclamation by the President or other public notice given by him or by his direction stating the time and place of such registration it shall be the duty of all persons of the designated ages, except officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army, the Navy, and the National Guard and Naval Militia while in the service of the United States, to present themselves for and submit to registration under the provisions ofPersonal notice inferred. this Act; and every such person shall be deemed to have notice of the requirements of this Act upon the publication of said proclamationPunishment for not registering. or other notice as aforesaid given by the President or by his direction; and any person who shall willfully fail or refuse to present himself for registration or to submit thereto as herein provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction in the district court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year, and shall thereupon*Provisos*.Precedence for trials. be duly registered: *Provided*, That in the call of the docket precedence shall be given, in courts trying the same, to the trial of criminalAge extent defined. proceedings under this Act: *Provided further*, That persons shall be subject to registration as herein provided who shall have attained their twenty-first birthday and who shall not have attained their thirty-first birthday on or before the day set for the registration, and all persons so registered shall be and remain subject to draft intoRegistration by mail. the forces hereby authorized, unless exempted or excused therefrom as in this Act provided: *Provided further*, That in the case of temporary absence from actual place of legal resilience of any person liable to registration as provided herein such registration may be made by mail under regulations to be prescribed by the President.
Sec. 6. Utilization of departments, officers, etc. That the President is hereby authorized to utilize the service of any or all departments and any or all officers or agents of the United States and of the several States, Territories, and the District of Columbia, and subdivisions thereof, in the execution of this Act, and all officers and agents of the United States and of the several States,Duty compulsory. Territories, and subdivisions thereof, and of the District of Columbia, and all persons designated or appointed under regulations prescribed by the President whether such appointments are made by the President himself or by the governor or other officer of any State or Territory to perform any duty in the execution of this Act, are hereby required to perform such duty as the President shall order or direct,81 and all such officers and agents and persons so designated or appointedAuthority conferred. shall hereby have full authority for all acts done by them in the execution of this Act by the direction of the President.
CorrespondenceUse of tranks. in the execution of this Act may be carried in penalty envelopes bearing the frank of the War Department. Any person charged asOffenses designated.Failure to act. herein provided with the duty of carrying into effect any of the provisions of this Act or the regulations made or directions given thereunder who shall fail or neglect to perform such duty; and anyMaking false registrations, etc. person charged with such duty or having and exercising any authority under said Act, regulations, or directions, who shall knowingly make or be a party to the makingMaking false statements, etc. of any false or incorrect registration, physical examination, exemption, enlistment, enrollment, or muster; and any person who shall make or be a party to the making of any false statement or certificate as to the fitness or liability of himself or any other person for service under the provisions of this Act, or regulations made by the President thereunder, or otherwise evades or aids another to evade the requirements of this Act or of said regulations, or who, in any manner, shall fail or neglect fullyNeglect of duty, etc. to perform any duty required of him in the execution of this Act, shall, if not subject to military law, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction in the district court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not morePunishment. than one year, or, if subject to military law, shall be tried by court-martial and suffer such punishment as a court-martial may direct.
Sec. 7. That the qualifications and conditions for voluntary enlistmentVoluntary enlistments. as herein provided shall be the same as those prescribed by existing law for enlistments in the Regular Army, except thatQualifications, etc.*Post*, p. 885. recruits must be between the ages of eighteen and forty years, both inclusive, at the time of their enlistment; and such enlistments shallPeriod.Enlistments in force continued through emergency.*Post*, p. 1211. be for the period of the emergency unless sooner discharged.
All enlistments, including those in the Regular Army Reserve, which are in force on the date of the approval of this Act and which would terminate during the emergency shall continue in force during the emergency unless sooner discharged; but nothing herein con tabled shall no construed to shorten the period of any existing enlistment: *Provided*, That all persons enlisted or drafted under any of the provisions*Provisos*.Geographical units. of this Act shall as far as practicable be grouped into units by States and the political subdivisions of the same: *Provided further*,Discharges allowed at end of emergency.
That all persons who have enlisted since April first, nineteen hundred and seventeen, either in the Regular Army or in the National Guard, and all persons who have enlisted in the National Guard since June third, nineteen hundred and sixteen, upon their application, shall be discharged upon the termination of the existing emergency. The President may provide for the discharge of any or all enlistedEnlisted men.Discharges to support family.Active duty for re tired enlisted men. men whose status with respect to dependents renders such discharge advisable; and he may also authorize the employment on any active duty of retired enlisted men of the Regular Army, either with their rank on the retired list or in higher enlisted grades, and such retired enlisted men shall receive the full pay and allowances of the grades in which they are actively employed.
Sec. 8. That the President, by and with the advice and consent ofGeneral officers for emergency.*Post*, p.410. the Senate, is authorized to appoint for the period of the existing emergency such general officers of appropriate grades as may be necessary for duty with brigades, divisions, and higher units in which theFor Coast Artillery. forces provided for herein may be organized by the President, and general officers of appropriate grade for the several Coast Artillery districts.
In so far as such appointments may be made from any ofSelection of appointees. the forces herein provided for, the appointees may be selected irrespective of the grades held by them in such forces. VacanciesFilling resulting vacancies in the Army.*Post*, p. 534. in all grades in the Regular Army resulting from the appointment of officers thereof to higher grades in the forces other than the Regular82 Army herein provided for shall be filled by temporary promotions and appointments in the manner prescribed for filling temporaryVol. 39, p. 211. vacancies by section one hundred and fourteen of the nationalPermanent status retained. defense Act approved June third, nineteen hundred and sixteen; and officers appointed under the provisions of this Act to higher grades in the forces other than the Regular Army herein provided for shall not vacate their permanent commissions nor be prejudiced in their relative or lineal standing in the Regular Army.
Sec. 9. Appointments to be for emergency period. That the appointments authorized and made as provided by the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh paragraphs of section one and by section eight of this Act, and the temporary appointments in the Regular Army authorized by the first paragraph of section one of this Act, shall be for the period of the emergency, unless sooner terminated by discharge or otherwise. The PresidentDischarges for cause. is hereby authorized to discharge any officer from the office held by him under such appointment for any cause which, in the judgmentExamination boards to act on qualifications, etc. of the President, would promote the public service; and the general commanding any division and higher tactical organization or territorial department is authorized to appoint from time to time military boards of not less than three nor more than five officers of the forces herein provided for to examine into and report upon the capacity, qualification,Discharges if recommended. conduct, and efficiency of any commissioned officer within his command other than officers of the Regular Army holding permanent or provisional commissions therein.
Each member of such board shall be superior in rank to the officer whoso qualifications are to be inquired into, and if the report of such board be adverse to the continuance of any such officer and be approved by the President, such officer shall be discharged from the service at the discretion of the President with one month’s pay and allowances. Sec. 10. Equality of pay, etc., declared. That all officers and enlisted men of the forces herein provided for other than the Regular Army shall be in all respects on the same footing as to pay, allowances, and pensions as officers and en listed men of corresponding grades and length of service in thePay of enlisted men Increased during emergency.
Regular Army; and commencing June one, nineteen hundred and seventeen, and continuing until the termination of the emergency, all enlisted men of the Army of the United States in active service whose base pay does not exceed $21 per month shall receive an increase of $15 per month; those whose base pay is $24, an increase of $12 per month ; those whose base pay is $30, $36, or $40, an increase of $8 per month; and those whose base pay is $45 or more, an increase*Proviso*.Not credited to service pay.Restriction on details, etc., suspended. of $6 per month: *Provided*, That the increases of pay herein authorized shall not enter into the computation of continuous-service pay.
Sec. 11. That all existing restrictions upon the detail, detachment, and employment of officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army are hereby suspended for the period of the present emergency. Sec. 12. Liquor prohibitions authorized.*Post*, p. 393. That the President of the United States, as Commander in Chief of the Army, is authorized to make such regulations governing the prohibition of alcoholic liquors in or near military camps and to the officers and enlisted men of the Army as he may from time to*Proviso*.Sales at posts, etc., forbidden. time deem necessary or advisable: *Provided*, That no person, corporation, partnership, or association shall sell, supply, or have in his or its possession any intoxicating or spirituous liquors at any military station, cantonment, camp, fort, post, officers’ or enlisted men’s club, which is being used at the time for military purposes under thisMedical allowance.Sales to men in uniform unlawful.
Act, but the Secretary of War may make regulations permitting the sale and use of intoxicating liquors for medicinal purposes. It shall be unlawful to sell any intoxicating liqour, including beer, ale, or wine, to any officer or member of the military forces while in uniform,Punishment for. except as herein provided. Any person, corporation, partnership, or association violating the provisions of this section of the regulations made thereunder shall, unless otherwise punishable under the Articles of War, be deemed guilty of a misdemeaner and be punished83 by a fine of not more than 31,000 or imprisonment for not more than twelve months, or both.
Sec. 13. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized, empowered,Prevention of bawdy houses, etc., near military places.*Post*, pp. 393, 885. and directed during the present war to do everything by deemed necessary to suppress and prevent the keeping or setting up of houses of ill fame, brothels, or bawdy houses within such distance as he may deem needful of any military camp, station, fort, post, cantonment, training, or mobilization place, and any, person, corporation, partnership, or association receiving or permitting to be received for immoral purposes any person into any place, structure, or building used for the purpose of lewdness, assignation, or prostitution within such distance of said places as may be designated, or shall permit any such person to remain for immoral purposes in any such place, structure, or building as aforesaid, or who shall violatePunishment for violations. any order, rule, or regulation issued to carry out the object and purpose of this section shall, unless otherwise punishable under the Articles of War, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine of not more than 31,000, or imprisonment for not more than twelve months, or both.
Sec. 14. That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisionsSuspension of conflicting laws. of this Act are hereby suspended during the period of this emergency. Approved, May 18, 1917.