Chapter 40. To authorize the President to increase temporarily the Signal Corps of the Army and to purchase, manufacture, maintain, repair, and operate airships, and to make appropriations therefor, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 40.— An Act To authorize the President to increase temporarily the Signal Corps of the Army and to purchase, manufacture, maintain, repair, and operate airships, and to make appropriations therefor, and for other purposes. July 24, 1917.[[H. R. 5326](/us/bill/65/hr/5326).][[Public, No. 29](/us/pl/65/29).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That for and during the Army.Signal Corps and Aviation Section increased temporarily.existing emergency, the President be, and is hereby, authorized to increase the present authorized commissioned and enlisted strength of the Signal Corps of the Army, including the Aviation Section thereof.
Sec. 2. That to provide the additional commissioned personnel Additional commissioned personnel authorized.required by this Act the President is authorized to promote, appoint, detail, or attach as temporary officers in the Signal Corps, including the Aviation Section thereof, officers of the Regular Army, National Army, or National Guard, or the Officers’ Reserve Corps, or to appoint temporarily enlisted mon of the Regular Army, enlisted men of the Enlisted Reserve Corps, or persons from civil life: *Provided*, Provisos.Qualifications.That no person shall be so promoted, appointed, detailed, or attached until he shall have been found physically, mentally, and morally qualified under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of War: *Provided further*, That officers with rank not above colonel Appointments by President alone.shall be appointed and commissioned by the President alone, irrespective of the rank or grade held by them on the date of the passage By President and Senate.of this Act, and that officers above the grade of colonel shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, irrespective of the rank or grade held by them on the date of the passage of this Act.
Sec. 3. That to provide the additional enlisted men required Additional enlisted men by enlistment or draft.by this Act, the President is authorized to raise and maintain, by voluntary enlistment or by draft, such number of enlisted men as he may deem necessary and to embody them into organizations *Proviso*.hereinafter provided for in section four: *Provided*, That the draft 244Age limit for drafted men.herein provided for shall not apply to any person under the age of twenty-one years or to any person above the age of thirty-one Chauffeur grades created.years: *Provided further*, That the grades of chauffeur, first class, and chauffeur are hereby created in the Signal Corps.
The pay and allowances of a chauffeur, first class, shall be the same as a sergeant, Pay, rank, etc.first class, in the Signal Corps. Pay and allowances of a chauffeur shall be the same as a sergeant in the Signal Corps. All chauffeurs while serving as such shall rank with corporals of the Signal Corps and shall be subject to promotion and reduction to any other grade now authorized in the Signal Corps. Sec. 4. Tactical units to be organized. That the President is hereby authorized to appropriately officer and organize the personnel of the Signal Corps into such number of divisions, brigades, regiments, wings, squadrons, battalions, companies, and flights as may be necessary, and to increase or decrease the number of organizations prescribed for the divisions, brigades, regiments, wings, squadrons, battalions, companies, and flights, and to prescribe such new and different organizations and personnel for divisions, brigades, regiments, wings, squadrons, battalions, companies, and flights as the efficiency of the service may require.
Headquarters and headquarters detachments for units.The President is further authorized to organize such headquarters and headquarters detachments for divisions, brigades, regiments, wings, squadrons, battalions, companies, and flights as may be necessary, and to prescribe new and different organizations for such headquarters and headquarters detachments whenever the efficiency of the service may require. Sec. 5. General officers to ho appointed for stall and other duty. That the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, is authorized to appoint for the period of the existing emergency such general officers of appropriate grades as may be necessary for staff duty and for duty with such brigades and divisions of the troops of the Signal Corps, including the Aviation Section thereof, as may be organized by the President.
Temporary appointments to fill created vacancies.Vacancies in all grades of the Regular Army, National Army, or National Guard resulting from the temporary appointment of officers *Ante*, pp. 81, 82.thereof to higher grades shall be filled or vacated as provided for in sections eight and nine of the Act authorizing the President to increase temporarily the military establishment of the United States and approved May eighteen, nineteen hundred and seventeen. Sec. 6. Aviators and aeronauts rated.
That officers detailed in or attached to the aviation section of the Signal Corps may, when qualified therefor, be rated as junior military aviators, military aviators, junior military aeronauts, and Certificates of qualification.military aeronauts, but no person shall be so rated until there shall have been issued to him a certificate to the effect that he is qualified Examinations.for the rating, and no certificate shall be issued to any person until an examining board, which shall be composed of two officers of experience of the aviation section of the Signal Corps and one medical officer, shall have examined him under general regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of War and published to the Army by the War Department, and shall have reported him to be qualified Service requirements for ratings.for the rating.
No person shall receive the rating of military aviator or military aeronaut until he shall have served creditably for three years as an aviation officer with the rating of a junior military aviator Exceptions in time of war.or the rating of a junior military aeronaut, except that in time of war any officer or enlisted man who specially distinguishes himself in active service may, upon recommendation of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, be rated as a junior military aviator, military aviator, junior military aeronaut, or military aeronaut without *Provisos*.Increased rank, for aeronauts.regard to examination or to length of service: *Provided*, That junior military aeronauts and military aeronauts shall be entitled to the same increase in rank and pay as are now authorized by law for junior military aviators and military aviators, respectively: *Provided* 245*further*, That any officer attached to the aviation section of the Signal Extra pay for flight duty.Corps for any military duty requiring him to make regular and frequent flights shall receive an increase of twenty-five per centum of the pay of his grade and length of service under his commission.
Sec. 7. That the Secretary of War is authorized from time to time to Enlisted mechanicians rated.cause such number of the enlisted men of the aviation section of the Signal Corps above the grade of corporal as he may deem necessary to be rated as aviation mechanicians or as balloon mechanicians in the manner now proscribed by law: *Provided*, That balloon mechanicians *Proviso*.Balloon mechanicians.shall receive the same increase of pay as now prescribed by law for aviation mechanicians.
Sec. 8. That all officers and enlisted men of the temporary forces All pay, etc., to correspond with Army.of the Signal Corps, including the aviation section thereof provided for herein, shall be in all respects on the same footing as to pay, allowances, and pensions as permanent officers and enlisted men of corresponding grades and length of service in the Regular Army. *Provided*, That nothing in this Act shall operate to decrease the *Proviso*.Authorized Army strength not decreased.present authorized strength of the Regular Army or National Army heretofore authorized by law.
Sec. 9. That during the existing emergency authority is hereby Airships, aerial machines, etc.Authority for emergency purchase, manufacture, etc.*Ante*, p. 43.given to the President, through the War Department, for the purchase, manufacture, maintenance, repair, and operation of airships and other aerial machines, including instruments and appliances of every sort and description necessary for the operation, construction, or equipment of all types of aircraft, including guns, armament, ammunition, and all necessary spare parts ana equipment connected therewith; and all necessary buildings for equipment and personnel Buildings, motor vehicles, etc.in the Aviation Section and for the purchase, maintenance, repair, and operation, through the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, of all mo tor-pro polled passenger and equipment carrying vehicles which may be necessary for the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps.
And during the existing emergency authority is hereby further Aviation stations.given for the establishment, equipment, maintenance, and operation of aviation stations, including
(a)the acquisition of land, or any Sites, buildings, etc.interest in land, with any buildings and improvements thereon, by purchase, lease, donation, condemnation, or otherwise: *Provided*, *Provisos*.Use of public lands.That by order of the President any unappropriated or reserved public lands may be reserved from entry, designated, and used for such aviation stations;
(b)the improvement of such land by clearing, grading, Improvement of sites.draining, seeding, and otherwise making the same suitable for the purpose intended;
(c)the construction, maintenance, and repair of Buildings, structures, etc.permanent or temporary barracks, quarters, hospitals, mess houses, administration, instructional and recreational buildings, hangars, magazines, storehouses, sheds, shops, garages, boathouses, docks, radio stations, laboratories, observation stations, and all other buildings and structures necessary or advisable;
(d)procuring and introducing Water, light, plumbing. etc.water, electric light and power, telephones, telegraph, and sewerage to aviation stations and buildings and structures thereon by the extension of existing systems or the creation of new systems and their maintenance, operation and repair, installation of plumbing, electric fixtures and telephones, fire apparatus and fire alarm systems and the maintenance, operation and repair of all such systems, fixtures and apparatus;
(e)construction and repair of roads, walks, Roads, wharves, etc.sea walls, breakwaters, bridges and wharves, dredging, filling and otherwise improving land and water sites;
(f)purchase of stoves and Subsistence equipments.other cooking and heating apparatus, kitchen and tableware, and furniture and equipment for Kitchens, mess halls, offices, quarters, barracks, hospitals, and other buildings, screens, lockers, refrigerators, and all other necessary equipment;
(g)purchase of gasoline, oil, Fuel supplies.fuel, and all supplies of every kind and character necessary or advis246able for maintenance and operation of aviation stations, including electric light and power, telephones, water supply and sewerage Construction ma chinery, tools, etc.service;
(h)purchase and manufacture and installation of all kinds of machinery, tools, material, supplies, and equipment for construction, maintenance, and repair of aircraft, buildings, and improvements at aviation stations, or property or appliances used in connection with aviation. Special clothing, etc.And also for the purchase or manufacture and issue of special clothing, wearing apparel, and similar equipment for aviation purposes. Travel expenses at home and abroad.And also for the actual and necessary expenses of officers, enlisted men, and civilian employees of the Army and authorized agents sent on special duty at home and abroad for aviation purposes, including observation and investigation of foreign military operations and organization, manufacture of aircraft, and engines, also special courses in foreign aviation schools and manufacturing establishments, to be paid upon certificates of the Secretary of War certifying that the expenditures were necessary for military purposes. Vocational training.And also for vocational training, including employment of necessary civilian instructors in important trades related to aviation, purchase of tools, equipment, materials, and machines required for such training, purchase of textbooks, books of reference, scientific and professional papers, periodicals and magazines, and instruments and material for theoretical and practical instruction at aviation schools Vol. 39, p. 186.and stations, and all other means to cany out the provisions of section twenty-seven of the Act approved June third, nineteen hundred and sixteen, authorizing, in addition to the military training of soldiers while in active service, means for securing educational and vocational training of a character to increase their military efficiency and enable them to return to civil life better equipped for industrial, commercial, and general business occupations. Aviation Section.Pay of reserve officers, enlisted men, etc., called into service.And also to pay and otherwise provide for such officers of the Officers’ Reserve Corps of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps and *Ante*, p. 77.such enlisted men of the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps as may be called into active service and such enlisted men as may be enlisted in the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps under the provisions of section two of the Act to increase temporarily the military establishment of the United States, approved May eighteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, or any subsequent Act temporarily increasing the commissioned or enlisted personnel of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps and such civilian employees as may be necessary, for the payment of their traveling and other *Proviso*.Pay accounts.necessary expenses when not traveling with troops: *Provided*, That hereafter all reserve officers and enlisted men of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps shall be paid by Quartermaster Corps disbursing officers from funds transferred to their credit from Signal Corps appropriations. Development of engines, airplanes, etc.And also for the payment of all expenses in connection with the development of suit able types of aviation engines, airplanes, and other aircraft appurtenances, including the cost of sample engines, airplanes, and appurtenances, cost of any patents and other rights therein, and costs of investigation, experimentation, and research in respect thereto. Maintenance of manufacturing plants, etc.And also for the payment of all expenses in connection with the creation, expansion, acquisition, and development of plants, factories, and establishments for the manufacture of airplanes, aircraft, engines, and appurtenances, including provision for the purchase or lease of land with the buildings thereon, construction of permanent or temporary buildings for all purposes, purchase of machinery, tools, and employment of operatives, together with all administrative expenses necessary, the purchase and supply of raw and semifinished 247materials and of fuel and all other things necessary for creating and extending the production of airplanes, aircraft, engines, and all appurtenances. And also for creating, maintaining, and operating at technical Aviation technical instruction at schools, etc.schools and colleges courses of instruction for aviation students, including cost of instruction, equipment, and supplies necessary for instruction and subsistence of students while receiving such instruction. *Provided*, That, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, Exchanges for new equipment.motor-propelled vehicles, airplanes, engines, parts thereof, and appurtenances may be exchanged in part payment for new equipment of the same or similar character to be used for the same purpose as those proposed to be exchanged. *Provided further*, That during the present emergency, officers and Travel expenses of foreign instructors, etc., in the United States.enlisted men of foreign armies attached to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps as instructors or inspectors when traveling in the United States on official business pertaining to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps shall be authorized, from funds appropriated by this Act, the same mileage and transportation allowances as are authorized for officers or enlisted men of the Regular Army. Sec. 10. That for the purpose of carrying this Act into effect the Appropriation.sum of $640,000,000 is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be available until June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighteen. Approved, July 24, 1917.