HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 199 TUESDAY, JULY 15, 1941 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10 a. m., Hon. Andrew J. May (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, we have another joint resolution, No. 199, authorizing temporary appointment of officers in the Army of the United States, which is as follows: [H. J. Res. 199, 77th Cong., 1st sess.] JOINT RESOLUTION To authorize temporary appointments of officers in the Army of the United States Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That during the present emergency, temporary appointments as officers in the Army of the United States may be made, under such regulations as the President may prescribe, from among qualified persons without appointing such persons as officers in any particular component of the Army of the United States. All persons so appointed as officers shall be commissioned in the Army of the United States and may be ordered into the active military service of the United States to serve therein for such periods of time as the President may prescribe. Such appointments in grades below that of brigadier general shall be made by the President alone, and general officers by and with the advice and consent of the Senate: Provided, That any appointment made under the provisions of this Act may be vacated at any time by the President and, if not sooner vacated, shall continue during the present emergency and six months thereafter: Provided further, That any person appointed as an officer in the Army of the United States under the provisions of this Act shall receive the same pay and allowances and be entitled to the same rights, privileges, and benefits as members of the Officers' Reserve Corps of the same grade and length of active service: And provided further, That nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the appointment of officers in the various components of the Army of the United States in accordance with existing laws. General Marshall, do you care to make a statement on that? STATEMENT OF MAJ. GEN. GEORGE C. MARSHALL General MARSHALL. The purpose of House Joint Resolution 199 is to broaden the provisions of existing laws which govern temporary appointments of officers in the Army of the United States so as to authorize such appointments not only in time of war but at the present time as well. Last year I asked you to expand the provisions of law which authorized temporary promotion in time of war so as to authorize such promotions during a national emergency determined by the President. The Congress enacted the necessary legislation and as a result much has been accomplished in our effort to provide appropriate and proper leadership for the Army. Existing provisions of law authorize, during time of war, temporary appointments in the Army of the United States, as distinguished from 1 appointments in the individual components of such Army. There is no authorization for such appointments in time of peace, however, and we are now feeling a definite need for such authority. House Joint Resolution 199 provides in substance that during the present emergency temporary appointments as officers in the Army of the United States may be made, without appointing the persons concerned as officers in any particular component of the Army of the United States. All persons appointed under the measure would be commissioned in the Army of the United States and could be ordered into active military service to serve therein for such periods of time as the President may prescribe. Appointments in grades below that of brigadier general are to be made by the President alone, and general officers by and with the consent of the Senate. Appointments made could be vacated at any time by the President, and if not sooner vacated would continue in force during the present emergency and 6 months thereafter. The officers appointed would receive the same pay and allowances and would be entitled to the same rights, privileges, and benefits as members of the Officers' Reserve Corps of the same grade and length of active service. It is also provided that nothing contained in the joint resolution shall be construed to prohibit the appointment of officers in the various components of the Army of the United States in accordance with existing laws. Sound personnel policy dictates that the officer personnel of the Regular Army, the National Guard, and the Officers' Reserve Corps be considered at all times as separate continuing bodies of officers and that each be maintained at a permanent strength limited to the Army's normal requirements in time of peace; that during times of war or national emergency these separate bodies be merged into one officers' corps of the Army of the United States; that this composite group then be expanded in numbers and reinforced in regard to certain specialists during the time of war or emergency; and that after such war or emergency the officer personnel concerned revert back to their respective separate continuing groups. The enactment of House Joint Resolution 199 will enable the War Department to carry out this policy. Continuing bodies of officers for each of the components of the Army of the United States are insured under provisions of existing laws governing peacetime appointments in the respective groups. These provisions of law are continued in force by the last proviso of the resolution. Other provisions of the resolution will enable the Department to appoint as temporary officers, in the Army of the United States certain specialists whose services are desired in connection with particular projects of this emergency but whose military knowledge and general qualifications do not justify their retention in a component of the Army of the United States after the emergency is terminated; and other provisions will enable the Department to build up, during the emergency, the large corps of officers necessary to properly officer our national-defense forces and to do this without overextending the permanent commissioned personnel in the Regular Army, the National Guard, or the Officers' Reserve Corps. The authorization that we are requesting in House Joint Resolution 199 is extremely important to each of the components of the Army of the United States, particularly to the Officers' Reserve TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS 3 Corps, because without such authorization the components must necessarily be permanently expanded, thus necessitating either wholesale discharges after the emergency or a marked decrease of efficiency because of inability properly to train the unduly large numbers involved. The CHAIRMAN. Just one thing I would like to have you discuss a little further. That is, your statement of policy there during the emergency or wartime, having coordinated one Army consisting of the National Guard, Reserve Corps, and the Regular Establishment. General MARSHALL. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What is your idea about decentralizing that when you get back to peacetime into three units? Why not keep it one Army? General MARSHALL. Mr. Chairman, that involves a fundamental policy of the Government, the rewriting of the National Defense Act. The CHAIRMAN. I will withdraw the question. Perhaps it is a matter of war policy and not for you. General MARSHALL. I am trying to meet the problems that confront us today. Mr. THOMASON. Are all these men to be covered by this resolution specialists? General MARSHALL. No, sir. Mr. THOMASON. What branches of the service would these men be in? General MARSHALL. The Army of the United States. Mr. THOMASON. You have about a hundred thousand Reserves? Mr. THOMASON. And you have only used about 50,000? Mr. THOMASON. Now, I can appreciate the situation where you need a specialist of some sort, but if it is the ordinary run of officers, isn't the first obligation toward a Reserve officer, when there are lots who would like to go into the service? Would they be replaced by a civilian who is involved in this legislation? General MARSHALL. Civilians are not involved in this matter. We have now some 2,000 men who have been picked to go to the officers' candidate school July 1. I should say 99 percent of them will successfully complete the course. Under this law we would not commission them in the Reserve Corps but in the Army of the United States. Mr. HARTER. Why don't you say so, "by reason of showing leadership, and so forth, take the officers' training camp courses," if that is the purpose of it? General MARSHALL. That is one of the purposes. This legislation would also enable us to commission a man where military rank is believed to be essential to the performance of his duty, but who, though he has a decided specialty, has no military background at all and we don't want him in the Reserve Corps more or less permanently. Mr. THOMASON. I can appreciate the situation where you have the young fellows who have passed the training camp and you don't want to put them in the Reserve. I can appreciate the situation with regard to specialists. It does seem to me, with over 50,000 Reserve |