ARTICLE V.

APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

21. Notices of appointments and promotions are issued by the War Department through The Adjutant-General of the Army.

22. Appointment to the grade of general officer is made by selection from the Army.

23. Oaths of office of officers of the Army will be taken before some officer who is authorized by the law of the United States or by the local municipal law to administer oaths, before the judge-advocate of a department, or of a court-martial, or before the trial officer of a summary court. Officers of the Army, other than those above specified, are not authorized by law to administer such oaths.

24. Promotions in established staff corps and departments are limited to officers holding permanent appointments therein and to include the grade of colonel will be made by seniority, subject to the examination required by law.

25. Promotions in the line of the Army to include the grade of colonel, in each arm of the service, will be made by seniority, subject to the examinations required by law.

26. Whenever any officer is ordered before an examining or retiring board the originals or copies of all official records affecting his character or efficiency, on file in any bureau of the War Department, will be furnished to The AdjutantGeneral of the Army and by him forwarded for the consideration of the board. 27. Vacancies in the grade of second lieutenant in the cavalry, artillery, and infantry remaining on the 1st of July, each year, that are not needed for the graduates of that year of the United States Military Academy, may be filled by appointment in the following order:

(a) Of enlisted men of the Army, whose fitness for advancement shall have been determined by a competitive examination.

(b) From civil life.

All vacancies occurring after July 1, and not needed for the graduates of that year of the Military Academy, will be held for the next graduating class of the Academy.

28. A soldier to be eligible to compete for appointment to the grade of second lieutenant must be a citizen of the United States, unmarried, and under 30 years of age on the 1st day of September of the year in which he is to enter the competition, and must have served honorably not less than two years in the Army as an enlisted man on or before that date; he must also be physically sound, of good moral character before and after enlistment, and must be an enlisted man of the Army at the date of his application and of his examination, and, if appointed a second lieutenant, must be an enlisted man at the date of his appointment.

29. An enlisted man who desires to appear for examination will submit through military channels an application so that it will reach the department commander on or before February 1 of the year in which he desires to take the examination. An application received after that date will not be considered unless it be shown that the delay was through no fault of the applicant.

Company commanders in forwarding such applications will verify the statements of service as given, and will state specifically whether, in their opinion, the soldier fulfills each of the conditions required by the preceding paragraph, and will add their remarks as to the aptitude of the applicant for the position sought.

Post commanders will, upon the receipt of such applications, cause the applicants to be examined by a medical officer as to their physical qualifications, and will forward the report of such examination with the applications, adding their remarks as to the aptitude of the applicants for the position sought.

30. With a view to the selection of proper enlisted men for advancement to the grade of second lieutenant each department commander will, as soon as practicable after March 1 of each year, convene a board of five officers, two of whom shall be medical officers, for the preliminary examination of the soldiers of his command who are legally qualified therefor, with a view to determining their eligibility for the final examination. This board will institute a rigid inquiry into the character, capacity, record, and qualifications of the several candidates, and will recommend no one for the final examination who is not able to establish his fitness for promotion to the entire satisfaction of the board. Each year in which there remain vacancies in the grade of second lieutenant for appointment to which enlisted men are eligible, the War Department will on September 1 convene a board of five officers before which those who have successfully passed the departmental boards will appear to compete in the final examination for appointment to such vacancies.

31. The final examination is competitive and for a specified number of vacancies. The board which conducts the final examination will recommend for appointment only such number, in the order of merit established by the final examination, as will equal the number of vacancies apportioned to enlisted competitors by the Secretary of War, and no greater number will be reported as having passed. No competitor will be recommended by the board who is not physically, morally, and mentally qualified for the position of second lieutenant in the Army. Upon the approval by the War Department of the report of the board each competitor recommended in accordance with this paragraph will receive from The Adjutant-General of the Army a certificate of eligibility for promotion to the grade of second lieutenant. No applicant will be ordered before the final board who has not successfully passed the departmental board for that year. If in any year no final examination be held, the preliminary examination for that year will be void. An applicant who twice fails to pass the preliminary examination in years in which final examinations are held or who twice fails in his final examination to obtain a certificate of eligibility can not again compete for appointment to the grade of second lieutenant in the Army.

32. All rights and privileges arising from a certificate of eligibility may be vacated by sentence of a court-martial, but no soldier while holding the privileges of a certificate shall be brought before a garrison or regimental courtmartial or summary court.

33. Enlisted men holding certificates of eligibility who may be guilty of misconduct will be promptly reported to the War Department, through regimental and department headquarters, the report to contain a full statement of the misconduct, with names of witnesses. The department commander will see that the candidate has a fair and impartial hearing, and will forward the report for the decision of the War Department.

34. A civilian to be eligible for appointment must be a citizen of the United States, unmarried, between 21 and 27 years of age, must be examined and approved as to habits, moral character, mental and physical ability, education, and general fitness for the service. The educational qualifications required for appointment will be announced in orders from time to time by the War Department.

35. No person shall be examined unless he has a letter from the War Department authorizing his examination.

If the candidate has been graduated at an institution where he received military instruction, he must present a diploma or a recommendation from the faculty of the institution.

If a member of the organized militia, he must present recommendations from the proper authorities thereof.

36. Every candidate will be subjected to a rigid physical examination, and if there be found to exist any cause of disqualification which might in the future impair his efficiency as an officer of the Army, he will be rejected. The board will inquire and report concerning each applicant whether he is of good moral character or addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors. Examination as to physical qualifications will conform to the standard required of recruits, except that every candidate for appointment as a commissioned officer, either of the line or staff, will be rejected who is under 5 feet 5 inches in height. A certificate of physical examination by at least two medical officers will accompany the proceedings of the board.

37. No person who has been a cadet at the Military Academy is to be deemed under any circumstances entitled to receive a commission in advance of the graduation of his class. Under the act of Congress approved March 2, 1901, no cadet who has been expelled from the Military Academy for hazing will be commissioned until two years after the graduation of the class of which he was a member.

ARTICLE VI.

DETAILS.

38. Regulations respecting details of line officers to the staff, together with such rules as may be prescribed by the President in regard to examinations therefor, will be announced in orders from time to time by the War Department.

39. In making details for special duty and detached service, due consideration will be given to the efficiency, zeal, and reliability of officers as evidenced by the record of their services.

40. An officer will not be detached from his corps or arm of the service unless he has served at least two of the preceding six years therewith.

When at any time an officer has served less than two of the preceding six years with his corps or arm of the service, he will be ordered to join said corps or arm of the service unless on detached service which, under the law, can not be so terminated. Exceptions to this rule will not be made except in case of emergency or in time of war.

41. Except when detailed in the General Staff Corps, general officers are authorized to have aids as follows:

The lieutenant-general, two aids and a military secretary who have the rank of lieutenant-colonel while so serving; a major-general, three aids to be taken from the captains or lieutenants of the Army; a brigadier-general, two aids to be taken from the lieutenants of the Army. An officer assigned to duty in accordance with his brevet rank as major-general or brigadier-general, may, with the special sanction of the War Department, be allowed the aids of the grade. General officers may select their aids from officers serving in their command subject to the restrictions prescribed in paragraph 40, but appointments as aids of officers serving without such limits must receive the approval of the War Department.

42. The laws, regulations, and instructions governing the details of officers of the Army, active and retired, at educational institutions will be published from time to time by the War Department.

ARTICLE VII.

CHAPLAINS.

43. Regimental chaplains and chaplains of the Coast Artillery Corps will be assigned and transferred by the Secretary of War.

44. It shall be the duty of commanders of regiments, hospitals, and posts to afford to chaplains, assigned to the same for duty, such facilities as may aid them in the performance of their duties.

The instruction of the enlisted men in the common English branches of education is made by law one of the duties of chaplains. They will not be employed on duties other than those required of them by law or pertaining to their profession, except when the exigencies of the service, a result of deficiency in number of officers present, require it.

45. Chaplains will render, through military channels, monthly reports of the duties performed by them, and of all births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths occurring at their stations. The reports will be made on the prescribed form to The Adjutant-General of the Army.

46. Chaplains will not be required to turn out with troops on occasions of ceremony, but will be inspected at chapels, schoolrooms, libraries, or such places as may be designated by commanding officers.

ARTICLE VIII.

TRANSFER OR EXCHANGE OF OFFICERS.

47. Officers transferred from one arm or corps to another, on mutual application, will be nominated for reappointment with rank as of the date of the commission of the junior officer previous to the transfer, and upon confirmation will be recommissioned accordingly. An officer of the lowest grade in any arm or corps who may be transferred, on his own application, to a vacancy in his grade in any other arm or corps will take rank next after the junior officer of the arm or corps to which he is transferred, and will be nominated for reappointment, with a new date of rank if necessary to fix his proper position, and upon confirmation will be recommissioned accordingly. These new appointments and commissions will determine the rank of transferred officers in their regiments and corps as well as in the Army.

48. Officers in each arm of the service will be transferred from one regiment to another therein, as the interests of the service require, by orders from the War Department, without change of rank or commission. The transfer or exchange of company officers of a regiment will be made only as the interests of the service require by the regimental commander when change of station is not involved; in cases involving change of station, by the regimental commander, with the approval of the authority competent to direct the necessary travel.

Artillery district commanders have the same authority in transferring lieutenants of the Coast Artillery Corps within their districts as is herein given to regimental commanders.

Transfers and exchanges made under this paragraph will be immediately reported to the War Department.

ARTICLE IX.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE TO OFFICERS.

49. In time of peace a general officer commanding a post may grant leaves of absence for two months. Other post commanders and officers commanding general depots of supply, general hospitals, and mine planters, may grant leaves of absence for not to exceed ten days at one time or in the same calendar month. 50. The commander of a post may take leave of absence not to exceed ten days at one time or in the same month, reporting the fact to his next superior commander.

51. The commander of a tactical division or separate brigade may grant leaves for one month, the commander of a corps or department for two months, the commander of a territorial division or department not part of a division for four months; or they may extend to such periods those already granted. Applications for leaves of more than four months' duration, or from officers of the staff corps and departments for more than one month, will be forwarded for the action of the War Department. General officers stationed within the continental limits of the United States will not grant themselves leaves to pass beyond those limits, nor will general officers serving in the Philippines Division grant themselves leaves to go beyond the limits of that division.

52. Chiefs of bureaus may grant leaves for one month to officers of their respective corps serving under their immediate direction, or extend to that period those already granted to such officers.

53. Leaves of absence for three months, from date of graduation, will be allowed to graduates of the Military Academy. Such leaves will not be counted against them in subsequent applications for leave, but can not be postponed to another time.

A graduate who is ordered on temporary duty at the Military Academy while on graduation leave will revert to leave status on completion of the duty and will be permitted to complete a period of three months on graduation leave exclusive of the time spent on such duty.

54. Leaves of absence will not be granted so that a company will be left without a commissioned officer, or a post without two commissioned officers and competent medical attendance; nor will leave of absence be granted to an officer during the season of active operations, except in case of urgent necessity. 55. Leave of absence exceeding ten days, except under extraordinary circumstances particularly stated in the application, will not be granted to an officer until he has joined his regiment or corps and served therein at least two years. 56. An application for leave must state its desired duration and be forwarded through military channels. Intermediate commanders will indorse thereon their recommendations.

57. The commanding officer will refer applications for leaves of absence on account of sickness to the surgeon. The surgeon will examine the applicant, and should he find the leave necessary to restore health he will submit to the commanding officer a medical certificate in the prescribed form, stating explicitly the nature, seat, and degree of the disease, wound, or disability, the cause thereof, if known, and the period during which the officer has suffered from it. He will also give his opinion whether the disease, wound, or disability can be satisfactorily treated within the department in which the officer is stationed, or whether a change of climate or locality is necessary to afford more rapid or perfect recovery, in which case the special place or region recommended will be designated, with reasons therefor. The surgeon will also state whether in his opinion the disease, wound, or disability requires treatment by a specialist,