REGUL TIONS FOR THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. ARTICLE I. MILITARY DISCIPLINE. 1. All persons in the military service are required to obey strictly and to execute promptly the lawful orders of their superiors. 2. Military authority will be exercised with firmness, kindness and justice. Punishments must conform to law and follow offenses as promptly as circumstances will permit. 3. Superiors are forbidden to injure those under their authority by tyrannical or capricious conduct, or by abusive language. 4. Courtesy among military men is indispensable to discipline; respect to superiors will not be confined to obedience on duty but will be extended on all occasions. 5. Deliberations or discussions among military men conveying praise or censure, or any mark of approbation, toward others in the military service, and all publications relating to private or personal transactions between officers, are prohibited. Efforts to influence legislation affecting the Army, or to procure personal favor or consideration, should never be made except through regular military channels; the adoption of any other method will be noted in the military record of those concerned. ARTICLE II. PRECEDENCE OF REGIMENTS AND CORPS. 6. On all occasions of ceremony, except funeral escort, troops are arranged from right to left in line, and from head to rear in column, in the following order: First, infantry; second, light artillery; third, cavalry. Artillery serving as infantry is posted as infantry; dismounted cavalry and marines are on the left of the infantry; engineer troops are on the right of the command to which they are attached; detachments of the hospital corps are assigned to place according to the nature of the service. When cavalry and light artillery, or light artillery and infantry, are reviewed together without other troops, the artillery is posted on the left. In the same arm, regulars, volunteers, and militia are posted in line from right to left, or in column from head to rear, in the order named. In reviews of large bodies of troops the different arms and classes are posted at the discretion of the commanding general, due regard being paid to their position in camp. On all other occasions troops of all classes are posted at the discretion of the general or senior commander. 12851 A R-1 ARTICLE III. RANK AND PRECEDENCE OF OFFICERS AND NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 7. Military rank is that character or quality bestowed on military persons which marks their station, and confers eligibility to exercise command or authority in the military service within the limits prescribed by law. It is divided into degrees or grades, which mark the relative positions and powers of the different classes of persons possessing it. 8. Rank is generally held by virtue of office in a regiment, corps, or department, but may be conferred independently of office, as in the case of retired officers and of those holding it by brevet. 9. The following are the grades of rank of officers and noncommissioned officers: In each grade, date of commission, appointment, or warrant, determines the order of precedence. 10. Officers of the Regular Army, Marine Corps, and volunteers when commissioned or mustered into the service of the United States, being upon equal footing, take precedence in each grade by date of commission or appointment. Militia officers, when employed with the regular or volunteer forces of the United States, take rank next after all officers of like grade in those forces 11. Between officers of the same grade and date of appointment or commission, other than through promotion by seniority, relative rank is determined by length of service, continuous or otherwise, as a commissioned officer of the United States, either in the Regular Army, or, since April 19, 1861, in the volunteer forces. When periods of service are equal, precedence will, except when fixed by order of merit on examination, be determined, first, by rank in service when appointed; second, by former rank in the Army or Marine Corps; third, by lot, among such as have not been in the military service of the United States. 12. The relative rank between officers of the Army and Navy is as follows, lineal rank only being considered: General with admiral. Lieutenant-general miral. Lieutenant-colonel with commander. with vice-ad- Major with lieutenant-commander. Major-general with rear-admiral. Captain with lieutenant. First lieutenant with lieutenant (junior grade). Second lieutenant with ensign. ARTICLE IV. COMMAND. 13. Command is exercised by virtue of office and the special assignment of officers holding military rank who are eligible by law to exercise command. Without orders from competent authority an officer can not put himself on duty by virtue of his commission alone, except as contemplated in the 24th and 122d Articles of War. 14. The following are the commands appropriate to each grade: 1. For a captain, a company. 2. For a major or lieutenant-colonel, a battalion or squadron. 4. For a brigadier-general, two regiments. 5. For a major-general, four regiments. 15. The functions assigned to any officer in these regulations by title of office devolve upon the officer acting in his place, except when otherwise specified. An officer in temporary command shall not, except in urgent cases, alter or annul the standing orders of the permanent commander without authority from the next higher commander. 16. An officer who succeeds to any command or duty stands in regard to his duties in the same situation as his predecessor. The officer relieved will turn over to his successor all orders in force at the time, and all the public property and funds pertaining to his command or duty, and will receive therefor duplicate receipts showing the condition of each article. 17. An officer of Engineers or Ordnance, or of the Adjutant-General's, Inspector-General's, Judge-Advocate-General's, Quartermaster's, or Subsistence Department, or of the Signal Corps, though eligible to command, according to his rank, shall not assume command of troops unless put on duty under orders which specially so direct, by authority of the President. 18. An officer of the Pay or Medical Department can not exercise command, except in his own department; but by virtue of his commission he may command all enlisted men like other commissioned officers. 19. When an officer is charged with directing an expedition or making a reconnaissance, without having command of the escort, the commander of the escort will consult him touching all arrangements necessary to secure the success of the operation. ARTICLE V. APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 20. Notices of appointments and promotions are issued by the War Department, through the Adjutant-General of the Army. 21. Appointment to the grade of general officer is made by selection from the Army. 22. Promotions in established staff corps and departments to include the grade of colonel will be made by seniority, subject to the examinations required by law. 23. 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, except that all officers of the line of the Army in service October 1, 1890, above the grade of second lieutenant, will, subject to the prescribed examinations, be promoted in accordance with the regulations existing on that date. 24. Vacancies in the grade of second lieutenant existing on the 1st day of July each year are filled by appointment, in order, as follows: (1) From graduates of the United States Military Academy; (2) from enlisted men of the Army found duly qualified; (3) from civil life. 25. With a view to the selection of proper enlisted men of the Army as "candidates for promotion" to the grade of second lieutenant, each department commander will, as soon as practicable after March 15 of each year, convene a board of five officers for the preliminary examination of the soldiers of his command who are legally qualified applicants for a commission, to determine their eligibility for the competitive examination. This board will institute a rigid inquiry into the character, capacity, record, and qualifications of the several candidates, and will recommend none for competitive examination who are not able to establish their fitness for promotion to the entire satisfaction of the board. On September 1 of each year the War Department will convene a board of five officers for the final competitive examination to determine the fitness and order of merit for promotion of the soldiers who have successfully passed the preliminary examination. Two members of each board will be officers of the Medical Department. 26. Each enlisted man recommended in accordance with the law and the foregoing regulation will receive from the Adjutant-General of the Army a certificate of eligibility for appointment to the grade of second lieutenant and will be known as a candidate" for promotion. He will have the title "candidate" prefixed to his name in all rolls, returns, orders and correspondence in which it appears, and will be entitled to wear the candidate's stripes on the sleeves of uniform coat, blouse, and overcoat, so long as he holds this specially honorable position. The candidate's stripe will be worn on the upper half of each cuff. It will consist of a double stripe running the length of the cuff, pointed at the upper end and with a small button below the point of the stripe; for uniform coat, of gold braid; for blouse and overcoat, of cloth of same color as facings of uniform; width of braid or cloth, onequarter inch; width of space between braid, one-eighth inch. 27. The eligibility of a candidate for appointment as second lieutenant and his privileges as candidate terminate the 1st of September next succeeding his competitive examination, unless he shall again be recommended on competitive examination. A candidate who becomes ineligible by reason of age will be entitled to wear the candidate's stripe on the left sleeve so long as he maintains his good standing in the service. Having passed a departmental board, but having failed to pass the competitive board, he may again be examined by the competitive board on proper application made through department headquarters; he will not be required to pass a departmental board a second time. An applicant who twice fails in competitive examination to obtain a certificate of eligibility as candidate for promotion can not again compete for that position. 28. Candidates who may be guilty of misconduct will be promptly reported to the Adjutant-General of the Army, through regimental and department headquarters, the report to contain a full statement of the alleged 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 Secretary of War. 29. Candidates for promotion will not be deprived of the privileges of their position unless by sentence of a general court-martial or the order of the Secretary of War, except by operation of law or regulations. While holding the privileges of that position they will not be brought before a summary or field officer's court, or a garrison or regimental court-martial. 30. A soldier to be eligible for the position of candidate for promotion must be a citizen of the United States, unmarried, between 21 and 30 years of age on the 1st of September following his preliminary examination, and of good moral character both before and after enlistment. An applicant will not be ordered for the preliminary examination unless it is apparent that, on the 1st of September next following, he will have served honorably not less than two years, exclusive of technical service due to furlough or other absence from duty in his own interest; nor for the final competitive examination unless he shall have so served. Applications will be made to department commanders on or before February 1 of each year, and company commanders in forwarding them will certify all furloughs had by applicants, stating under what authority they were granted. 31. 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, by a board convened and constituted as provided in paragraph 25 for the final competitive examination of soldiers. ARTICLE VI. STAFF APPOINTMENTS AND DETAILS. MILITARY ATTACHÉS. 32. As far as practicable, all appointments and details for staff duties will be equalized among the several regiments. 33. A major-general is allowed by law three aids, to be taken from cap. tains or lieutenants of the Army. A brigadier-general is allowed two, 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 commands, subject to the restrictions herein prescribed, but appointments as aids of officers serving without such limits must receive the approval of the Secretary of War. An officer will be appointed aid to a general officer only after he shall have actually served with troops for at least three of the five years immediately preceding such appointment. He will hold such appointment for no longer period than four years, except that, upon the request of a general officer whose retirement by reason of age will occur within one year, the tour of four years may be extended by the Secretary of War to the date of such retirement. 31. 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. 35. An officer will not be detached from his regiment or corps until he has served at least three years therewith, and when an officer shall have |