RETIREMENTS-RESIGNATIONS-DECEASED OFFICERS. 11

75. When ample testimony establishes the fact that an officer has through vicious indulgence slighted or neglected his duties to such a degree as to make it unsafe to intrust him with a command, or with responsibility that properly belongs to his grade, and when it is shown that such habits have continued for such length of time as to render permanent reformation improbable, this fact, rather than his condition when he appears before the board, shall weigh in its verdict as to his incapacity for active duty.

76. The uniform of an officer on the retired list is that of his actual rank in his regiment or corps when retired, except that the number of the regiment or insignia of corps or department will not be worn. A retired officer with brevet commission, either in the regular or volunteer service of the Army of the United States, may wear the uniform of his highest brevet grade, and an officer who has held a commission, not brevet, in the volunteer service, may wear the uniform of his highest grade in that service except that 'the number of the regiment or insignia of corps or department will not be worn.

ARTICLE XII.

RESIGNATION OF OFFICERS.

77. A resignation tendered by an officer will be forwarded by his commanding officer, through prescribed channels, to the Adjutant-General of the Army for the decision of the President. Until duly accepted, the officer will not be considered as out of the service.

78. A resignation tendered under charges will be forwarded, accompanied by a report of the case, or if practicable, a copy of the charges. All correspondence with the War Department, on the part of the officer who tenders the resignation, will be conducted through prescribed channels.

79. Leave of absence will not be granted on tender of resignation unless the resignation be unconditional and immediate. When leave is requested, the officer's address will accompany the resignation.

80. An officer of the Army on the active list who accepts or exercises the functions of a civil office thereby ceases to be an officer of the Army. An officer on the active list can not lawfully accept or hold any office created by State statutes, whether in State military organizations or otherwise.

ARTICLE XIII.

DECEASED OFFICERS.

81. The death of an officer, with place, cause, day, and hour, will be reported without delay by his immediate commander direct to the AdjutantGeneral of the Army. A duplicate of this report will be forwarded to department headquarters. When the death occurs away from the officer's station, in hospital or on leave, the medical officer, if one be present, or any officer having cognizance of the fact, will make the report.

82. Inventories of the effects of deceased officers, as required by the 125th Article of War, will be transmitted to the Adjutant-General of the Army. If legal representatives take possession of the effects the fact will be stated in the inventory.

83. If there be no legal representatives present to receive the effects, a list of them will be sent to the nearest relative of the deceased. At the end

of two months, if not called for, they will be sold at auction and accounted for as in the case of deceased soldiers, except that swords, watches, trinkets, and similar articles will be labeled with the name, rank, regiment, and date of death of the owner, and sent through the Adjutant-General to the Auditor for the War Department for the benefit of the heirs.

84. On the death of an officer in charge of public property or funds, his commanding officer will appoint a board of survey, which will inventory the same, and make the customary returns therefor, stating accurately amounts and condition. These the commanding officer will forward to the chiefs of the bureaus to which the property or funds pertain, and he will 'designate an officer to take charge of such property or funds until orders in the case are received from the proper authority.

85. The remains of officers killed in action, or who die when on duty in the field or at military posts, or when traveling under orders, will be decently inclosed in coffins, and unless claimed by relatives or friends, will be transported by the Quartermaster's Department to the nearest military post or national cemetery for burial. The expense of transporting the remains is payable from the appropriation for Army transportation; other expenses of burial are limited to $75. If buried at the place of death, the fact will be reported to the Adjutant-General of the Army.

ARTICLE XIV.

DETAILS TO COLLEGES.

86. Officers of the Army may be detailed to act as superintendents or professors of established military institutes, seminaries or academies, colleges or universities. Officers desiring such details may apply to the Adjutant-General of the Army through regular channels.

87. Officers serving with light batteries, regimental staff officers, officers who have served less than five years in the Army or less than three years with their regiments or corps, those who have recently completed a tour of detached duty, and officers on duty as instructors or students at the service schools will not be eligible.

88. A retired officer may, at his own request, be detailed for this duty, or he may arrange to serve at a college without detail from, or reference to, the War Department.

89. No detail will be made to any college or university unless the officer is acceptable to the authorities of the institution.

90. Instructions to officers detailed under paragraph 86, and regulations concerning applications for officers, apportionment of details, and the issue of the ordnance stores authorized by law, will be furnished by the War Department.

ARTICLE XV.

THE POST NONCOMMISSIONED STAFF.

91. The post noncommissioned staff consists of ordnance, commissary, and post quartermaster sergeants. They are appointed by the Secretary of War, after due examination, from sergeants in the line of the Army; ordnance sergeants from those who have served at least eight years in the Army, including four years as noncommissioned officers, and who are less

than 45 years of age; commissary sergeants, from those who have served five years in the Army, including three years as noncommissioned officers; post quartermaster-sergeants, from those who have served four years in the Army.

92. An application for appointment must be in the handwriting of the applicant, and will briefly state the length and nature of his military service, and for what time and in what organizations he has served as a noncommissioned officer. The company commander will indorse thereon the character of the applicant, and his opinion as to his intelligence and fitness for the position. The application so indorsed will be submitted to the regimental commander, who will forward the same, with his remarks as to the merits of the applicant, to the Adjutant-General of the Army.

93. While the law contemplates in these appointments the better preservation of public property at the several posts, there is also a further consideration—that of offering a reward to faithful and well-tried sergeants, thus giving encouragement to deserving soldiers to hope for substantial promotion. Colonels and captains can not be too particular in investigating and reporting upon the character and qualifications of applicants.

94. Before the applicant is appointed he will be examined by a board of officers convened for the purpose by the department commander under orders from the Secretary of War.

95. Preliminary to the examination by the board, the applicant will be examined by a medical officer, to determine whether he is physically fitted to perform all duties incident to the position sought.

96. The examining board will inquire into, and report upon, the age, character, service, and physical condition of the applicant; upon his education, clerical proficiency, and general fitness to perform the duties of the position sought; upon his knowledge of Army Regulations and the regulations of the department which he seeks to enter.

97. Before assignment to posts, ordnance sergeants will be sent to arsenals, when practicable, for temporary duty and instruction.

98. The stations of post noncommissioned staff officers will be designated by the Secretary of War.

99. A sergeant of the post noncommissioned staff will assist the officer of his department, and will not be detailed upon any service that will interfere therewith. If the necessities of the service require such detail, the post commander will note the fact, with reasons therefor, on the sergeant's monthly personal report.

100. A sergeant of the post noncommissioned staff at an ungarrisoned post or station will be responsible for the property of his own department, and for such other property as may be intrusted to him for safe-keeping. For all public property committed to his charge he will account to the heads of the staff departments concerned, and if the means at his disposal are insufficient for its preservation, he will report the facts.

101. The military control of noncommissioned officers of the general staff serving at posts not occupied by troops is vested in the commander of the territorial department in which they are serving. All matters relating to them as soldiers subject to military command, as distinguished from the administrative duties imposed upon them by regulations and orders, will,

14 POST NONCOMMISSIONED STAFF-DETACHED SOLDIERS.

except in cases of re-enlistment, be determined at department headquarters, where their descriptive lists and accounts of pay and clothing will be kept. When they are discharged a copy of the descriptive list, upon which will be noted the fact of discharge, with the date, place and cause, and the character given on the discharge certificate, will be forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army.

102. Each sergeant of the post noncommissioned staff will make such personal reports as may be required by the head of the staff department to which he belongs. The officer under whose orders he is serving will indorse on each report his opinion of the manner in which the sergeant has performed his duties, and the post commander will forward the report direct to the chief of bureau. If, there be no troops at the post, the sergeant will forward the report direct to the Adjutant-General of the Army.

103. A sergeant of the post noncommissioned staff may be re-enlisted, provided he shall have conducted himself properly and performed his duties in a satisfactory manner. If, however, his commanding officer shall not think it proper to make the re-enlistment, he will communicate his reasons to the Adjutant-General of the Army in time to receive the decision of the War Department before the sergeant's discharge. If serving at an ungarrisoned post, application for re-enlistment will be made by the sergeant to the Adjutant-General of the Army, through department headquarters. One of the duplicate re-enlistment papers will be forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army; the other will be filed at the sergeant's station, if a garrisoned post, or if not, at the headquarters of the department in which he is serving.

104. Sergeants of the post noncommissioned staff, though liable to discharge for inefficiency or misconduct, will not be reduced.

ARTICLE XVI.

DETACHED SOLDIERS.

105. Enlisted men detached from their companies will be provided with descriptive lists showing the pay due them, the condition of their clothing allowances, and all information necessary to the settlement of their accounts with the Government should they be discharged. When it can be avoided, the descriptive list will not be intrusted to the soldier, but to an officer or noncommissioned officer, under whose charge he may be serving, or it may be forwarded by mail. The immediate commanding officer will note upon the descriptive lists the date and result of the last vaccination of each soldier.

ARTICLE XVII.

FURLOUGHS TO SOLDIERS.

106. Furloughs in the prescribed form for periods of twenty days may be granted to enlisted men by commanding officers of posts, or by regimental commanders, if the companies to which they belong are under their control. A furlough will not be granted to a soldier about to be discharged,

107. Department commanders may grant furloughs to enlisted men, sergeants of the post noncommissioned staff excepted, for two months, and the Commanding General of the Army for four months, or they may extend to such periods furloughs already granted. For a longer period than four months the authority of the Secretary of War is necessary. Permission to delay

may be granted to enlisted men traveling under orders as authorized for furloughs. The conditions under which furloughs to soldiers on re-enlistment are authorized will be announced from time to time in orders.

108. Furloughs to sergeants of the post noncommissioned staff, or to enlisted men acting as such, may be granted as follows: By a post commander for seven days in case of emergency only; by a department commander for one month. Application for furlough for a longer period will be forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army for the decision of the Secretary of War.

109. Furloughs will not be granted by commanding officers permitting soldiers to go beyond the limits of the next higher command. To enable them to pass such limits the sanction of higher authority must be obtained and indorsed on the furloughs. The approval of the Secretary of War must be obtained to allow an enlisted man on furlough to leave the United States. The limits prescribed will be stated in the furlough, and if exceeded, it may be revoked and the soldier arrested. A company commander in forwarding an application for furlough will state previous absences on furlough, and the authority therefor.

110. On the application of a soldier on furlough, made at the nearest military station and showing clearly the urgency of his case, a department commander may order transportation and subsistence to be furnished to enable him to rejoin his proper station, and the company commander will charge the cost thereof against the soldier's pay on the next muster and pay roll, in accordance with paragraphs 1082 and 1277. The date of the application will be entered on the furlough.

111. A soldier who has returned from furlough to the station from which furloughed, his company having in his absence changed station, is entitled to transportation at the expense of the Government to the new station of his

company.

112. Soldiers on furlough will not take with them their arms or accoutrements, and no payments will be made to them without authority from the Secretary of War.

ARTICLE XVIII.

TRANSFER OF ENLISTED MEN.

113. Transfers of enlisted men will be made for cogent reasons only. They will be effected as follows:

1. From one company to another of the same regiment, not involving change of station, by the colonel. In cases involving change, then by the colonel with the consent of the department commander if change of station is within department limits.

2. From one regiment to another, and between companies of the same regiment serving in different military departments, by the Commanding General of the Army.

3. In all other cases, by the Secretary of War.

114. A transfer will take effect on the receipt of the order at the post where the soldier is serving, and a descriptive list containing the date of transfer will be forwarded to the commanding officer of the company or detachment to which the soldier is transferred.