Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

The price of purchase in the first month of the second year will be $120, and will be $5 less in each succeeding month of the period during which purchase may be authorized.

145. Enlisted men who have served meritoriously twelve years or more, continuously or otherwise, will be classified as veteran soldiers. If it be for their material benefit, discharge may be granted them by the Secretary of War by way of favor as veterans. A soldier once discharged as a veteran will not be discharged again by way of favor.

146. Soldiers discharged as provided in paragraphs 144 and 145 will not receive travel allowances.

147. Transcripts from records of civil courts need not accompany applications for discharge of enlisted men sentenced to imprisonment by such courts. The official statement of the company commander to that effect is sufficient.

148. The cause of discharge and the soldier's age at its date will be stated in the body of the discharge certificate. His character will be accurately described at the bottom of the certificate, but if not sufficiently good to allow of his re-enlistment, that portion of the certificate relating to his character will be cut off. The words "Service honest and faithful," or "Service not honest and faithful," as the case may be, will be entered under "Remarks" in the military record on the back of the discharge certificate, and will also be noted on the final statements. The company commander will, before submitting the discharge certificate to the proper officer for signature, inform the soldier of the character he intends to give him. Should the soldier feel that injustice will be done him thereby he may at once apply for redress to the post commander, who will immediately convene a board of officers to determine the facts in the case, and will briefly note the finding of the board, if approved by him, on the discharge certificate. But in all cases where the company commander deems a soldier's services unfaithful, he should whenever practicable notify the soldier at least thirty days prior to discharge of the character which he intends to give, in order that the soldier may have ample opportunity to apply for and be heard before the board. In such cases the proceedings of the board, showing all the facts pertinent to the inquiry, with the views of the intermediate commanders indorsed thereon, will be transmitted for the consideration and action of the War Department. This board may be called upon the application of the post or company commander, and if by the former the department commander shall appoint it. The character given by the company commander, also the character found by the board, will be noted on the muster-roll. The officer who prepares the discharge will state thereon whether the man is married or unmarried, the number of his minor children, and, if discharged from a re-enlistment, the number thereof.

149. If a soldier be discharged while absent from his company, the date, place, and cause thereof will be reported to his company commander by the officer giving the discharge, and this report will be accompanied by a complete descriptive list.

150. In order to prevent payment on fraudulent discharge papers, the officer who prepares the final statements of a soldier will, shortly before his discharge, send to the paymaster to whom the soldier may wish to apply for payment, a notification in his own handwriting, stating therein the date of last payment to the soldier and his credits and debits, both in words and

22

DISCHARGES-CERTIFICATES OF DISABILITY.

figures. The officer will also send the soldier's signature, or will report that the soldier can not write his name. This notification will not be given to the soldier, but will be sent by mail, so as to reach the paymaster before the soldier can report for payment. The officer issuing the final statements will inform the discharged soldier, in writing, of the name and location of the paymaster to whom he shall apply for payment, and at the same time send the required notification to the designated paymaster.

151. Blank forms for discharge and final statements will be furnished by the Adjutant-General of the Army, and will be retained in the personal custody of company commanders; those for discharge will be of three classes: For honorable and for dishonorable discharge, and for discharge without honor. They will be used as follows:

1. The parchment discharge blank, for honorable discharge only, and the word honorably" will be interlined in the old blanks when used.

2. The blank for dishonorable discharge, for such discharge alone. 3. The blank for discharge without honor, when a soldier is discharged: (a) Without trial, on account of fraudulent enlistment.

(b) Without trial, on account of having become disqualified for service, physically or in character, through his own fault.

(c) On account of imprisonment under sentence of a civil court.

(d) On account of being, at the expiration of his term of enlistment, in confinement under the sentence of a general court-martial which does not provide for dishonorable discharge.

(e) With forfeiture of retained pay on the approved finding of a board that he has not served honestly and faithfully.

(f) When discharge without honor is specially ordered by the Secretary of War for any other reason.

152. A dishonorable discharge from the service is a complete expulsion from the Army, and covers all unexpired enlistments.

153. When transportation in kind is furnished a discharged soldier to enable him to reach a paymaster, the quartermaster will note on the final statements that "transportation in kind from to has been furnished, stating the cost when it can be ascertained by him. If transportation be furnished to a soldier discharged at the place of his enlistment, to enable him to reach a paymaster, the cost thereof, which will be ascertained and noted on the final statements, will be deducted.

CERTIFICATES OF DISABILITY.

154. When an enlisted man is permanently unfitted for military service because of wounds or disease, he should, if practicable, be discharged on certificate of disability before the expiration of the term of service in which the disability was incurred. Blank forms will be furnished by the AdjutantGeneral of the Army, and the directions thereon will be strictly complied with.

155. When physical disability does not appear to be permanent, was incurred in line of duty, and benefit may be expected from a change of climate, a report of the case will be forwarded for the action of the Commanding General of the Army. The soldier will not be transferred to another company. In cases likely to be benefited by treatment in the Army and Navy General Hospital at Hot Springs, Ark., the application required by the regulations for admission thereto will be made. A record of cases

CERTIFICATES OF DISABILITY-DECEASED SOLDIERS.

23

transferred under the foregoing provisions, with a report of results, will be forwarded to the Surgeon-General at the end of each calendar year.

156. When an application for discharge is approved, the post or regimental commander will furnish to the surgeon by whom the certificate was given, or to the senior surgeon of the command to which the soldier was attached at the time of his discharge, a letter setting forth the full name and rank of the soldier, the company and regiment to which he belonged, the date of discharge, and the cause thereof as stated in the certificate. The surgeon, having made a true copy of the letter for the completion of his own records, will forward the original to the Surgeon-General direct.

157. When there is a probable case for pension, special care will be taken to state in the certificate the degree of disability, to describe particularly the disability, wound, or disease, the extent to which it deprives the soldier of the use of any limb or faculty, or affects his health, strength, activity, constitution, or capacity to labor.

ARTICLE XXII.

DECEASED SOLDIERS.

158. When a soldier is killed in action, or dies at any post, hospital, or station, it shall be the duty of his immediate commander to secure his effects and to prepare the inventory required by the 126th Article of War, according to prescribed form. Duplicates of the inventory, with final statements, will be forwarded direct to the Adjutant-General of the Army.

159. Should the effects of a deceased soldier not be claimed within 30 days, they will be sold by a council of administration under the authority of the post commander, and the proceeds transferred to the commander of the company to which the deceased belonged, by whom they will be deposited with a paymaster to the credit of the United States. Duplicate receipts will be taken, one of which will be sent direct to the Adjutant-General of the Army and the other retained with the company records.

160. In all cases of sale by a council of administration, a detailed statement of the proceeds, duly certified by the council and commanding officer, will accompany the paymaster's receipt forwarded by the company commander to the Adjutant-General of the Army. The statement will be indorsed: "Report of the proceeds of the effects of late of the day

company of

regiment of

who died at

[ocr errors]

161. The effects will be delivered, when called for, to the legal representatives of the deceased, and the receipts therefor forwarded to the AdjutantGeneral of the Army. Applications for arrears of pay and proceeds of sale of effects of deceased soldiers should be addressed to the Auditor for the War Department, Washington, D. C., who settles such accounts.

162. The remains of deceased soldiers will be decently inclosed in coffins and transported by the Quartermaster's Department to the nearest military post or national cemetery for burial, unless the commanding officer deem burial at the place of death to be proper, when a report of the fact will be made to the Adjutant-General of the Army. The expense of transporting the remains is payable from the appropriation for Army transportation: other expenses of burial are limited to $15 for noncommissioned officers and $10 for private soldiers.

24

WORKING PARTIES-EXTRA AND SPECIAL DUTY.

ARTICLE XXIII.

WORKING PARTIES. EXTRA AND SPECIAL DUTY MEN.

163. Troops will not be employed in labors that interfere with their military duties except in cases of necessity.

164. Enlisted men detailed to perform specific services which remove them temporarily from the ordinary duty roster of the organization to which they belong will be reported on extra duty if receiving increased compensation therefor, otherwise, on special duty. They will not be placed on extra duty except as bakers or to perform the necessary routine services in the Quartermaster's and Subsistence Departments, without the sanction of the department commander, nor will they be employed on extra duty for labor in camp or garrison which can be properly performed by fatigue parties. Allotments of funds for payment of extra-duty men at department headquarters and depots under the control of department commanders will be made only with the approval of the Secretary of War. Duty of a military character must be performed without extra compensation.

165. Enlisted men detailed by name on extra duty under competent authority at constant labor for not less than ten days, are entitled to receive extra-duty pay at the following rates: For services as mechanics, artisans, and school teachers, 50 cents per day; as bakers, according to paragraph 306; as overseers, cierks, teamsters, laborers, and for all other extra-duty services, 35 cents per day.

166. The detail of a noncommissioned officer on extra duty other than that of overseer will not be made without the approval of the Secretary of War. A noncommissioned officer will not be detailed on any duty inconsistent with his rank and position in the military service.

167. Noncommissioned staff officers and enlisted men of the several staff departments will not be detailed on extra duty without authority from the Secretary of War. They are not entitled to extra-duty pay for services rendered in their respective departments.

168. Company artificers, farriers, blacksmiths, saddlers, and wagoners will not receive extra-duty pay unless detailed on extra duty in the Quartermaster's Department, wholly disconnected from their companies.

169. Soldiers on extra duty will be paid the extra rates of pay allowed by law for the duty performed, and for the exact number of days employed; and no greater number of men will be employed on extra duty at any time than can be paid the full legal rates for the time employed from the funds provided. Payments made in violation of the above rules will be charged against the officers who ordered the details.

170. Extra-duty men will attend the weekly and monthly inspections of their companies, and as many daily drills as practicable. Special-duty men, except noncommissioned officers in charge of barracks or stables, the cooks, and such clerks as are necessarily excused by commanding officers, will attend all drills and inspections.

171. Extra-duty men will be held to such hours of labor as may be expedient and necessary; but, except in case of urgent public necessity, as in military operations, eight hours will be considered a day's work. For all hours employed beyond that number, the soldier will receive additional com

pensation-the extra hours being computed as fractions of a day of eight hours' duration.

172. Details of enlisted men for extra and special duty will be limited to actual necessities, which will be determined by post commanders in accordance with limits published in orders from the War Department. Allotments to posts of funds for extra-duty pay are made by department commanders from allotments made to departments for the purpose, and must not be exceeded without special authority from department commanders.

ARTICLE XXIV.

SOLDIERS' HOME.

173. An honest and faithful service of twenty years in the Army entitles a soldier to admission to the Soldier's Home, Washington, D. C.

174. When a soldier, by reason of long service, or disability contracted in the line of duty, desires to enter the Soldiers' Home, his company commander will so report, through military channels, to the Adjutant-General of the Army, giving all the details necessary for a full understanding of the case, including the date of each enlistment, with company and regiment. If the soldier be physically disabled, the report will be accompanied by certificates of disability. The papers will be referred to the Board of Commissioners of the Home, and if, in its opinion, the soldier is entitled to become an inmate, the necessary authority will be given for his discharge at the place where he is serving. He may then proceed to Washington and report to the Board of Commissioners for admission to the Home.

175. Transportation to the Home will not be furnished except by authority of the Secretary of War, on the application of the Board of Commissioners; and in such cases the officers who pay the accounts will be guided by the regulations governing the payment of accounts for transportation of persons procuring artificial limbs, as prescribed in paragraphs 1467 to 1471. inclusive, except that the account will be referred to the Treasurer of the Soldiers' Home for repayment.

176. Commanding officers will not order the issue of clothing or subsistence to be repaid from the funds of the Home.

ARTICLE XXV.

MEDALS OF HONOR AND CERTIFICATES OF MERIT.

177. Medals of honor will be awarded by the President to officers and enlisted men who most distinguish themselves in action.

178. When any enlisted man of the Army shall have distinguished himself in the service, the President may grant him a certificate of merit, on the recommendation of the commanding officer of the regiment or chief of the corps to which such man belongs.

179. Recommendations for a certificate of merit must originate with an eyewitness, preferably the immediate commanding officer. Each case will be submitted separately, forwarded through the regular channels, and must be favorably indorsed by each commander.

180. Extra pay at the rate of $2 per month from the date of the distinguished service is allowed to each enlisted man to whom a certificate of merit is granted.

« AnteriorContinuar »