124 PENALTY ENVELOPES THE RECRUITING SERVICE. pleteness of the record in each case. All efficiency reports will be transmitted to the Secretary of War as soon as practicable after their receipt, verification, and completion. ARTICLE LXVI. PENALTY ENVELOPES. 843. Official communications, and other mailable matter relating exclusively to the public business, will be transmitted through the mails free of postage, if covered by the "Penalty envelope." Where an officer writes to a private party on official business he may inclose with his letter an official penalty envelope, properly addressed to himself, to cover the reply. 844. Information which is intended to be used in the performance of official duty only is official information, while that which is intended to be used for the furtherance of private interest, ends, or business in any way whatever, though called for by a public officer, is private information. The official envelope may be used to give or obtain the former, but not the latter. 845. Envelopes for official mail matter for the War Department will have "War Department," the designation of bureau or office, and "Official Business," printed in three or four lines, as may be required, in the upper left corner, and in the upper right corner the following: "Penalty for private use, $300." Envelopes for the use of the headquarters of a territorial division or department, for a post, station, armory, arsenal, depot, or school of instruction, will be of the same form, with the proper substitution for the designation of the bureau or office, and with the address when necessary. Envelopes required for the transmission of printed matter may also have printed thereon "Printed matter." Other printing or ruling on such envelopes at public expense is prohibited unless printed at the Government Printing office. For the official business of officers not embraced in the foregoing classes, and officers on the retired list, the heading "War Department," "Official Business," will be placed across the left end of the envelope, with the officer's official signature written immediately below it, and with the penalty clause in the upper right corner. 846. Packages of public property weighing not more than four pounds may be sent through the mails under cover of the penalty envelope. Penalty envelopes with return address may be furnished to any person from whom official information is desired, or for the return of official vouchers, but will not be furnished to merchants or other dealers to cover the transmission of public property. 847. The use of freight or express lines for transmitting official letters or packages that can be sent by mail is forbidden. 848. The penalty envelope will not be used for foreign correspondence. ARTICLE LXVII. THE RECRUITING SERVICE. 849. Recruiting for the Army will be conducted by 1. An officer of each regiment, post or detachment, detailed by the commanding officer thereof to enlist for the regiment, post or detachment, or, when authorized by the department commander, for any troops in the department, or, when authorized by the War Department, for any organization in the Army. 2. An officer detached from any organization by its commander, with the approval of the War Department, to make enlistments for that organization and, when authorized by the War Deparment, for any organization in the Army. 3. Officers detailed on recruiting service by the War Department. The regular details will be ordinarily for two years. DEPOTS AND STATIONS-ENLISTMENTS. DEPOTS AND STATIONS. 125 850. Recruiting stations are the places where recruits are enlisted. Recruit depots are the designated posts at which general service recruits are collected for distribution. 851. Recruits at each depot will constitute a recruit detachment to be instructed by officers and noncommissioned officers of the garrison detailed by the commanding officer or by others detailed for this purpose. The immediate command of the detachment will be vested in the senior officer on duty with it. In all matters of police and discipline these recruits are under the command of the post and department commanders, but in all other matters, including discharges for disability, they are directly under the orders of the War Department. Each officer in command of a recruit detachment will forward, through the post commander, direct to The Military Secretary of the Army, trimonthly reports of the strength of the detachment. 852. The recruiting officer in charge of each city station of the recruiting service, having first satisfied himself of the soldiers' fitness for the positions, will announce in orders from his station, and muster from the date of such announcement, one member of his recruiting party as sergeant and one as corporal "of the arm of the service to which they respectively belong." Such orders will be entered in the records of the recruiting station and a copy of each order will be forwarded to the Military Secretary's Office (Recruiting Division); a copy will also be furnished to each soldier concerned. 853. Members of recruiting parties will be regarded as belonging to the arm of the service for which they last enlisted or from which they were transferred to the general recruiting service. Any member of a party who may have been enlisted for the general service without choice or designation of a particular arm of the service will be mustered as an infantry soldier if enlisted for the foot service or as a cavalry soldier if enlisted for the mounted service. 854. Members of recruiting parties announced and mustered as sergeants or corporals will not be reduced while performing such duty without the approval of The Military Secretary of the Army. Their appointments as sergeants or corporals will, however, terminate whenever they are relieved from recruiting duty, or when the stations at which they are serving are discontinued, unless they shall be assigned to other recruiting stations at which there are vacancies in their respective grades. The recruiting officer will in every case announce in orders the date of the termination of an appointment as sergeant or corporal and furnish copies of each order, as indicated in paragraph 852. 855. All transfers of enlisted men to the recruiting service for duty on recruiting parties will be as privates, the question of their promotion as sergeants or corporals being for determination after their fitness and capacity shall have been demonstrated. Individual applications for such transfers will be forwarded, whenever practicable, through the proper commanding officers, who will indorse thereon their recommendations, based upon service and merit, and also a statement of the soldier's fitness for recruiting duty, especially as regards clerical ability and knowledge of army papers. The transfers will be made from time to time, as the interests of the service require, in orders from the War Department. ENLISTMENTS. 856. Any male citizen of the United States or person who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen, if above the age of twenty-one and under the age of thirty-five years, able-bodied, free from disease, of good character and temperate habits, may be enlisted under the restrictions contained in this article. In regard to age or citizenship this regulation shall not apply to soldiers who have served honestly and faithfully a previous enlistment in the Army. 857. Applicants for original enlistment and men who apply to reenter the Army after an interval of more than three months from date of discharge will be required to furnish evidence of good character. To determine an applicant's fitness and aptitude for the service and to give him an opportunity to secure testimonials of character, he may, after having signed the declaration of intention to enlist and passed the required examination, be retained and provided for not to exceed six days. Men so retained will be known as "recruits on probation." The enlistment paper of any such recruit who may be unfit or undesirable for the service, or who may not desire to remain in the service, will not be completed. The enlistment papers of recruits who are accepted and duly sworn will bear the date on which the enlistment is completed by administering the oath. 858. The enlistment of persons of any of the following classes is prohibited: Former soldiers whose service during last term of enlistment was not honest and faithful, insane or intoxicated persons, deserters from the military or naval service of the United States, persons who have been convicted of felony or who have been imprisoned under sentence of a court in a reformatory, jail, or penitentiary; also for original enlistment, persons under eighteen or over thirty-five years of age, and for first enlistment in time of peace any person (except an Indian) who is not a citizen of the United States or Porto Rico, or who has not made legal declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the United States, or who can not speak, read, and write the English language. 859. Recruiting officers will be very particular to ascertain the true age of the recruit. If any doubt exist as to the applicant's statement regarding his age, his oath will not be taken as conclusive evidence of the fact, and if he can not furnish competent proof to support his statement he will be rejected. Minors between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one years may be enlisted with the written consent of father, only surviving parent, or legally appointed guardian. When a minor presents himself for enlistment under the provisions of this paragraph, his parents or guardian, should he have any, will be found and informed of the application; should he be without parents or guardian, the recruiting officer must reject him unless the applicant shall procure the legal appointment of a guardian and obtain his written consent. 860. Recruiting officers will be held to a rigid accountability for the enlistment of men who may be found unfitted for the service. If a recruit, after having been enlisted, be rejected, or discharged as a minor, and it appear that the enlistment was carelessly made or in violation of these regulations, the expenses incurred in consequence of the enlistment may be stopped against the pay of the officer responsible. 861. The enlistment or reenlistment of married men for the line of the Army is to be discouraged, and will be permitted only for some good reason in the public interest, the efficiency of the service to be the first consideration. Applications for such enlistments or reenlistments will be finally determined by the regimental commander, or other proper commanding officer if there be no regimental organization. 862. After the nature of the service and terms of enlistment have been fully explained to the applicant, and before the enlistment blanks are filled, the officer will read to him and offer for his signature the following declaration which will be contained in the enlistment paper: I, desiring to enlist in the Army of the United States for the term of three years, do declare that I have neither wife nor child; that I am of the legal age to enlist, and believe myself to be physically qualified to perform the duties of an able-bodied soldier; and I do further declare that I am of good habits and character in all respects and have never been discharged from the United States service (Army or Navy) or any other service on account of disability or through sentence of either a civil or military court, nor discharged from any service, civil or military, except with good character, and for the reasons given by me to the recruiting officer prior to this enlistment. [Here add, in case of an applicant for first enlistment: And that I am, or have made legal declaration of my intention to become, a citizen of the United States.] If the applicant be a minor, his parents or guardian must give consent in writing in the following terms: I, may be) of do certify that I am the (father, only surviving parent, or guardian, as the case my consent to his enlisting as a soldier in the Army of the United States for the period of three years Witness: This consent will appear on the enlistment paper and will follow the foregoing declaration. 863. Recruiting officers will not allow any man to be enticed into the service by false representations, but will, in person, explain to every man before he signs the enlistment paper the nature of the service, the length of the term, the amount of pay, clothing, rations, and other allowances to which a soldier is entitled by law. 864. As soon as practicable, and within six days after he has been accepted on probation, the following form of enlistment will be signed by and oath administered to the recruit: STATE OF 88: county of born in in the State of aged years and months, and by occupation a do hereby acknowledge to have voluntarily enlisted (or reenlisted) this day of —, 190, as a soldier in the Army of the United States of America, for the period of three years, unless sooner discharged by proper authority; and do also agree to accept from the United States such bounty, pay, rations, and clothing as are or may be established by law. And I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America; that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies whomsoever; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the Rules and Articles of War. Subscribed and duly sworn to before me this day of A. D. 190-. [SEAL.] Recruiting Officer. This oath may be administered by any commissioned officer of the Army. 865. Such of the Articles of War as relate specially to the duties and rights of enlisted men and the penalties for military crimes will be plainly read and, so far as necessary, explained to each recruit just before administering to him the oath of enlistment. Within six days thereafter the Articles of War will be read to the recruit. 866. Enlistment papers and recruiting returns will be made on printed forms furnished by The Military Secretary of the Army, and will be executed and disposed of in accordance with directions thereon. 867. The real name of the recruit will be ascertained, correctly spelled, and written in the same way wherever it occurs, and the Christian name will not be abbreviated. 868. Enlistments will not be antedated so as to allow the soldier additional pay for reenlistment who applies after the period of three months from date of discharge has expired, nor does an application for reenlistment, made within three months, entitle the soldier to such increase. The benefit provided in section 1284, Revised Statutes, can be obtained only by actual reenlistment before the expiration of the three months' limit prescribed in said section, as amended by the act of August 1, 1894 (28 Statutes at Large, 216). 869. An officer who enlists or reenlists a man who has been discharged from the Army will immediately give notice of the fact to the commanding officer of the company from which the man was last discharged, stating, if practicable, designation of the organization to which he has been assigned. On receiving this notice the commander of the company from which the man was discharged will enter the fact of enlistment or reenlistment on the soldier's record. Should it appear that deception 128 ENLISTMENTS-MEDICAL EXAMINATION. has been practiced he will report the case to The Military Secretary of the Army. The recruiting officer will enter the fact of enlistment or reenlistment, with date and place upon the certificate of discharge from former enlistment, which the soldier should have in his possession. 870. Application to reenter the Army from persons of any of the following classes will not be granted without special authority from The Military Secretary of the Army: 1. Former soldiers who have been discharged before expiration of term of service, excepting those discharged by purchase or for the convenience of the Government. 2. Former soldiers who have been discharged with character other than good, or its full equivalent. 3. Former soldiers over forty years of age who were last discharged as privates and have failed to reenlist within three months thereafter. In such cases the applications must show that the enlistments will be for the interest of the service. 4. Former soldiers who can not pass the required examination in all respects. Applications of this nature should show that any existing defects will not prevent the performance by the applicant of full military duty. 871. An applicant will be subjected to the required examination before application is made for special authority for his enlistment or reenlistment. The result of the examination will be stated in the application. Commanding officers forwarding applications from men of their commands for permission to reenlist for some other organization will report in each case whether the applicant is married or single, what character will be given him on discharge, and whether or not he can pass the required examination. 872. Enlisted men of good character and faithful service who, at the expiration of their terms, are undergoing treatment for injuries incurred or disease contracted in the line of duty, may be reenlisted if they so elect, and if the disability prove to be permanent they will subsequently be discharged on certificates of disability. An enlisted man not under treatment, but who has contracted in the line of duty infirmities that may raise a question of physical eligibility to reenlistment, but not such as to prevent his performing the duties of a soldier, may be reenlisted by authority of the War Department on application made through the surgeon and proper military channel in time to receive a decision before the date of discharge. MEDICAL EXAMINATION. 873. The physical examination of recruits will be conducted in accordance with the authorized manual for the examination of recruits. The enlistment paper of each recruit must show what indelible or permanent marks were found on his person. 874. In the absence of a commissioned medical officer or contract surgeon recruiting officers will, whenever practicable, employ a civilian physician to make the physical examination preceding enlistment (see paragraph 1509). A recruiting officer who employs a civilian physician in the manner indicated (in the absence of a commissioned medical officer or contract surgeon) is authorized to take the physician with him to examine recruits when ordered from place to place to make enlistments, and will call upon the proper officer of the Quartermaster's Department to provide the necessary transportation for the civilian physician. At recruiting stations where a large number of recruits are to be examined application will be made to the Surgeon-General for authority to employ a physician by the month under contract. When a recruiting officer who has employed a physician by the month under contract under proper authority is ordered from place to place to make enlistments, he will give the physician proper written orders in advance to accompany him for the purpose of examining recruits, naming the places to be visited, and stating in the order that the travel enjoined is necessary for the public service. When there is no medical examiner at the station the recruiting officer will |