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MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF RECRUITS.

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make the required examination. When recruits are examined by a civilian physician the recruiting officer will, if at the station, be present at the examination, but if the recruiting officer is absent the senior noncommissioned officer of the recruiting party will be present at such examination.

875. An applicant enlisted at a place where there is no surgeon will be reexamined within two weeks after enlistment, and before any clothing is issued to him, by a medical officer or contract surgeon, or in the absence of such officer by the civilian physician employed by the Medical Department.

876. Every accepted (sworn) recruit will be vaccinated at the recruiting station by the examining surgeon (see par. 1509). Vaccine virus is supplied by the SurgeonGeneral. As soon as the recruit joins any depot, regiment, or post he will be examined by the surgeon to ascertain whether vaccination is required. In all cases where there is not unmistakable evidence of successful vaccination within a reasonable period the operation will be performed immediately.

877. A critical inspection by the senior medical officer present will be made of every recruit received at a depot within two days after his arrival, if he has not already undergone examination by a medical officer, contract surgeon, or civilian physician. Should the recruit be found unfit for service or to have been illegally enlisted, a board of officers will be called by the post commander to examine into the case, and if the board recommends the discharge of the recruit for physical disability it will fully report its reasons, based upon a thorough investigation of the case, and will show in its report whether the enlistment involved fraud, whether the disability existed prior to enlistment, when, where, and by whom the enlistment was made, and whether, in its opinion, the disqualification might have been discovered by the recruiting officer (with whom the board will communicate, and who will be given opportunity to be heard in the case) had due care been exercised. This report, together with the surgeon's certificate of disability and the original form for examining a recruit, will be forwarded by the post commander direct to The Military Secretary of the Army.

878. Every detachment of recruits ordered from a recruit depot to any organization or post will, immediately preceding its departure, be critically inspected by the post commander and the senior medical officer present, and any sick or otherwise disabled will be held at depot. A recruit deemed unfit for continuance in the service will not be sent to a regiment, but a board of officers will be convened to consider the case and report as indicated in the preceding paragraph.

879. Before recruits are forwarded from a depot to organizations, the post commander will cause the character of each recruit to be entered upon the descriptive and assignment card; also the date and result of last vaccination. Officers in charge of detachments, if called upon, will exhibit the entries relative to vaccination to authorized inspectors of State boards of health.

880. Upon arrival at a post each recruit who has not undergone examination by a medical officer, contract surgeon, or civilian physician, will be examined, and defects will be recorded by the medical officer, with his opinion as to whether they existed prior to enlistment. A certificate of disability will be submitted if the recruit is disqualified for the service. If the certificate be submitted, the post commander will carefully scan the answers made by the recruit on the "Form for the physical examination of a recruit," and if his answers show that fraud was practiced to secure his enlistment the post commander will make full report of the facts to The Military Secretary of the Army, and forward therewith the certificate and the examination form.

881. A register of the medical examination of recruits will be kept at each recruiting station and depot. A report of the recruits examined during the preceding month will be forwarded, not later than the 6th day of every month, to the SurgeonGeneral, who will furnish blank for the purpose, as well as blank registers of medical 5828-04-9

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ASSIGNMENT OF RECRUITS-INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S DEPT.

examination. When a register is filled it will be forwarded to the Surgeon-General. Cases of "recruits on probation" who have failed for any cause to complete their enlistment will be indicated by an appropriate entry in the column of remarks, both on the monthly reports to the Surgeon-General and in the register.

RECRUITS SENT TO ORGANIZATIONS.

882. Recruits will be assigned to regiments and other organizations by The Military Secretary of the Army, under the direction of the Secretary of War, from either recruiting stations or depots. Recruits designated for assignment will be borne on the rolls and returns of the stations or depots until the date of departure therefrom, when the assignment will take effect; prior to that date they will not be taken up on the rolls of companies, regiments, or other organizations.

883. When recruits are sent to any organization, a descriptive and assignment card for each will be given to the officer assigned to conduct them, or if no officer be so assigned the cards will be sent to the proper commanding officer by the first mail after the departure of the recruits.

884. When recruits are sent to organizations from depots or other posts, the descriptive and assignment cards will be made by the adjutant; when they go direct from a recruiting station not at a post, they will be made by the recruiting officer. 885. An officer intrusted with the command of recruits ordered to regiments or other organizations will, on arriving at destination, forward the following papers: 1. To The Military Secretary of the Army, a report of date of arrival at the post, the strength and condition of the party when turned over to the commanding officer, and all circumstances worthy of remark which occurred on the journey.

2. To the commanding officer of the post or organization, the descriptive and assignment cards furnished him at the rendezvous or station, properly completed by noting in the column for remarks time and place of death, desertion, or other casualty that may have occurred.

886. The descriptive and assignment card of every recruit sent to a regiment or other organization, with remarks showing final disposition of the recruit, and number of regiment and letter or number of company to which he has been assigned, will be forwarded to The Military Secretary of the Army by the officer who makes the assignment.

887. Soldiers enlisted by special authority for particular organizations will be sent to their proper stations without delay. An applicant will be subjected to the required examination before application is made for special authority for his enlistment.

ARTICLE LXVIII.

INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT.

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

SSS. The sphere of inquiry of the Inspector-General's Department includes every branch of military affairs except when specially limited in these regulations or in orders. Inspectors-general and acting inspectors-general will exercise a comprehensive and general observation within the command to which they may be respectively assigned over all that pertains to the efficiency of the Army, the condition and state of supplies of all kinds, of arms and equipments, of the expenditure of public property and moneys, and the condition of accounts of all disbursing officers of every branch of the service, of the conduct, discipline, and efficiency of officers and troops, and report with strict impartiality in regard to all irregularities that may be discovered. From time to time they will make such suggestions as may appear to them practicable for the correction of any defect that may come under their observation.

INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT SPECIAL DUTIES. 131

889. Inspectors-general or acting inspectors-general assigned to a military command are under the immediate direction of its commanding general; when not so assigned, they are under the orders of the War Department. They will make the general and such special inspections as the commanding general may direct within the limits of his command, and will each be allowed the necessary clerks and one messenger, who will be assigned by the Secretary of War.

890. Inspectors-general and acting inspectors-general will report by letter on arriving at their stations to the Inspector-General of the Army; they will furnish him copies of all orders and written instructions received for tours of inspections, and, on the last day of each month, will report to him, through military channels, their addresses and duties performed during the month.

At the close of each fiscal year the inspector-general of a military division will submit to the division commander a report covering the operations of the Inspector-General's Department within the division during the past year, together with such recommendations for the improvement of the service as he may deem fit, and will forward a copy thereof, through military channels, to the Inspector-General of the Army.

891. Inspectors-general or acting inspectors-general will make known their orders or instructions to commanding and other officers whose troops and affairs they are directed to inspect, and these officers will see that every facility and assistance, including clerical aid, if requested, is afforded. When making inspections within the territorial limits of the command of an officer subordinate to the officer ordering the inspections, they will, prior to the inspections, furnish to the subordinate commander a copy of their orders and an itinerary of their route in so far as they relate to the inspection of parts of his command.

892. An inspector-general or acting inspector-general will not give orders unless specially authorized to do so, and then only in the name of the superior giving such authority. He will report with strict impartiality all irregularities. He should refrain from informal conversation or comment upon subjects under investigation. 893. An inspector-general or acting inspector-general will exercise the greatest care that he does no injustice to organizations or individuals. When investigating accusations prejudicial to the character of an officer, he will make known to the officer their nature, and give him an opportunity to make his own statement in writing, which will be appended to the report.. Copies or extracts from an inspection report reflecting upon or commending the character or efficiency of an officer may be furnished him by the commander to whom the report is submitted.

894. An inspector-general or acting inspector-general detailed to investigate alleged attempts to defraud the Government, or any irregularity or misconduct of any officer or agent of the United States, has authority to administer oaths to witnesses.

SPECIAL DUTIES.

895. Inspectors-general will, from time to time, designate the articles which, in their opinion, should be procured and kept for sale by the Subsistence Department, to officers and enlisted men while in garrison or permanent camps, and while in temporary camps or on active campaign. These recommendations will be submitted to the Secretary of War for his action.

STATED INSPECTIONS.

896. Special inspections and investigations within the limits of a command (territorial or tactical) may be made under orders of the commander thereof; but in all cases involving travel his selection of officers to perform such duty shall be restricted to inspectors-general, acting inspectors-general, or officers of the General Staff Corps on duty as such, at his headquarters under War Department assignment.

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STATED INSPECTIONS- -METHODS OF INSPECTION.

897. The annual inspection of the Soldiers' Home in the District of Columbia will be made by the Inspector-General of the Army, in person, as required by law; and that of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, its records, disbursements, management, discipline, and condition, will be made by an officer of the Inspector-General's Department under the provisions of the act of Congress approved August 18, 1894, who will report in writing, through the Inspector-General of the Army, to the Secretary of War, the results of such inspection.

898. All military commands, garrisoned posts, and camps shall be inspected at least once in each fiscal year by the inspector-general of the division or his assistants. Ungarrisoned posts will be inspected at such times as the division commander may direct, ordinarily once in two years, and all Army transports within three days of date of their departure from port.

899. All armories, arsenals, depots, general hospitals, general recruiting stations, the proving ground at Sandy Hook, N. J., and the military prisoners in the United States penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kans., will be inspected annually and all national cemeteries once in two years. These inspections and the inspections of accounts of officers disbursing funds under the Secretary of War, and such special inspections of posts and commands as may be deemed advisable, will be directed by the Secretary of War to be made by officers recommended by the Inspector-General of the Army, with a view to their special fitness for the work enjoined.

900. Inspections of the military departments and business methods of the Military Academy and of the service schools will be made annually by the InspectorGeneral or officers recommended by him under specific instructions of the War Department.

901. The inspection of disbursements and money accounts of disbursing officers required by act of April 20, 1874, will be made by officers of the Inspector-General's Department or by others detailed for that purpose, and, as far as practicable, at irregular intervals, but no officer so detailed shall be in any way connected with the corps or staff department making the disbursement. The frequency of these inspections will be regulated by the Secretary of War.

902. Reports of prescribed inspections of troops, stations, and accounts of disbursing officers will be forwarded through military channels to The Military Secretary of the Army and transmitted to the Inspector-General of the Army. In case irregularities, deficiencies, or misconduct are reported, a commander in forwarding a report will state what remedies he has applied or will apply to correct them, adding any recommendations that he may desire to make. The Inspector-General will submit such reports to the Chief of Staff, calling his special attention to matters requiring correction.

903. The Inspector-General of the Army will keep the inspectors-general of the several military divisions informed through the proper channels of such inspections of accounts of disbursing officers and of places not under the immediate command of the division commander as the Chief of Staff desires shall be made by them. Division commanders in issuing orders for inspections involving travel will consider the most advantageous and economical plan.

METHODS OF INSPECTION.

904. Inspections of troops will be conducted as prescribed in the authorized drill regulations. When the command consists of more than one company the inspection will, if practicable, be preceded by a review.

905. The written reports of inspectors-general and acting inspectors-general will set forth a correct return of the troops, the number present at and absent from the station and the absentees from inspection, and whether irregularities, etc., reported at last inspection, have been remedied; after which will follow a statement of the results of the inspection, dealing only with defects, deficiencies, irregularities, recom

METHODS OF INSPECTION.

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mendations, and commendations whereof the various items will be paragraphed and stated separately. These items will be grouped under the department within whose sphere the responsibility for the conditions stated falls, viz: Commanding officer, Quartermaster's Department, Corps of Engineers, etc. Brief statement will be made of the various drills and exercises held for the inspector and the report concluded with an exposition of the conclusions arrived at as to the military efficiency, discipline, and instruction of the command.

906. Inspections of garrisons and posts will embrace the following subjects:

1. Officers present, those absent on detached duty or otherwise, and those permanently incapacitated for any duty from any cause; whether the number of enlisted men in ranks at inspection corresponds to returns, how absentees are accounted for, and how many appear under arms at inspection; the number of men in the band, and if any are not musicians.

2. Whether the post is adequately armed and supplied, and maps of the post and of the country in its vicinity kept.

3. Whether the commanding officer observes the system of instruction and treatment of subordinates enjoined by the regulations, and properly executes the laws relating to neutrality, quarantine, and the regulations concerning international courtesy, so far as applicable to his post; whether justice is promptly and legally administered; the zeal of the commanding officer and his ability to perform his duties. 4. Whether officers are efficient, reporting any intemperance or immorality, and mentioning any officer or soldier who has distinguished himself, or shown special efficiency in any department of study or duty.

5. The manner in which chaplains perform their duties.

6. The efficiency of administrative and staff officers, the correctness of their accounts; whether payments and issues are made in accordance with law and regulations, and whether surplus supplies are taken up on returns and deficiencies accounted for.

7. Efficiency, discipline, and appearance of the troops; state of arms, equipments, and accouterments of all kinds; sufficiency, uniformity, and fit of clothing; whether the schools for officers and enlisted men are held as prescribed and properly conducted; nature and amount of drills, recitations in tactics and drill regulations, target practice, practice marches, practice in outpost duty, field service, minor tactics, and gymnastic exercises; efficiency in signaling; regularity of payment of the troops, their health, and whether the sick are properly cared for; the number and percentage of desertions from each organization during the twelve months preceding the inspection, and, if abnormal, special inquiry as to the cause therefor will be made and the result briefly reported.

8. Police and sanitation of the post; cleanliness, state of repair, and sanitary condition of all buildings; the number, character, and cost of buildings constructed since last annual inspection.

9. Whether there are suitable rooms for use, respectively, as a library, reading room, chapel, and school; sufficient quantities of newspapers and periodicals, schoolbooks, stationery, and school material for the use of enlisted men; whether the newspapers, periodicals, and schoolbooks are solely used by enlisted men; whether the library rooms are used at all by officers, and, if so, whether it interferes with their use by enlisted men; the attendance and progress of pupils and the system of instruction. See also paragraph 343.

10. System of messing, sufficiency, variety, and preparation of food.

11. Whether labor of the supply departments is performed by troops or civilians; if by the latter, their number, cost attending and reasons for their employment, and kind of labor performed by them.

12. Means of transportation and its condition; training, grooming, shoeing, suitability, veterinary treatment and condition of public animals, and number unserviceable.

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