maximum prescribed in here for the Air Corps itself. The only maximum limitation that would apply to them is the 15 per cent, which is provided for in the preceding section, which applies to everybody. The sentence at the top of page 9 prescribes that the flying officers promoted to colonel and lieutenant colonel shall be in addition to the 15 per cent. They would be carried as extra numbers. There is another provision which I believe should be inserted in the act at this point, which I would like to take up later. The sentence beginning in line 6 on page 9, provides that any flying officer of the Air Corps who is promoted under the provisions of this section, who may become surplus, is to hold his grade. If you had, say, a thousand officers in the Air Corps, and you made these promotions so they would have their 3 per cent or 30 colonels, it is not impossible that within the succeeding three or four months there would be a number of losses and no gain in the corps, and the strength would be reduced. We do not want the last man that got his colonelcy to become surplus and to go back again to a lower grade. We want to be sure that if he becomes surplus after he reaches the grade he will stay in the grade until he is absorbed. The last sentence in that section is intended to define the term "flying officer." Some definition is necessary because the promotion provided for in this section, special promotion in the Air Corps, is limited to flying officers. Section 4 is a section prescribing what service is to be credited to officers for promotion purposes. It is designed to maintain the present order of officers on the promotion list and to insure that from the top to the bottom of that list they are graded according to the length of service, so you will not have an officer down in the middle of the list who has actually more service credited for promotion than somebody above him. That is done by establishing in the first clause a skeleton of officers who were originally commissioned in the Regular Army prior to July 2, 1920, who had no prior Federal commissioned service, whose active service has been continuous. That applies to men whose service is perfectly normal. The second clause merely ties on practically all other officers to the officer next above them in the framework and credits them with the same length of service that he has. As you will recall, in forming the promotion list, the period between the armistice and the acceptance of appointments in 1920 was disregarded. There was a large number of men who stayed in during that period and there was a large number who were out from one to two years during that period. That period having been disregarded in forming the promotion list, whether they stayed in or went out has no bearing on their present relative positions. Their positions are determined on their service prior to November 11, and without some such provision as this you would probably have, when you start promotion on length of service, to cause departures from the promotion list, or if you prescribed that all promotions had to be in order of the standing on the list, you would have an officer held back when he had his 20 years of service because somebody above him was out of service a couple of years and has not that much service. The third clause is merely designed to take care of anomalous cases, such as men who have been out and been reappointed-men whose positions have been changed by sentence of court-martial and who have lost their position by examination for promotion-men who have been advanced, as were the world flyers, by special act of Congress, and merely intends that the Secretary of War shall have the authority to assign them a length of service which is appropriate to their position, which, of course, means he assigns them something less than the man above and greater than the man below. It reduces his discretion to within very narrow limits. Section 5 is designed to make some modification in the existing retirement laws, with a view to accelerating somewhat the attrition from the Army. The first part prescribes that all the existing laws shall continue in full force and effect, except as they are modified in this section. The first proviso, beginning with line 21, is designed to remove the present restrictions upon the holding of civil office or civil employment by retired officers. The next proviso is designed to reduce from 40 to 35 years the length of service that an officer must have which entitles him to retirement if he asks for it. That has to do only with voluntary retire ment. At the present time if an officer applies for retirement and has 40 years of service, there is no discretion about giving it to him. He is entitled to it. This reduces the 40 years to 35. The next proviso, on line 14, is designed to reduce the limitations in existing law, which are to the effect that when an officer has served 45 years as a commissioned officer, or is 62 years of age, he may be retired, in the discretion of the President. This reduces the 62 years to 60 and reduces the 45 years to 40. The next proviso, beginning in line 20, is designed to give to all officers who may have been at any time, in time of peace, detailed to duty involving flying, credit toward voluntary retirement for one and one-half times the period that they were detailed to such duty. The provision beginning in the last line on page 11 The CHAIRMAN (interposing). I think if you would identify the provisos by the pages and line it would be much clearer to anyone reading this hearing. Colonel BENEDICT. The proviso beginning in line 25 on page 11 is intended to insure that any flying officer of the Air Corps who becomes physically disqualified for flying duty shall be eligible for retirement for physical disability. Section 6 designs to introduce new opportunities for retirement. Under the present law there is no opportunity for an officer to retire until he has had 30 years of service. This is intended to afford an opportunity to officers in and above the World War hump to retire on their own application before they complete the 30 years of service, and with retired pay at the rate of 22 per cent of their active pay for each year of service that is credited to them for pay purposes. There is a limitation, however, to the effect that the number who can be retired in any one year shall not exceed 1 per cent of the authorized number of promotion-list officers. The second paragraph, begining on line 15, page 12, in addition to stating the retired pay, prescribes that the officer can have his accrued leave of absence and his retirement take place at the expiration of that leave. The proviso beginning on line 24, page 12, fixes a definite date on which his separation from the service for purposes of computing his pay and for purposes of determining whether or not he is within the 1 per cent limitation is fixed. The proviso beginning in line 2 on page 13 is intended merely to preserve to officers who came into the Regular Army on July 1, 1920, when over 45 years of age, the same right to retired pay that they now have; that is, 4 per cent for each year of their commissioned service. That is phrased, however, so that if the 21⁄2 per cent rule should be more favorable to them they may take advantage of that. Section 7, I think, needs no explanation. It is the original bill, 3269, as it was passed by the Senate, providing for advancement on the retired list of Generals Bullard and Liggett, and for them to have the retired pay that is considered appropriate to that rank. Section 8 is designed merely to give to any officer who has been or may thereafter be retired the highest rank he held during the World War, not above the rank of major general, such increased rank, however, to cause no increase in his retired pay. Section 9 is the ordinary saving section, to be certain that nothing herein would cause an officer to lose his commission or to be reduced in rank or pay. I would like to call attention to the fact that in it there is no date set for the act to become effective, and without such date it would be effective on approval. Mr. JAMES. Colonel Benedict, the House passed the Furlow bill on May 7 last, and it reached the Senate Military Affairs Committee on May 8. Did they have any hearings on the Furlow bill? Colonel BENEDICT. Not to my knowledge. Mr. JAMES. No discussion at all of the merits of the bill. There was not any discussion over there before the Senate Military Affairs Committee as to the merits of the Furlow bill? Colonel BENEDICT. None that I know of. There may have been some in executive session. Mr. JAMES. There was no hearing that anybody can read so as to see the arguments that were made against it. Colonel BENEDICT. Not that I know of. Mr. JAMES. On May 11 the Senate reported out what is known as the Reed amendment to the Furlow bill. Was there any hearing on that? Colonel BENEDICT. Not to my knowledge. Mr. JAMES. You drew up that amendment, did you not? Colonel BENEDICT. I drew it up after the committee had evidently decided what they wanted, and I was given specific instructions as to what they wanted put in or left out of it. Mr. JAMES. Who helped you on that? Colonel BENEDICT. I had some help from Major Llewelyn, of the Judge Advocate General's department. In fact, for the last year or so I have been going to him and discussing various things to get the language into shape to accomplish most anything we might be called upon to produce suddenly. Mr. JAMES. Was there anybody else? Colonel BENEDICT. I had only a rough draft of the section that pertains to the Air Corps handed to me by an Air Corps officer who is on duty in the War Department. Mr. JAMES. Who was that? Colonel BENEDICT. That was Colonel Kirtland. Further than that, I do not recall having had any help on it. Mr. JAMES. Did you have any help from Major Summers? Colonel BENEDICT. Not to my knowledge; in fact, I do not recall anv. Mr. JAMES. Did you have any help from this officer sitting behind Mr. Fisher, Captain Shaw? Colonel BENEDICT. No, sir. Mr. JAMES. Major Summers spent a good deal of time over in the Senate committee, did he not? Colonel BENEDICT. Not that I know of, sir. Mr. JAMES. Do you remember when the Secretary of War and Mr. Davison testified over there in executive session? Do you remember Major Summers being present that day? Colonel BENEDICT. I do not know whether he was or not, sir. Mr. JAMES. Unless I am mistaken in the gentleman, he was. That was about nine months ago when we sent the Furlow bill to the Senate and it is still on the Senate Calendar, pending, with the Reed amendment? Colonel BENEDICT. Yes, sir. Mr. JAMES. Some time in the early part of December we sent over to the Senate the Johnson bill amending the Furlow bill. Did the Senate committee ever have a hearing on that bill? Colonel BENEDICT. Not that I know of. Mr. JAMES. By the way, was the Reed amendment to the Furlow bill or the Furlow bill as amended by the Reed amendment ever sent to the War Department for a report? Colonel BENEDICT. No, sir. Mr. JAMES. Was it ever sent to the Director of the Budget for a report? Colonel BENEDICT. No, sir. Mr. JAMES. Was it ever submitted to the Secretary of War for comment, or did you ever talk with him about it? Colonel BENEDICT. I could not say as to that. I know I had some conversation with the Secretary of War with respect to it. Mr. JAMES. Was it ever sent to the Chief of Staff for his comment on it? Colonel BENEDICT. Not that I can remember. Mr. JAMES. The Johnson bill, with the Furlow amendment, reached the Senate in the early part of December. You say there was not any hearing on that? Colonel BENEDICT. I know of none. Mr. JAMES. And the amendment you have just been reading to us, another Reed amendment-was there ever a hearing on that bill? Colonel BENEDICT. Not to my knowledge. Mr. JAMES. Was there ever a department report on that? Colonel BENEDICT. No, sir. Mr. JAMES. Was the Senate bill (S. 3269) as it is amended by the House, ever sent to the War Department for report? Colonel BENEDICT. I can not say positively; I have no recollection of it having been sent there. Mr. JAMES. Was this amendment ever sent to the War Department for report? Colonel BENEDICT. No, sir. Mr. JAMES. This is substantially the same as the Reed amendment to the Furlow bill, is it not? Colonel BENEDICT. With some modifications; in substance I think it is about the same. Mr. JAMES. It is substantially the same? Colonel BENEDICT. There are two or three differences that I think are worth mentioning. In respect to the Air Corps the percentages are greater in here than they were in the Reed amendment. Mr. JAMES. About 1 per cent. Colonel BENEDICT. One per cent for each of the three categories. The promotions provided here are permanent, whereas in the Reed amendment they were specified as temporary. Mr. JAMES. Have you ever read the Wainwright bill with the McSwain amendment? Colonel BENEDICT. Yes, sir; in fact, I think considerable use was made of it in writing this bill. There is considerable of the language of this bill that was taken from that one. Mr. JAMES. What is the percentage of colonels now in the Army? Colonel BENEDICT. That introduces a difficulty, Mr. James, in the determination of what your base is. Mr. JAMES. You said in your explanation that 26 per cent is substantially what it is now, and that is why you used the 26 per cent. Colonel BENEDICT. Yes, sir. Mr. JAMES. I was wondering where you got those figures. Will you tell me what it is for lieutenant colonels and for majors, so we can see where the 26 per cent comes from? Colonel BENEDICT. We have now practically 42 per cent of colonels. Mr. JAMES. What is the percentage for lieutenant colonels? Colonel BENEDICT. Nearly 16 per cent, sir. Mr. JAMES. Under the Wainwright bill as reported out of this committee the percentage there of the field grades is about 60 per cent, and of company grades about 40 per cent. Colonel BENEDICT. At the time you reached Mr. JAMES (interposing). I do not mean at the present time.. Colonel BENEDICT. When we reached the peak in field officers we would have approximately 60 per cent in field grades, and 40 per cent in company grades. Mr. JAMES. In line 16 on page 6 it is provided that it shall not be less than 26 per cent. That does not mean anything at all. You might as well say it shall not be less than 60 per cent. Colonel BENEDICT. Yes, sir; it does, for the time being. If you do not put a minimum limitation on you are going to stop the promotions of captains for the next three years. Mr. JAMES. But you are going to have 1,000 more and that is not anywhere near the minimum. It is going to be 60 per cent pretty soon, is it not? |