17 70-2-H APR 2 2 1929 M644 arum UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ARMY PROMOTION HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Thursday, February 21, 1929. The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. John M. Morin (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Colonel Benedict, I think we will begin at the first paragraph of the bill and ask you to give us a digest of it in your own way, and without interruption. I will request the members of the committee not to interrupt Colonel Benedict until he has concluded, after which the members will be given an opportunity to ask any questions they may desire. We will let the colonel complete his statement, explaining to the committee just what each paragraph will do, so we will have the explanation all at one place in the record. (See appendix for S. 3269 as passed by Senate, amended and passed by House, and again amended and passed by Senate, and H. R. 17250, together with reports.) STATEMENT OF LIEUT. COL. JAY L. BENEDICT, GENERAL STAFF Colonel BENEDICT. Mr. Chairman, the first section of the bill is designed, in the first place, as is done in the first sentence, to specifically prescribe that nothing in this bill will increase the aggregate number of officers, authorized by law for the Army, and to give a designation to those officers, exclusive of the Medical Department, the chaplains, and professors. They are designated for the purpose of convenience for reference throughout the bill as "promotion-list" officers. The second sentence is designed to prescribe that the number of promotion-list officers in each of the grades shall be such as result from the system of promotion prescribed in this act. It states there that it will not be otherwise limited. That was put in at the suggestion of the Judge Advocate General's department in order to assure that it would not be construed that, in spite of this act, the present national defense act would limit the number in the various grades. The last part of the section is a proviso which is intended to put certain limitations upon promotions by length of service. Realizing that it had to be limited some place, the limit is just below the grade of lieutenant colonel so that the aggregate number of officers in the grades of colonel and lieutenant colonel would not exceed 15 per cent of the maximum aggregate number now authorized by law. There is a further limitation that there shall not be less than 26 per cent in the field grades. 1 |