Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

TO AMEND SECTION 1505 OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO LOSS OF NUMBERS BY OFFICERS OF THE NAVY WHO ARE FOUND NOT PROFESSIONALLY QUALIFIED FOR PROMOTION (H. R. 14450)

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, November 26, 1928,

The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: There is inclosed herewith a copy of a letter, together with a copy of a proposed bill to amend section 1505 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended, relating to loss of numbers by officers of the Navy who are found not professionally qualified for promotion, this day forwarded to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Sincerely yours,

CURTIS D. WILBUR,

Secretary of the Navy.

NAVY DEPARTMENT,

Washington, November 26, 1928.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. SPEAKER: I have the honor to transmit herewith a draft of a proposed bill to amend section 1505 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended, relating to loss of numbers by officers of the Navy who are found not professionally qualified for promotion.

The purpose of the proposed amendment is to amend section 1505, Revised Statutes, as amended, so as to provide a more equitable loss of numbers to such officers as fail upon examination for promotion, except for officers of the ranks of commander and above, whose promotion is governed by the act of August 29, 1916 (39 Stat., 578, 579). Section 1505, Revised Statutes, as amended by the act of March 11, 1912 (37 Stat. 73), provides as follows:

SEC. 1505. Any officer of the Navy, on the active list below the rank of commander, who, upon examination for promotion, is found not professionally qualified, shall be suspended from promotion for a period of six months from the date of approval of said examination and shall suffer a loss of numbers equal to the average six months' rate of promotion to the grade for which said officer is undergoing examination during the five fiscal years next preceding the date of approval of said examination, and upon the termination of said suspension from promotion he shall be reexamined, and in case of his failure upon such reexamination he shall be dropped from the service with not more than one year's pay: Proided, That the provisions of this act shall be effective from and after January first, nineteen hundred and eleven. (U. S. Code, Title 34, sec. 283.)

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Under the operation of existing law, an officer who fails upon examination for promotion, in the first instance, suffers a loss of numbers equal to the average six months' rate of promotion to the grade to which the officer is undergoing examination during the five years next preceding the date of approval of said examination. The result of this law is that the losses of numbers vary considerably and an officer in one rank frequently loses a larger or smaller number than other officers of the same rank who fail upon promotion. In order to place all officers who fail upon examination for promotion on a parity as regards loss of numbers, the Navy Department recommends that the present law be amended as set forth in the inclosure, so that all officers will suffer a more definite loss of numbers than occurs under existing law. Under the proposed law the loss of numbers for line officers will be as follows: Ensign to lieutenant (junior grade), 50 numbers; lieutenant (junior grade) to lieutenant, 25 numbers; lieutenant to lieutenant commander, 12 numbers.

Staff officers under the proposed legislation will suffer a loss of numbers proportional to the losses of numbers of line officers in similar ranks in the same ratio as the total number of commissioned officers in all ranks of the particular staff corps, exclusive of commissioned warrant officers, bears to the total number of commissioned officers in the line in all the corresponding ranks on January 1 of the year in which occurs the failure of the officer upon professional examination. The proposed law will remove the disparity in loss of rank due to the application of the present law.

The present losses of numbers upon failure of an officer to pass the required examination for promotion are disproportionate to the sentences awarded by courts-martial for military offenses. Failure to establish the question of fitness upon examination is not to be condoned in itself, but it is, particularly when accompanied by extenuating circumstances, less serious than many offenses for which the offenders receive court-martial sentences of losses of numbers. sentences are frequently less than the loss of numbers suffered by an officer who failed in examination for promotion.

Such

In view of the foregoing, the Navy Department recommends the enactment of the legislation proposed in the inclosed draft of bill. Sincerely yours,

CURTIS D. WILBUR,
Secretary of the Navy.

A BILL To amend section 1505 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended, relating to loss of numbers by officers of the Navy who are found not professionally qualified for promotion

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1505 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the act approved March 11, 1912 (Thirty-seventh Statutes at Large, page 73, United States, title 34, section 283), is hereby amended to read as follows: 'Any officer of the Navy on the active list below the rank of lieutenant commander who, upon examination for promotion or advancement, is found not professionally qualified shall suffer a loss of numbers in his grade, upon approval of the findings and recommendation of the naval examining board in such officer's case, as hereinafter stated; and after a period of six months from the date of the approval of the findings and recommendation of the naval examining board he shall be reexamined, and in case of his failure upon such reexamination he shall be dropped from the service with not more than one year's pay.

'The loss of numbers for an officer of the line shall be, upon failure to pass the prescribed professional examination for promotion from ensign to lieutenant junior grade), fifty numbers; from lieutenant (junior grade) to lieutenant, twenty-five numbers; from lieutenant to lieutenant commander, twelve numbers. "The loss of numbers for an officer of a staff corps shall be such number as is proportional to the loss above stated for the line officer in the same ratio as the total number of commissioned officers in all ranks of that staff corps, exclusive of commissioned warrant officers, bears to the total number of commissioned officers in the line in all the corresponding ranks, on January 1 of the year in which occurs the failure of the officer on professional examination: Provided, That in case of fractions the nearest whole number, but not less than one, shall be taken: And provided further, That the loss of numbers in the staff corps shall not be such as to cause the assignment of a new running mate either junior to the officer's former running mate by more than the numbers prescribed above for failure in the corresponding rank of the line, or of a Naval Academy class junior to that of the former running mate."

[ocr errors]

IN RE (H. R. 11922) TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY TO LEASE THE UNITED STATES DESTROYER AND SUBMARINE BASE, SQUANTUM, MASS.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 6, 1928.

The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: There is inclosed for the information of your committee a copy of the Navy Department's letter of December 1, 1928, to the Secretary of War, with reference to his request of October 23, 1928, that the United States naval destroyer and submarine base, Squantum, Mass., except the area now reserved and set aside for naval aviation, be transferred to the control of the War Department.

The Navy Department contemplates no action looking toward the transfer of this property pending the action of Congress on the bill H. R. 11922, which is now before your committee for consideration. Sincerely yours,

CURTIS D. WILBUR,
Secretary of the Navy.

DECEMBER 1, 1928.

The SECRETARY OF WAR,

Washington, D. C.

SIR: Further reference is made to your letter of October 23, 1928, requesting that the United States naval destroyer and submarine base, Squantum, Mass., except the area now reserved and set aside for naval aviation, be transferred to the control of the War Department with the understanding that the rights of the present lessee will be observed. In making this request you state in part that "since, under the existing construction program, various approved projects will have to be carried out before undertaking any major development of a new tract, the War Department is agreeable to accepting transfer of the Squantum Reservation with the understanding that the rights of the lessee indicated in paragraph 2 of your letter of September 13, will be observed."

In the Acting Chief Coordinator's letter of October 27, 1928, wherein he finds that this property is at the present time surplus to the present needs of the Navy and decides that transfer thereof to the War Department should be effected, he states:

In case of the transfer of this land to the War Department, it would seem that an understanding covering the maintenance of the existing buildings and other improvements, and any details pertaining to the existing lease and sublease, should be worked out jointly by the two departments concerned.

[blocks in formation]

It is not understood that this office has any connection, unless it should be subsequently requested, with any further steps that may be undertaken by the

[blocks in formation]
« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »