Volume 53 · 556
Public Law 76–35
To provide more effectively for the national defense by carrying out the recommendations of the President in his message of January 12, 1939, to the Congress.
Approved April 3, 1939
Statutory text
AN ACT
To provide more effectively for the national defense by carrying out the recommendations of the President in his message of January 12, 1939, to the Congress.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the Act
National defense, Army.
Legislation repealed.
10 U. S. C., Supp. IV, 292b–l; 10 U. S. C. § 292b.
approved June 24, 1936 (49 Stat. 1907), is hereby repealed. Section 8 of the Act of July 2, 1926 (44 Stat. 780), is hereby stricken out and the following is substituted in lieu thereof:
“Sec. 8.
The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to equip and maintain the Air Corps with not to exceed six thousand serviceable
Army Air Corps.
Equipment and maintenance of designated aircraft.
airplanes, and such number of airships and free and captive balloons as he may determine to be necessary for training purposes together with spare parts, equipment, supplies, hangars, and installation necessary for the operation and maintenance thereof; and there is hereby
Appropriations authorized.
Post, pp. 994, 996, 1327.
authorized to be appropriated for such purposes an amount not exceeding $300,000,000, together with such annual appropriations as
Replacement of obsolete, etc., aircraft.
may be necessary to maintain such air force. In order to maintain the number specified above, the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to replace obsolete or unserviceable aircraft from time to time:
Provisos.
Total to be exclusive of those awaiting salvage, etc.
Provided, That the total number of airplanes and airships herein authorized shall be exclusive of those awaiting salvage or undergoing experiment or service tests, those authorized by the Secretary of War to be placed in museums, and those classified by the Secretary of
Number necessary for National Guard, etc., included.
War as obsolete: And provided further, That the total number of airplanes authorized in this section shall include the number necessary for the training and equipment of the National Guard and the training of the Organized Reserves as may be determined by the Secretary of War.”
Sec. 2.
When the facilities of the Army for instruction and training in aviation are deemed by the Secretary of War to be insufficient he may, under such regulations as he may prescribe, and without reference to any limitation contained in section 127a of the
National Defense Act, as amended (10 U. S. C. 535), detail personnel of the Regular Army as students at any technical, professional, or other educational institution, or as students, observers, or investigators at such industrial plants or other places as shall be best suited to enable such personnel to acquire a knowledge of or experience in the specialties incident to aviation in which the training of such personnel is essential: Provided, That no expense shall be incurred by the United States in addition to the authorized emoluments of the
Provisos.
Limitation on expenses.
personnel so detailed except for the cost of tuition at such educational institutions, and the cost of maintenance of necessary personnel who may be detailed as supervisors or inspectors and of the equipment assigned to them for their official use: Provided further,
Payment of tuition.
That the tuition for the personnel during the period of their detail may be paid from any funds which may hereafter be made available for the procurement branches.
Sec. 3.
The Secretary of War, in his discretion and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, is authorized to enroll as students at the Air Corps Training Center, for the pursuit of such courses of instruction as may be prescribed therefor, such civilians, upon their own applications, as may be selected from the instructional staffs of those civilian flying schools which have been accredited by the War Department for the education, experience, and training of
Provisos.
Federal cost restriction.
personnel of the Military Establishment: Provided, That except for the furnishing of such supplies, matériel, or equipment as may be necessary for training purposes, the training of such students shall be
Hospital or medical treatment.
without cost to the United States: Provided further, That in case of injury to or sickness of such students, hospital or medical treatment may be given in Government hospitals, but shall be without expense to the United States other than for services of Medical Department personnel and the use of hospital equipment, not including medicines
Gratuity due to death, etc., of student.
or supplies: And provided further, That the United States shall be under no obligation in respect to payment of a pension, compensation, or other gratuity to the dependents of any such student who dies of disease or injury while undergoing such training, nor to any such student in the event of personal injury sustained by him.
Sec. 4.
The Secretary of War is hereby authorized, in his discretion and under rules, regulations, and limitations to be prescribed by
Training of Negro air pilots.
him, to lend to accredited civilian aviation schools, one or more of which shall be designated by the Civil Aeronautics Authority for the training of any Negro air pilot, at which personnel of the Military Establishment are pursuing a course of education and training pursuant to detail thereto under competent orders of the War Department, out of aircraft, aircraft parts, aeronautical equipment and accessories for the Air Corps, on hand and belonging to the Government, such articles as may appear to be required for instruction, training, and maintenance purposes.
Sec. 5.
Section 1 of the Act entitled “An Act to amend the
10 U. S. C., Supp. IV, § 369a.
National Defense Act”, approved August 30, 1935 (49 Stat. 1028), is hereby amended to read as follows:
“That the President is hereby authorized to order annually, with
Reserve officers.
Annual call of designated, for active Army duty.
Post, p. 997.
their consent, upon application to and selection by the War Department, for a period of not more than one year for any one officer, for active duty with the Regular Army, such numbers of Reserve
Number, grades, etc.
officers, in the grade of second lieutenant, as are necessary to maintain on active duty at all times not more than one thousand Reserve officers of the promotion-list branches other than the Air Corps, not more than three thousand Reserve officers of the Air Corps, and not more than three hundred Reserve officers of the non-promotion-list branches: Provided, That in the non-promotion-list branches and
Provisos.
Grades in non-promotion-list branches, etc.
the Judge Advocate General’s Department, such Reserve officers may be in any grade not above captain: Provided further, That until
Tour of active duty, extension.
July 1, 1949, the tour of active duty of Air Corps Reserve officers may, in the discretion of the Secretary of War, be extended not to exceed a total of seven years’ active service in all, and thereafter not to exceed a total of five years’ active service in all: Provided further, That in the non-promotion-list branches and the Judge
Extensions in non-promotion-list branches and Judge Advocate General’s Department.
Advocate General’s Department, the tour of active duty may, in the discretion of the Secretary of War, be extended not to exceed a total of two years’ active service in all: And provided further, That
Active duty not terminated by promotion after tour begins.
nothing herein contained shall require the termination of active duty of any Reserve officer because of promotion to a higher grade after his tour of active duty begins. The tour of any Reserve Corps officer
Discretionary authority to terminate tour.
on active duty may be terminated at any time, in the discretion of the Secretary of War”: Provided further, That all officers, warrant
Disability or death in line of duty, benefits.
Post, pp. 1043, 1079.
officers, and enlisted men of the Army of the United States, other than the officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army, if called or ordered into the active military service by the Federal Government for extended military service in excess of thirty days,, and who suffer disability or death in line of duty from disease or injury while so employed shall be deemed to have been in the active military service during such period and shall be in all respects entitled to receive the same pensions, compensation, retirement pay, and hospital benefits as are now or may hereafter be provided by law or regulation for officers and enlisted men of corresponding grades and length of service of the Regular Army.
Sec. 6.
Section 2 of the said Act is hereby amended to read as
10 U. S. C., Supp. IV, § 487a.
follows:
“That, for the period of ten years beginning July 1, 1939, the
Annual selection for Regular Army commissions from designated groups over 10-year period.
Secretary of War is authorized to select annually, to be commissioned in the Regular Army in approximately equal annual increments, in accordance with the provisions of, and from the groups described in, section 24e of the National Defense Act, as amended, such proportion
of the total number of officers as, in the judgment of the Secretary of War, will be required to bring the commissioned personnel of the Regular Army to peacetime strength, as hereinafter provided, on June 30, 1949.”
Sec. 7.
Section 24e of the National Defense Act, as amended (41
Stat. 774), is hereby amended to read as follows:
“Except as otherwise herein provided, all appointments in the Regular
Groups from which Regular Army appointments to be made.
Army shall be made in the grade of second lieutenant from the following groups: Group 1, from graduates of the United States Military Academy; group 2, from warrant officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army who have had at least two years’ service; group 3, from honor graduates of the senior division of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps; group 4, from members of the Officers’ Reserve Corps and flying cadets, who have performed active duty under the provisions of this Act, which duty may include service as a flying cadet in the Air Corps Training Center; and group 5, from reserve officers and from officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men of the National Guard, members of the Enlisted Reserve Corps, and graduates of technical institutions approved by the Secretary of War:
Provisos.
Order of appointments.
Provided, That, after all qualified members of group 1 have been appointed, appointments from the second, third, fourth, and fifth groups shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe, from persons between the ages of
Number from designated groups and assignments.
twenty-one and thirty years: Provided further, That the number to be selected from each of the second, third, fourth, and fifth groups, and the number to be assigned to each branch of the service within the limits prescribed by law from all groups shall be determined by
Annual appointments from group 4, excluding flying cadets, until June 30, 1949.
the Secretary of War in his discretion: Provided further, That until June 30, 1949, the total number of officers to be appointed annually from group 4, not including flying cadets, in the promotion list branches other than the Air Corps shall be not less than 10 per centum of the total number of Reserve officers of such branches other than the Air Corps authorized to be called annually under appropriation
Maximum commissioned strength.
Acts, and in no event less than fifty, and that any officers added to the Army under existing authorizations shall be within the total authorized commissioned strength of sixteen thousand seven hundred
Immediate commission of 300 second lieutenants, Air Corps.
and nineteen: And provided further, That immediately upon the effective date of this Act, the President is authorized to commission not to exceed three hundred second lieutenants in the Air Corps of the Regular Army, from among Reserve officers and flying cadets who
Captains in Judge Advocate General’s Department, vacancies.
have qualified for such appointment under existing laws. Any vacancy in the grade of captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Department, not filled by transfer or detail from another branch, may, in the discretion of the President, be filled by appointment from Reserve judge advocates between the ages of thirty and thirty-six years, and such appointee shall be placed upon the promotion list
Appointments in Medical, etc., Corps in grade of first lieutenant.
immediately below the junior captain on said list. Appointments in the Medical, Dental, and Veterinary Corps in the grade of first lieutenant shall be made from Reserve Medical, Dental, and Veterinary officers, respectively, between the ages of twenty-three and thirty-two
Medical Administrative Corps.
years. Appointments in the Medical Administrative Corps shall be made in the grade of second lieutenant from pharmacists between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-two years who are graduates of recognized schools or colleges of pharmacy requiring four years of instruction for graduation, under such regulations and after such examination
Dental Corps.
as the Secretary of War shall prescribe. To be eligible for appointment in the Dental Corps, a candidate must be a graduate of a recognized dental college, and have been engaged in the practice of his profession for at least two years subsequent to graduation.
Chaplains.
Appointments as chaplain shall be made from persons duly accredited by some religious denomination or organization, and of good standing therein, between the ages of twenty-three and forty-five years.”
Sec. 8.
On and after July 1, 1939, the peacetime commissioned strength of the Regular Army to be attained by approximately equal annual increments, as hereinbefore provided, shall be sixteen thousand seven hundred and nineteen officers, including sixty-seven general
Assignments.
officers of the line as now authorized by law. Commissioned officers, other than general officers, shall be assigned to the several branches as follows: Infantry, four thousand one hundred and eighty-four; Cavalry, one thousand and thirty-four; Field Artillery, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-six; Coast Artillery Corps, one thousand three hundred and forty-one; Air Corps, three thousand two hundred and three exclusive of officers detailed from other arms and services for training and duty as aircraft observers and other members of combat crews; Corps of Engineers, seven hundred and ninety-five; Signal Corps, three hundred and forty-one; Adjutant General’s Department, one hundred and thirty-one; Judge Advocate General’s Department, one hundred and twenty-one; Quartermaster Corps, one thousand and sixteen; Finance Department, one hundred and seventy-six; Ordnance Department, four hundred and seventeen; Chemical Warfare Service, one hundred and twenty-four; Medical Corps, one thousand four hundred and twenty-four; Dental Corps, three hundred and sixteen; Veterinary Corps, one hundred and twenty-six; Medical Administrative Corps, sixteen; and Corps of Chaplains, one hundred and fifty-two: Provided, That the
Provisos.
Modifications permitted.
President may increase or diminish the number of officers assigned to any branch by not more than a total of 30 per centum: Provided further, That nothing herein contained shall affect the number of
Military Academy faculty.
professors, United States Military Academy, as now authorized by law, or require the separation from the service of any officer now
Present Medical Administrative Corps officers.
commissioned in the Medical Administrative Corps. Subject to the authorized increase or decrease of 30 per centum hereinabove provided,
Details in Inspector General’s Department.
the number of officers detailed in the Inspector General’s Department shall be fifty-five.
Sec. 9.
The Act approved June 11, 1938 (ch. 337, Seventy-fifth
Army Air Corps, basic allotment of enlisted men.
Congress, third session), is hereby amended by striking out the words “twenty-one thousand five hundred” in the last line thereof and inserting in lieu thereof the words “forty-five thousand”.
Sec. 10.
Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect
Reserve officers now on active duty, selection and commissioning.
10 U. S. C., Supp. IV, § 487a.
the operation of the Act of August 30, 1935 (49 Stat. 1028), with respect to the selection and commissioning, in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of that Act, of Reserve officers now on active duty under the provisions of that Act. Upon the effective date of
Active duty construed.
10 U. S. C., Supp. IV, § 292 b–2.
Post, p. 997.
this Act, Air Corps Reserve officers who are then on active duty under the provisions of section 1 of the Act of June 16, 1936 (49 Stat. 1524), shall be deemed to be on active duty under the provisions of this Act: Provided, That on and after the effective date of this Act no Air
Proviso.
Restriction on active-duty service.
Corps Reserve officers shall be called to active duty under the provision of section 1 of the said Act of June 16, 1936. Except as otherwise herein provided, nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect the number of Reserve officers that may be called to active duty under existing laws, nor the conditions and the purposes for which they may be called.
Sec. 11.
Section 2 of the Act of June 16, 1936 (49 Stat. 1524), is
10 U. S. C., Supp. IV, § 300a.
hereby amended to read as follows:
“Any Air Corps Reserve officer who has not been selected for
Reserve officer not selected for Regular Army commission, lump sum on termination of active duty.
commission in the Regular Army shall be paid upon release from active duty following the termination of any period of active duty of three years or more in duration a lump sum of $500 which sum shall be in addition to any pay and allowances which he may otherwise be entitled to receive.”
Sec. 12.
There is hereby authorized to be appropriated not to
Panama Canal Department.
Appropriation authorized for construction, etc.
Post, pp. 994, 1327.
exceed $23,750,000 to be expended for the construction, rehabilitation, and installation in the Panama Canal Department of such buildings, utilities, and appurtenances thereto as may be necessary to house antiaircraft, seacoast defense, and auxiliary units most urgently needed for defense of the Panama Canal.
Sec. 13.
That section 4 of the Act approved June 16, 1938, entitled “An Act to provide for placing educational orders to familiarize private manufacturing establishments with the production of munitions of war of special or technical design, noncommercial in character”, be amended to read as follows:
“Sec. 4.
That funds appropriated to accomplish the purposes of this Act shall be available for expenditures incidental to the accomplishment of the procurements made thereunder, including production studies, factory plans, and other production data and the storage and maintenance of gages, dies, jigs, tools, fixtures, and other special aids
Appropriation authorized; availability.
Post, pp. 595, 993.
and appliances procured thereunder. To carry out the provisions of this Act there is authorized to be appropriated the sum of $34,500,000, which amount shall be available during the fiscal years 1939, 1940, and 1941, and there is further authorized to be appropriated the sum of $2,000,000 during each of the four fiscal years succeeding the fiscal year 1941.”
Sec. 14.
All the provisions of section 3 of the Act of March 27, 1934, as amended (48 Stat. 505; 49 Stat. 1926), and as amended by this section shall be applicable with respect to contracts for aircraft or any portion thereof for the Army to the same extent and in the same manner that such provisions are applicable with respect to contracts for aircraft, or any portion thereof for the Navy: Provided,
Provisos.
Authority of Secretary of War.
That the Secretary of War shall exercise all functions under such section with respect to aircraft for the Army which are exercised by the Secretary of the Navy with respect to aircraft for the Navy:
Limitation on profits.
Provided further, That section 3 b of the Act of March 27, 1934 (48 Stat. 505), as amended (49 Stat. 1926; 34 U. S. C. Supp. IV 496), is hereby further amended by inserting in the first sentence after the words “in excess of 10 per centum of the total contract prices” the words “for the construction and or manufacture of any complete naval vessel or portion thereof, and in excess of 12 per centum of the total contract prices for the construction and or manufacture of any complete aircraft or portion thereof;” by inserting in the first proviso
If net loss or insufficient profit; allowance as credit during next succeeding years.
after the words “That if there is a net loss on all such contracts or subcontracts” the words “for the construction and or manufacture of any complete naval vessel or portion thereof”; and by inserting at the end of the first proviso after the words “income taxable year” a comma and the words “and that if there is a net loss, or a net profit less than 12 per centum, as aforesaid on all such contracts or subcontracts for the construction and or manufacture of any complete aircraft or portion thereof completed by the particular contractor or subcontractor within any income taxable year, such net loss or deficiency in profit shall be allowed as a credit in determining the excess profit, if any, during the next succeeding four income taxable
Method of ascertainment.
years, and that the method of ascertaining the amount of excess profit, initially fixed upon shall be determined on or before June 30, 1939”:
Purchase of sample aircraft from competitors to whom award not made authorized.
Provided further, That when aircraft are procured by the Secretary of War as a result of competitive bids requiring the submission of sample aircraft with bid, the Secretary is authorized, in his discretion, to purchase sample aircraft of competitors to whom an award is not made, not more than one each from not more than three such competitors, in order of merit, at prices not exceeding 75, 60, and 50 per centum, respectively, of the cost applicable in the opinion of the Secretary to the development and manufacture of such sample aircraft.
Approved, April 3, 1939.