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RETIRING BOARD.
200. The act of March 3d, 1861, provides as follows:
SECTION 15. And
be it further enacted, That
any commissioned officer of the army, or of the marine corps, who shall have served as such for forty consecutive years, may, upon
his own application to the President of the United States, he placed upon the list of retired officers, with the pay
and emoluments allowed by this act.
SEC. 16. And be
it further enacted, That
if any commissioned officer of the army, or of the marine corps,
shall have become, or shall hereafter become incapable of performing the
duties of his office, he shall be placed upon the retired list and withdrawn from active service and command, and
from the line of promotion, with the following pay and emoluments, namely: the pay proper of the highest rank held
by him at the time of his retirement, whether by staff or regimental commission, and four rations per day, and
without any other pay, emoluments, or allowances; and the next officer in rank shall be promoted to the place of
the retired officer, according to the established rules of the service. And the same rule of promotion shall be applied
successively to the vacancies consequent upon the retirement of an officer: Provided,
That should the
Brevet Lieutenant General be retired under this act, it shall be without reduction in his current pay, subsistence, or allowances:
And provided
further, That there
shall not be on the retired list at any time more than seven per centum of the whole
number of officers of the army, as fixed by law.
SEC. 17. And be
it further enacted, That,
in order to carry out the provisions of this act, the Secretary of
War or Secretary of the Navy, as the case may be, under the direction
and approval of the President of the United States, shall, from lime to time, as occasion may require, assemble a
board of not more than nine nor less than five commissioned officers, two-fifths of whom shall be of the medical
staff; the board, except taken from the medical staff, to be composed, as far as may be, of his seniors in rank,
to determine the facts as to the nature and occasion of the disability of such officers as appear disabled to perform
such military service, such board being hereby invested with the powers of a Court of Inquiry and Court-Martial, and
their decision shall be subject to like revision as that of such Courts by the President of the United States. The board,
whenever it finds an officer incapacitated for active service, will report whether, in its judgment, the said
incapacity result from long and faithful service, from wounds or injury received in the line of duty, from sickness or exposure
therein, or from any other incident of service. If so, and the President approves such judgment, the disabled officer
shall thereupon be placed upon the list of retired officers, according to the provisions of this act. If otherwise, and if the
President concur in opinion with the board, the officer shall be retired as above, either with his pay proper
alone or with his service rations alone, at the discretion of the President, or he shall be wholly retired from the service,
with one year’s pay and allowances; and in this last case his name shall be thenceforward omitted from the Army Register,
or Navy Register, as the case may be: Provided
always, That the
members of the board shall, in every case, be sworn to an honest and
impartial discharge of their duties, and that no officer of the army shall be retired, either
partially or wholly, from the service without having had a fair and full hearing before the board, if, upon due summons,
he shall demand it.
SEC. 18. And be
it further enacted, That
the officers partially retired shall be entitled to wear the uniform
of their respective grades, shall continue to be borne upon the Army
Register, or Navy Register, as the case may be, and shall be subject to the rules and Articles of War, and to trial
by General Court-Martial for any breach of the said articles.
SEC. 25. And be
it further enacted, That
retired officers of the army, navy, and marine corps, may be
assigned to such duties as the President may deem them capable of performing,
and such as the exigencies of the public service may require.
Approved, August 3, 1861.
201. By the foregoing Act, Retiring Boards are invested with the
powers of a Court of Inquiry, and a Court-Martial, and their decisions are subject to similar
revision by the President of the United States.
202. It follows, therefore, that the proceedings of such boards
will be governed, as far as applicable by the same rules, and the record be made up in the
same way. The board more nearly resembles a Court of Inquiry, and is limited in its jurisdiction
to determining the facts in cases of disability of officers preliminary to their being placed upon the
retired list.
203. No officer can order a Retiring Board except the Secretary
of War under the direction of the President, and the Board cannot inquire into any case except
by the same authority. The Board cannot consist of more than nine or less than five members
two-fifths of whom must belong to the medical staff, the other officers, as far as
practicable, to be senior to the officer whose case is under examination.
204. Whilst an arraignment before a Retiring Board carries no
discredit with it, as is most generally the case before a Court-Martial, still the most vital interests
of an officer are at stake, and he is allowed all the privileges of a person on trial for his life.
He may challenge the members of the Board for cause; has the fight to cross-examine witnesses, to
offer testimony, and to present argument to the Board in his favor, and to have counsel to assist
him.
205. The members are sworn "to an honest and impartial
discharge of their duties," and the Judge Advocate or Recorder should also be sworn to the faithful
performance of his duties. The board has power to summon witnesses, to punish for contempt, and
sits with open doors except when deciding on any question that may have arisen. It is not
sworn to secrecy, but secrecy is usually observed by the members for obvious reasons.
206. The Board, by the law, is required to state whether, in
their judgment, the incapacity of the officer "results from long and faithful service, from wounds
or injury received in the line of duty, from sickness or exposure therein, or from any other incident of
service." If the disability has resulted from some incident of service, as decided by the Board, and
approved by the President, the officer must be placed on the list of retired officers, with
the pay proper of the highest rank held by him at the time of his retirement, and four rations per
day.
207. If the Board, however, in their judgment determines that the
incapacity did not result from some "incident of service" and this decision is
approved by the President, the officer may be retired with his pay proper alone, or his service rations alone,
or he may be wholly retired with one year’s pay and all emoluments, as the President may decide.
In the last case the officer’s name is dropped from the Army Register
208. Officers partially retired are entitled to wear the uniform
of their grade, and may be assigned to duty, in which case they get the full pay of such
grade while performing duty. They continue to be borne upon the Army Register, and are subject to
the military law, as any other officer
209. The Board is not confined to hours in its sittings, nor
limited as to time in its investigations like Courts-Martial and Courts of Inquiry. It follows from the
very nature of their duties that they may be required to inquire into events extending many years back.
210. In addition to the ordinary evidence brought before the
other Courts, the Board may exercise the evidence of their own senses as to the nature of an officer’s
physical condition. This would, however, not be exercised except in the most manifest
cases. The proceedings of Courts-Martial and Courts of Inquiry may be accepted as evidence where the
decision affects the officer’s fitness or unfitness for duty.
211. The record must be duly authenticated by the Presiding
officer and the Recorder, and each case should be kept separately, as in the Court-Martial cases.
The order should be copied, and the allowing facts noted in the record: the date of meeting, the
members present, the presence or absence of the officer whose case was examined; if absent, that he was
duly summoned and failed or declined to appear; or, if present, whether he objected to any
of the members, and finally that the oath prescribed by law was duly administered to the members,
and that the recorder was also sworn; it must appear that each witness was duly sworn where
evidence is taken.
212. The proceedings, when completed, are sent to the Adjutant
General of the Army at Washington, D. C., endorsed in the lower left hand corner "Proceedings
of Retiring Board."
BOARD OF SURVEY
213. Boards of Survey are authorized by Reg. 1018. The functions
of this Board are not well-defined, and it is, therefore, frequently improperly organized, and
sitting without authority of either law or regulations.
214. The true function of a Board of Survey is to determine
administrative responsibility. "When property becomes damaged, except by fair wear and
tear," or unsuitable for service from some unusual cause, or a deficiency is found in it," the
officer who is responsible for the property would, if he had committed no fault or neglect, ask for
a Board of Survey to relieve him from the responsibility of the damage or loss. The proceedings of
the Board would be the officer’s evidence that he was not responsible. A Board is
unnecessary where there is no doubt about the responsibility.
215. "Boards of Survey will not be convened by any other
than the commanding officer present." (Reg. 1020.) This regulation to be available in
practice, must be interpreted to mean the immediate Commanding Officer of the officer responsible for the
property. An officer serving with his Regiment would apply to the Colonel of his Regiment; if
the officer is a part of the Brigade organization, then to the Brigade Commander; and if at a
Post, to the Post Commander.
216. The Board must consist of three officers, if that many are
available, or as many as can be convened, not including the Commanding Officer and the officer
responsible for the property. When there are only two present, then the one not responsible for
the property may constitute the board, and the officer himself may compose the board when there
is no other recourse.
217. A Board of Survey cannot condemn
property, if, in addition to
the question of responsibility, it is desirable to dispose of the property,
either to drop it from the returns, or to turn it in for repairs or sale, that fact must be reported to the
Commanding Officer, in addition to the application for a Board of Survey, in order that the proper
inspecting officer may act upon it, as provided in Reg. 1021 and 1022.
218. An officer would ordinarily apply for a Board of Survey to
relieve himself from the responsibility of any loss or damage that would seem unusual. There would be no
need of calling a Board where an officer does not deny his responsibility for the
loss or damage, except for the purpose of fixing the amount at which the loss or damage will be
charged to him.
219. If the value is fixed on the invoices or otherwise, there is
no occasion for a Board. The regulations do not seem to contemplate a Board of Survey except
at the desire of some one who wishes to be relieved from a responsibility that would otherwise
fall to his lot. The following cases are provided for in the Regulations, and authorize Boards
of Survey to be ordered:
1. "To assess the amount and kind of damage or deficiency
which public property may have sustained from any extraordinary cause, not ordinary wear, either
in transit or in store, or in actual use, whether from accident, unusual wastage, or otherwise,
and to set forth the circumstances and fix the responsibility of such damage, whether
on the carrier, or person accountable for the property, or having it immediately in
charge." (Reg. 1019.)
2. "To verify the discrepancy between the invoices and the
actual quantity or description of property transferred from one officer to another, and ascertain,
as far as possible, where and how the discrepancy has occurred, whether in the hands of the carrier
or the officer making the transfer" (Reg. 1019 and 1036.)
3. "To make inventories of property ordered to be abandoned,
or broken up, when the articles have not been enumerated in the orders." (Reg. 1019.)
4. When an officer is directed to take charge of public property
in consequence of the death of the officer responsible for it, the Commanding Officer is
required to appoint a Board of Survey to take an inventory of the property. (Reg. 1037.)
5. "To assess the prices at which damaged clothing may be
issued to troops, and the proportion in which supplies shall be issued in consequence of damage that
renders them at the usual rate unequal to the allowance which the Regulations contemplate."
(Reg. 1019 and 1147.)
6. If any officer or soldier shall lose or damage, by neglect or
fault, any article of public property, he shall pay for the same at such value of the article,
or amount of damage, or cost of repairs, as a Board of Survey, with the approval of the
Commanding Officer, may assess. (Reg. 1027.)
7. If any hired person
in the public service, shall embezzle or, by neglect, lose or damage
any article of public property, the value of such article of damage,
as ascertained by a Board of Survey, shall be charged to him, and set against any pay of money
due him. (Reg. 1029.)
220. The foregoing are all the cases provided in Regulations for
calling Boards of Survey. This evidence or testimony thus obtained is not to the exclusion of
other testimony, regarding responsibility, and does not do away with the other forms the
case may require, but is in addition thereto. "In no case, however, will the report of the board
supersede the depositions which the law requires with reference to deficiencies and damage."
(Reg. 1019.)
221. The Board meets as directed in the order, and in its duties
confines itself to the letter of that authority. The proceedings are recorded by the junior member in
the manner practised by all Army Boards or Courts, giving a copy of the order, time and place
of meeting, and members present, and a record of proceedings, and finally a decision. The
whole is signed by all the
members.
222. The 6th and 7th seem to be the only cases in which the
Commanding Officer might direct a Board of Survey without the application, or against the will of
the persons responsible. In the case of an officer, the Commanding Officer has no authority in
Law or Regulations for making stoppages. The process would seem to be that he should call a
Board of Survey to determine the facts, and the amount to be assessed against the officer. A copy
of the proceedings would be forwarded to the Bureau of the Department to which the property
belongs, and, through the chief of the Bureau, the officer’s pay would be stopped, as directed
in Reg. 1350.
223. In the case of enlisted men or hired men, the authority has
always been exercised to charge loss or damage of public property against their pay. When the
Commanding Officer has thought that the person who committed the damage or loss was entitled to
a hearing, the practice has been to order a Board of Survey, both to exonerate the soldier, and to
relieve the officer who was accountable for the property.
224. The law, however, provides for pay stoppages against
officers and men, by sentence of a Court-Martial, and this course is generally preferred where there
is blame attached to the loss or damage, and for that reason Boards of Survey are rarely ordered
in such cases.
225. The following form is given to indicate the method in which
proceedings of Boards of Survey are written out. When completed they are sent to the
office of the Commanding Officer, who convened the Board, addressed to his Adjutant or Adjutant
General:
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