1382. Land forces of United States, composition of.-That the land forces of the United States shall consist of the Regular Army, the organized land militia while in the service of the United States, and such volunteer forces as Congress may authorize. Sec. 1, Act of Apr. 25, 1914 (38 Stat. 347).

1383. Volunteer forces, only to be organized during existence of war, etc. That the volunteer forces shall be raised, organized, and maintained, as in this Act provided, only during the existence of war, or while war is imminent, and only after Congress shall have authorized the President to raise such a force: Provided, That the term of enlistment in the volunteer forces shall be the same as that for the Regular Army, exclusive of reserve periods, and all officers and enlisted men composing such volunteer forces shall be mustered out of the service of the United States as soon as practicable after the President shall have issued a proclamation announcing the termination of the war or the passing of the imminence thereof. Sec. 2, id. 1384. Same-raising, organizing, etc.; President's proclamation for. That when volunteer forces are to be raised the President shall issue his proclamation, stating the number of men desired for each arm, corps, and department, within such limits as may be fixed by law, and he shall prescribe such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the terms of this Act, as may be necessary for the purpose of examining, organizing, and receiving into the service the

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men called for: Provided, That the power to organize volunteer forces shall include the power to provide, within such limits as are or may be prescribed by law, the officers and enlisted men of all grades and classes, and the trained nurses, male and female, that may be necessary in the various arms, corps, and departments: Provided further, That when three-fourths of the prescribed minimum enlisted strength of any company, troop, or battery, or when threefourths of the prescribed minimum enlisted strength of each company, troop, or battery comprised in any battalion or regiment of the organized land militia of any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, organized as prescribed by law and War Department regulations, shall volunteer and be accepted for service in the Volunteer Army as such company, troop, battery, battalion or regiment, such organization may be received into the volunteer forces in advance of other organizations of the same arm or class from the same State, Territory, or District, and the officers in the organized land militia service with such organization may then, within the limits prescribed by law, be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, as officers of corresponding grades in the Volunteer Army and be assigned to the same grades in the said organization or elsewhere as the President may direct: Provided further, That all enlisted men received into the service in the volunteer forces shall, as far as practicable, be taken from the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia in proportion to the respective populations thereof: Provided further, That when the raising of a volunteer force shall have been authorized by Congress, and after the organized land militia of any arm or class shall have been called into the military service of the United States, volunteers of that particular arm or class may be raised and accepted into said service in accordance with the terms of this Act regardless of the extent to which other arms or classes of said militia shall have been called into said service. Sec. 3, id.1

1385. Same subject to laws, regulations, etc., governing Regular Army. That the volunteer forces shall be subject to the laws, orders, and regulations governing the Regular Army in so far as such laws,

Under the authority conferred by the acts of April 20, and April 22, 1898, and in pursuance of the declaration of war with the Kingdom of Spain contained in the act of April 25, 1898, a call was addressed to the governors of the several States for a force of 125,000 volunteers. (G. O. 30, A. G. O. 1898.) For regulations respecting the enrollment, armament, and equipment of the volunteer forces thus called into the service of the United States, see General Orders 26, 31, 33, and 41, A. G. O. of 1898.

Section 6 of the act of April 22, 1898, conferred authority upon the President to organize companies, troops, battalions, or regiments, possessing special qualifications, from the nation at large, not to exceed three thousand men, under such rules and regulations, including the appointment of the officers thereof, as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War. The act of May 11, 1898 (30 Stat. 405), authorized the organization of "a volunteer brigade of

orders, and regulations are applicable to officers or enlisted men whose permanent retention in the military service, either on the active list or on the retired list, is not contemplated by existing law; and no distinction shall be made between the Regular Army, the organized militia while in the military service of the United States, and the volunteer forces in respect to promotion or to the conferring upon officers or enlisted men of brevet rank, medals of honor, certificates of merit, or other rewards for distinguished service, nor in respect to the eligibility of any officer of said Army, militia, or volunteer forces for service upon any court-martial, court of inquiry, or military commission: Provided, That the organization of all units of the line and of the signal troops of the volunteer forces shall be the same as that prescribed by law and regulations for the corresponding units of the Regular Army: Provided further, That when military conditions so require the President may organize the land forces of the United States into brigades and divisions and such higher units as he may deem necessary, and the composition of units higher than the regiment shall be as he may prescribe: Provided further, That to each regiment of Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery, and to each battalion of Engineers and Signal Corps troops organized under this Act, there shall be attached the same personnel of the Medical Department as are attached to like organizations of the Regular Army: Provided further, That the organization of the coast defenses, of machine-gun detachments, establishments of the Medical Department, remount depots, military trains, secret-service agencies, military prisons, lines of communication, including their supply depots, and of other adjuncts that may be necessary in the prosecution of war, and the organization of which is not otherwise provided for by law, shall be as the President may from time to time direct. Sec. 4, id.

1386. Same-President to appoint officers of. That except as otherwise provided herein the President is authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint all volunteer officers required by this Act, but the number and grade of such officers shall not exceed the number and grade of like officers provided for a like engineers from the nation at large, to consist of not more than three regiments and not more than three thousand five hundred men, possessing the special qualifications necessary for engineer troops, under such rules and regulations, including the appointment of the officers thereof, as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War." By the same enactment the organization of an additional volunteer force of not exceeding ten thousand enlisted men possessing immunity from disease incident to tropical climates" was also authorized. The officers of these forces were to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, and they were not apportioned among the States and Territories, as required in section 5 of the act of April 22, 1898. The act of May 18, 1898 (30 Stat. 418), authorized the formation of a volunteer signal corps. This statute contained the requirement that "two-thirds of all officers below the rank of major and a like proportion of the enlisted men shall be skilled electricians or telegraph operators."

force of the Regular Army: Provided, That all appointments below the grade of brigadier general in the line of the volunteer forces shall be by commission in an arm of the service and not by commission in any particular regiment; and officers in each arm of the service shall be assigned to organizations of that arm, and transferred from one organization to another in that arm, as the interests of the service may require, by orders from the Secretary of War: Provided further, That no officer above the grade of colonel shall be appointed under the provisions of this Act. Sec. 5, id., 348.

1387. Same-staff officers for-appointment of. That to provide the staff officers that will be necessary in the various staff corps and departments in time of war or while war is imminent, and that are not otherwise provided for in this Act, the President is authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, such number of volunteer staff officers of grades authorized by law for the Regular Army as he may find necessary for such corps and departments: Provided, That the total number of such staff officers so appointed, including all such officers of the organized militia called into the military service of the United States, shall not exceed the ratio of one officer to two hundred enlisted men for all militia and volunteer forces called into the military service of the United States: Provided further, That the number of volunteer staff officers appointed in any grade in the various staff corps and departments shall not exceed in any staff corps or department the proportionate strength of regular officers of the corresponding grade as established by law for the corresponding staff corps or department of the Regular Army: Provided further, That the President may appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, volunteer chaplains at the rate of one for each regiment of Volunteer Infantry, Cavalry, and Field Artillery, and one for every twelve companies. of Volunteer Coast Artillery raised, with rank corresponding to that established by law for chaplains in the Regular Army. Sec. C, id.

1388. Same-officers for may be appointed from Regular Army.That in appointing the volunteer officers authorized by this Act the President may select them from the Regular Army, from those duly qualified and registered pursuant to section twenty-three1 of

1List of eligibles for commissions. For the purpose of securing a list of persons specially qualified to hold commissions in any volunteer force which may hereafter be called for and organized under the authority of Congress, other than a force composed of organized militia, the Secretary of War is authorized from time to time to convene boards of officers at suitable and convenient army posts in different parts of the United States, who shall examine as to their qualifications for the command of troops or for the performance of staff duties all applicants who shall have served in the Regular Army of the United States, in any of the volunteer forces of the United States, or in the organized militia of any State or Territory or District of Columbia, or who, being a citizen of the United States, shall have attended or pursued a regular

the Act of Congress approved January twenty-first, nineteen hundred and three, from the country at large, from the organized land militia of the District of Columbia, and, upon the recommendation of the various governors, from the organized land militia of the several States and Territories in proportion, as far as practicable, to their respective populations, and as far as compatible with the interests of the military service, from the localities from which the troops with which the officers appointed upon said recommendation are to serve shall have been recruited: Provided, That in appointments from the country at large preference shall be given those who shall have had honorable service in the Regular Army, the National Guard, or the volunteer forces, or who shall have been graduated from educational institutions in which military instruction is compulsory: Provided further, That at the same time, not to exceed one Regular Army officer shall hold a volunteer commission in any one battalion of volunteer engineers or signal troops, or in any one battalion of Volunteer Field Artillery; and not to exceed four Regular Army officers shall, at the same time, hold commissions in any one regiment of Volunteer Cavalry, Field Artillery, or Infantry, or in any twelve companies of Coast Artillery, including their field and staff: And provided further, That Regular Army officers appointed as officers of Volunteers under this Act shall not thereby vacate their course of instruction in any military school or college of the United States Army, or shall have graduated from any educational institution to which an officer of the Army or Navy has been detailed as superintendent or professor pursuant to law after having creditably pursued the course of military instruction therein provided. Such examinations shall be under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of War, and shall be especially directed to ascertain the practical capacity of the applicant. The record of previous service of the applicant shall be considered as a part of the examination. Upon the conclusion of each examination the board shall certify to the War Department its judgment as to the fitness of the applicant, stating the office, if any, which it deems him qualified to fill, and, upon approval by the President, the names of the persons certified to be qualified shall be inscribed in a register to be kept in the War Department for that purpose. The persons so certified and registered shall, subject to a physical examination at the time, constitute an eligible class for commissions pursuant to such certificates in any volunteer force hereafter called for and organized under the authority of Congress, other than a force composed of organized militia, and the President may authorize persons from this class, to attend and pursue a regular course of study at any military school or college of the United States other than the Military Academy at West Point and to receive from the annual appropriation for the support of the Army the same allowances and commutations as provided in this Act for officers of the organized militia: Provided, That no person shall be entitled to receive a commission as a second lieutenant after he shall have passed the age of thirty; as first lieutenant after he shall have passed the age of thirty-five; as captain after he shall have passed the age of forty; as major after he shall have passed the age of forty-five; as lieutenant-colonel after he shall have passed the age of fifty, or as colonel after he shall have passed the age of fifty-five: And provided further, That such appointments shall be distributed proportionately as near as may be, among the various States contributing such volunteer force: And provided, That the appointments in this section provided for shall not be deemed to include appointments to any office in any company, troop, battery, battalion, or regiment of the organized militia which volunteers as a body or the officers of which are appointed by the governor of a State or Territory. Sec. 23, Act of Jan. 21, 1903 (32 Stat. 779).