HISTORICAL NOTE.

The Military Academy was established in pursuance of authority conferred by the act of Mar. 16, 1802 (2 Stat. 137), which contained a requirement authorizing the President to establish a corps of engineers: "The said corps, when so organized, shall be stationed at West Point, in the State of New York, and shall constitute a military academy." Sees. 26 and 27, act of Mar. 16, 1802 (2 Stat. 137).

The post of West Point ceased to be an Engineer station and the control of the Military Academy was transferred from the Chief of Engineers to such officer or officers as the Secretary of War may assign to that duty by the act of July 13, 1866 (14 Stat. 92).

By Public Resolution No. 35, act of July 2, 1918 (40 Stat. 755), and No. 4, act of July 9, 1919 (41 Stat. 234), and act of Mar. 30, 1920 (41 Stat. 548), provisions were made for permitting certain aliens to receive instructions at the United States Military Academy without expense to the United States.

2638. Supervision. The supervision and charge of the Academy shall be in the War Department, under such officer or officers as the Secretary of War may assign to that duty. R. S. 1331.

Notes of Decisions.

Regulations.-The regulations of the Military Academy may be altered by the Secretary of War, with the approbation of the President. (1821) 1 Op. Atty. Gen. 469.

Disposition of property.-This section has a special and partial purpose and gives no authority to dispose of the use of property. (1897) 21 Op. Atty. Gen. 537.

2639. Officers, professors and instructors.-The United States Military Academy at West Point, in the State of New York, shall be constituted as follows: There shall be one superintendent; one commandant of cadets; one senior instructor in the tactics of artillery; one senior instructor in the tactics of cavairy; one senior instructor in the tactics of infantry; one professor and one assistant professor of civil and military engineering; one professor and one assistant professor of natural and experimental philosophy; one professor and one assistant professor of mathematics; one chaplain, who shall also be professor of history, geography, and ethics, and one assistant professor of the same; one professor and one assistant professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology; one professor and one assistant professor of drawing; one professor and one assistant professor of the French language; one professor and one assistant professor of the Spanish language; one adjutant; one master of the sword; and one teacher of music. R. S. 1309.

The portion of this section providing for "one chaplain, who shall also be professor of history, geography, and ethics, and one assistant professor of the same," was expressly repealed by act of Feb. 18, 1896, the provisions of which relating to the appointment, pay, etc., of a chaplain, are set forth 2677, post.

The words of this section authorizing a professor of the French language and a professor of the Spanish language, were superseded by 2667, post.

2640. Selection of officers.-The superintendent and commandant of cadets may be selected, and all other officers on duty at the Academy may be detailed, from any arm of the service; ** R. S. 1314.

2641. Graduates as professors or instructors.-and hereafter no graduate of the Military Academy shall be assigned or detailed to serve at said Academy as a professor, instructor, or assistant to either within two years after his graduation, and so much of the act of June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, as requires a longer service than two years for said assignments or details is hereby repealed. Act of July 26, 1894 (28 Stat. 151).

Act June 30, 1882 (22 Stat. 123), referred to and repealed in part in this provision, provided that four years must elapse before any graduate should be assigned or detailed as professor, etc.

2642. Appointment and detail of officers.-The superintendent, the commandant of cadets, and the professors shall be appointed by the President. The assistant professors, acting assistant professors, and the adjutant shall be officers of the Army, detailed and assigned to such duties by the Secretary of War, or cadets assigned by the superintendent, under the direction of the Secretary of War. R. S. 1313.

2643. Vacancies in the permanent establishment.

Provided, That

the President of the United States be authorized to fill any vacancies occurring at said academy by reason of death, or other cause, of any person appointed by him. Act of Mar. 3, 1875 (18 Stat. 467).

2644. Command of the Academy.-The superintendent, and, in his absence, the next in rank, shall have the immediate government and military command of the Academy, and shall be commandant of the military post of West Point. R. S. 1311.

Notes of Decisions.

Residents and visitors at the academy.No person can be entitled, as a matter of right, to enter within the limits of this post unless he be authorized to do so by the laws of the United States, or by some officer having authority under the law to grant permission to enter such limits. The superintendent of the academy, as commandant of this post, has a general authority to prevent any person in civil life residing permanently or temporarily at the post, or occasionally resorting to the post, from interrupting its discipline, or obstructing in any way the performance of the duties assigned by law to the officers and cades. In the exercise of a sound discretion, the commandant of the post may therefore order from it any person not attached to it by law whose presence is, in his judgment, injurious to the interests of

the academy. And in case any person so ordered shall refuse to depart, after reasonable notice and within a reasonable time, having regard to the circumstances of the case, the superintendent may lawfully remove him by force. (1837) 3 Op. Atty. Gen. 268.

When, however, the United States has leased a dwelling house within the post belonging to it to an individual, it has no greater right than an individual would have in respect to the ejectment of the lessee. Id.

No person has the right to enter the limits of the post of West Point, not even to visit the post office there, unless specially authorized by the laws of the United States or by some officer having authority to grant permission. Id.

2645. Rank of the superintendent and the commandant of cadets. The superintendent and the commandant of cadets, while serving as such, shall have, respectively, the local rank of colonel and lieutenant-colonel of engineers. R. S. 1310.

The office of superintendent was created by sec. 28 of the act of Mar. 16, 1802 (2 Stat. 137), which contained the requirement that "the principal engineer and, in his absence, the next in rank, shall have the superintendence of the Military Academy under the direction of the President of the United States." So much of the act of Mar. 16, 1802, as restricted the appointment to this office to the Corps of Engineers was replaced by sec. 6 of the act of July 16, 1866 (14 Stat. 92), which vested the supervision of the academy in the War Department, under such officer or officers as the Secretary of War may assign to that duty. By the act of Jan. 12, 1858 (11 Stat. 333), the local rank of colonel of Engineers was conferred upon the superintendent.

The act of June 20, 1849 (5 Stat. 398), contained the requirement that the commander of the corps of cadets should be either the instructor of Infantry tactics, of Cavalry or Artillery tactics, or of practical engineering; and his pay and emoluments were in no case to be less than those allowed by law to the professor of mathematics. By the act of June 12, 1858 (11 id. 333), the pay of this officer was fixed at that of a lieutenant colonel.

Notes of Decisions.

Superintendent.-Prior to the enactment of R. S. 1314, ante, 2640, the superintend

ent of the academy could be selected only from the Engineer Corps. That section

permitted a selection from any arm of the service, and did not confine the selection to an officer whose rank in the arm from which he was selected was that of colonel.

Hence an officer holding the rank of major general might be selected as superintendent. (1876) 15 Op. Atty. Gen. 110.

2646. Pay of the superintendent and of the commandant of cadets.-The superintendent of the Military Academy shall have the pay of a colonel, and the commandant of cadets shall have the pay of a lieutenant-colonel. R. S. 1334. See notes to 2645, ante.

2647. Leave of absence for the superintendent.-Hereafter the Secretary of War may grant the superintendent of the academy leave of absence without deduction from pay or allowances for the same period that the superintendent may grant leave of absence to other officers of the academy under the provisions of section thirteen hundred and thirty of the Revised Statutes. Act of Aug. 9, 1912 (37 Stat. 263).

For R. S. 1330, see post, 2654.

2648. Commandant of cadets.-The commandant of the cadets shall have the immediate command of the battalion of cadets, and shall be instructor in the tactics of artillery, cavalry, and infantry. R. S. 1312.

For statutes fixing rank and pay of the above officer, see 2645, 2646, ante, and 2658, post. See also note to 2692, post.

2649. Adjutant.-The adjutant of the Military Academy shall have the pay of an adjutant of a cavalry regiment. R. S. 1335.

For extra pay, see post, 2658.

2650. Quartermaster and commissary of cadets.—That the Secretary of War be hereby directed to detail a competent officer to act as quartermaster and commissary for the battalion of cadets, by whom all purchases and issues of supplies of all kinds for the cadets, and all provisions for the mess, shall be made, and that all supplies of all kinds and description shall be furnished to the cadets at actual cost, without any commission or advance over said cost; and such officer so assigned shall perform all the duties of purveying and supervision for the mess, as now done by the purveyor, without other compensation. Act of Aug. 7, 1876 (19 Stat. 126).

For extra pay, see post, 2658.

2651. Commissary sergeant.—*

And the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to detail a commissary-sergeant to act as assistant to the commissary of cadets. Act of June 30, 1882 (22 Stat. 123).

2652. Command by the academic staff._* * * but the academic staff as such shall not be entitled to any command in the Army separate from the Academy. R. S. 1314.

2653. Rank and command of professors.-Provided, That the professors and the associate professor of the United States Military Academy shall have the actual rank in the United States Army now assigned to them by assimilation in the regulations of the Military Academy prescribed by the President of the United States, and that they shall exercise command only in the academic department of the United States Military Academy. Act of June 28, 1902 (32 Stat. 409).

Notes of Decisions.

Nature of professor's office.-The office of professor is not an Army office within the

military acceptation of that term. This section was designed to give rank to civilian

professors to enforce military discipline at the academy, but does not change the character of the office by the addition of actual

rank in the Army. Huse v. U. S. (1907), 43 Ct. Cl. 19.

2654. Leave of absence for professors and officers.-Leave of absence may be granted by the superintendent, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of War, to the professors, assistant professors, instructors, and other officers of the Academy, for the entire period of the suspension of the ordinary academic studies, without deduction from pay or allowances. R. S. 1330.

Leave of absence to the superintendent was authorized by a provision of act of Aug. 9, 1912, ante. 2647.

The provisions of this section were extended to include officers on duty exclusively as instructors at the service schools by a provision of act of Mar. 23, 1910 (36 Stat. 244), ante, 1664

2655. Retirement of professors.-The professors of the Military Academy at West Point are placed on the same footing, as to retirement from active serv ice, as officers of the Army. R. S. 1333.

2656. Pay and allowances of professors and instructors.-Each of the professors of the Military Academy whose service at the Academy exceeds ten years shall have the pay and allowances of colonel, and all other professors shall have the pay and allowances of lieutenant-colonels; and the instructors of ordnance and science of gunnery and of practical engineering shall have the pay and allowances of major; and hereafter there shall be allowed and paid to the said professors ten per centum of their current yearly pay for each and every term of five years' service in the Army and at the Academy: Provided, That such addition shall in no case exceed forty per centum of said yearly pay; and said professors are hereby placed upon the same footing, as regards restrictions upon pay and retirement from active service, as officers of the Army. R. S. 1336.

and that section thirteen hundred and thirty-six of the Revised Statutes be, and is hereby, amended by inserting, after the word "service" in the first line, the words "as professor." Sec. 4, act of June 23, 1879 (21 Stat. 34), amending R. S. 1336.

For pay of seven professors, $26,500. Act of Mar. 30, 1920 (41 Stat. 538). For additional pay see 2658, post.

2657. Rank and pay of colonel after long service for permanent professors.That any officer of the United States Army now holding the position of permanent professor at the United States Military Academy who on July first, nineteen hundred and sixteen, should have served not less than thirty-three years in the Army, one-third of which service shall have been as professor and instructor at the Military Academy, shall on that date have the rank, pay, and allowances of a colonel in the Army: * Act of Aug. 11, 1916 (39 Stat. 493).

This section may be regarded as superseding a similar provision of act of Aug. 9, 1912 (37 Stat, 264), which applied to officers who, on July 1, 1914, had served not less than 33 years, etc.

2658. Extra pay of detached officers.-For extra pay of officers of the Army on detached service at the Military Academy:

For pay of one commandant of cadets (colonel) in addition to his regular pay, $1,000.

For pay of one professor of ordnance and science of gunnery (lieutenant colonel) in addition to pay as major, $500.

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