Notes on Army Regulations
1. Obedience required in the military service—strict and prompt.
2. Authority Exercised with firmness, kindness and justice—prompt and lawful punishment.
3. Abusive Language or conduct by superiors forbidden.
4. Respect To Superiors will be extended upon all occasions, whether on duty or not.
5. Remarks By Officers or soldiers upon others in the military service, whether praise or censure, public or private, written or spoken, is prohibited. Any effort to affect legislation for a personal favor will be entered against a man's military record.
106. Furloughs not granted to men about to be discharged. Not more than five per cent of a company shall be absent at one time.
109. Men On Furlough may not leave the United States.
111. For Men In Foreign Countries furlough can begin on date of reaching United States.
113. No Payments made to men while on furlough. Arms not to be taken on furlough or while reporting sick.
(N.B.—There will unquestionably be a modification of this ruling, as the custom abroad is to have every man keep his complete equipment with him whenever possible.)
116. Desertion. Property lost or destroyed will be charged against deserter.
117. Abandoned Clothes turned over to Quartermaster. Personal effects sold and credited to United States.
121. Reward Of $50 for apprehension and delivery of deserter or military prisoner.
127. Costs Of Apprehension will be charged against deserter.
129. No Pay Or Clothes drawn by soldier awaiting trial on charge of desertion.
131. Will Be Restored to duty only by court martial or authority competent to order trial.
132. Absent Without Leave. Enlisted man forfeits all pay and allowances while away.
Soldier will not be charged with desertion until commanding officer has reason to believe he intended to desert. Absence of less than 24 hours will not be noted upon the muster roll.
139. Discharge of enlisted man only
- By order of President or Secretary of War.
- By order of General Court Martial.
- By order of United States court or justice or judge, on writ of habeas corpus.
- By command of territorial department.
- By disability in line of duty.
- By sentence of civil court.
- By purchase.
(N.B.—In time of war it is probable that the last two methods would not be effective for discharge from the service.)
140. Final Statements. The company commander will furnish each enlisted man a final statement (or duplicate) or a full statement in writing explaining why such final statement is not furnished. No final statement will be furnished a soldier who has forfeited all pay and allowances or who has no deposits due him.
147. Certificate will give
- Character certified by company commander.
- Whether recommended for re-enlistment.
- In case of negative opinion, the soldier should be notified at least 30 days prior to discharge. In that case the company commander shall convene a board of three officers (if possible) to determine what kind of discharge shall be given. The soldier will be given a hearing.
151. Loss Of Discharge Certificate. Discharge certificates will not be made in duplicate. Upon proper proof of loss or destruction without fault of person entitled to it, the War Department will issue a certificate of service, showing date of enlistment and discharge from the army and character given in original certificate.
Discharge certificates should never be forwarded to the War Department in correspondence unless called for.
159. Physical Disability Certificate issued when an enlisted man is permanently unfitted for service, in line of duty. Certificates of disability not made in duplicate.
162. Death Of Soldier.
- Effects are secured.
- Nearest relatives notified.
- Adjutant General of army notified.
In active service the War Department requires the following reports:
- Report of company commander to Adjutant General, covering death and disposal of remains.
- Report of surgeon or company commander embodying
- Cause of death.
- Whether in line of duty.
- Whether due to another soldier's misconduct.
- Inventory of effects in duplicate.
163. Effects, when not claimed within reasonable time, sold and credited to United States.
No authority for officers to pay debts of dead soldiers.
Trinkets will not be sold but sent to the Adjutant General's office.
165. Effects will be delivered, if called for, to legal representative of deceased after arrears are paid.
167. Medal Of Honor. Authorized by Congress to be awarded to officers and men for extreme acts of gallantry in action, beyond line of duty. Recommendations will be considered by standard of extraordinary merit, and must have incontestible proof.
184. Certificate Of Merit. Granted by President to any enlisted man in the service for distinguished acts in line of duty, on recommendation of company commander, based upon statement of eye witness, preferably the immediate company commander. $200 permanent additional pay is allowed.
285. Quarters. Name of each soldier on bunk. Arms on rack. Accoutrements hung up by the belts.
287. Saturday Inspection preceded by thorough policing. Leaders of squads will see that everything is clean.
1011. Neglect Of Rooms or furniture by officer or soldier a military offense. All necessary costs shall be paid by him.
1178. Destruction Of Tableware or kitchen utensils by soldiers will be charged against their pay.
288. Chiefs Of Squads are responsible
- For cleanliness of men.
- For their proper equipment for duty.
- For their proper dress when going "on pass."
374. Premises shall be policed daily after breakfast.
290. Company Commander will see that public property held by men is kept in good order, and missing or spoiled articles paid for.
292. Arms shall not be taken down without proper supervision and by order of commissioned officer.
No changing of parts or finish.
Tompions (muzzle plugs) in small arms forbidden.
657. Accountability And Responsibility—Both devolve upon persons entrusted with public property.
Responsibility without accountability devolves upon one to whom property is entrusted, but who does not have to make returns therefor. Responsibility does not end until property has been given back to accountable officer and a receipt taken, or he has been relieved by regulations or by orders.
Accountability without responsibility occurs when an officer holds proper memorandum receipts for property delivered to others.
Example.—The Company Commander is accountable and responsible for the rifles turned over to his company. He is accountable without responsibility when each enlisted man has been issued a rifle and has signed a receipt for it. Each enlisted man is then responsible for his rifle, without accountability, until he returns it in proper condition. In general, therefore: Accountability requires evidence of the disposition that has been made of property. Responsibility implies possession, and requires return of the property or payment for it.
685. Loss Of Public Property by neglect of any officer or soldier shall be paid by him, at such rates as a survey of the property may determine.
Charges will be made only after conclusive proof, and not without a survey if the soldier demands one.
Signing the payroll will be regarded as an acknowledgment of the justice of the charge.
1202. Ration is the allowance of food for one person or animal for one day.
1229. Forfeiture of ration is made when a soldier overstays furlough.
1339. Pay for continuous service is credited a soldier if he enlists within three months after honorable discharge.
For privates an increase of $3 per month is allowed up to and including the third enlistment, beyond this $1 per month increase given up to and including the seventh enlistment.
For non-commissioned officers the increase of $3 per month continues to and includes the seventh enlistment.
No increased pay is given after the seventh enlistment to private or non-commissioned officer.
1347. Allotments (revised by Act of Congress, October, 1917).
The new law does away with future pensions. Allotments may be made to:
- Family.
- Bank.
For married men or those with dependents, such as children, parents divorced wives, whose support is required by court order, allotments are compulsory, and must not be less than $15 a month and not more than one-half of his pay. The Company Commander is responsible for finding who comes under this rule. By this arrangement soldiers cannot shirk the support of dependents.
The government will double the amount allotted by each soldier, to a limit of $37.50 a month. In cases where the soldier allots half of his pay the government will add to the allotment according to the following scale, even though it more than doubles the amount paid by the soldier:
Class A.
- Wife, no child, $15.
- Wife, one child, $25.
- Wife, two children, $32.50.
- For each additional child, $5 more.
- No wife living, one child, $5.
- Two children, $12.50.
- Three children, $20.
- Four children, $30.
- For each additional child, $5.
Class B.
- One parent, $10.
- Two parents, $20.
- Each grandchild, brother, sister or additional dependent, $5.
Nurses can make allotment.
When both A and B classes are in need of allotment from a soldier's pay, and he has allotted half of his pay to Class A, he may allot an additional one-seventh of his pay for the support of Class B dependents, and the government will pay the sums listed above to the Class B dependents, to the limit of $20 a month. Payments under this act were begun November 1, 1917. In case less than one-half of a soldier's pay is allotted, the Secretary of War may require the allotment to be increased up to one-half of the pay.
Compensation For Death Or Disability in line of duty. In all cases must be applied for. In case of death, monthly compensation shall be as follows per month:
- Widow, $25.
- Widow and 1 child, $35.
- Widow and 2 children, $47.50.
- Each additional child, $5.
- One child alone, $20.
- Two children, $30.
- Three children, $40.
- Each additional child, $5.
- Widowed mother, $20.
- For transportation of body, $100.
No women can receive compensation from two sources. The government will continue to pay compensation to a dependent wife until her death or remarriage, and to children until they are 18 years old, unless they are insane or helpless, in which case it will continue to pay the compensation during such incapacity.
In case of total disability, compensation will be as follows per month:
- Soldier alone, $30.
- With wife, no child, $45.
- With wife, one child, $55.
- With wife, two children, $65.
- Three children or more, $75.
- No wife living, one child, $40.
- No wife living, each additional child, $10.
- Soldier and widowed mother, $40.
In case of total disability where attendance is needed, $20 per month will be added to the compensation, unless the soldier is blind, bedridden, or has lost both feet or hands, in which case the compensation will be $100 per month, with no extra allowance for attendance. In case of partial disability, compensation will be a percentage of the amount paid in case of total disability. These annuities continue only during the life of the person for whom they are first paid.
Additional Insurance.—Uniform compensation for all ranks can go only to blood relations. In case of death or disability in line of duty, it is paid in monthly instalments for 20 years. Insurance is from $1,000 to $10,000 in multiples of $500. The rate is exceedingly low. Insurance must be applied for within 120 days after entering the service. Premiums are paid monthly, quarterly or yearly from the pay of the insured man. After the war this insurance must be converted within five years into a policy either of straight life insurance, 20-year payment or endowment, maturing at the age of 62. In case of death when there is no blood relationship, the reserve value, according to the American insurance mortality tables, is paid to the estate. None of these payments can be attached for debt, nor legal action started against them except in a United States Court. The maximum lawyer's fee in any such case is $500.
1361. Deposits of not less than $5 may be made by an enlisted man (not retired) to any quartermaster. Deposit book, signed by quartermaster and company commander, given to man who makes the deposit. This book is not transferable.
1363. A Lost Deposit Book is not replaced without an affidavit of the soldier, testifying that he has not sold nor assigned it.
1364. Payment made only on final statement. The soldier should be informed of the importance of keeping the deposit book.
1365. Withdrawal Of Deposit when discharged or furloughed to reserve.
1366. Interest on sum greater than $5 is 4 per cent.
1368. Forfeiture due to desertion, but not by sentence of court martial. Deposits not exempt from liabilities due the United States.
1371. Officers And Men lose pay while confined by civil authorities.
1375. Furloughed To Reserve or discharged, a soldier is given a final statement in duplicate. This must be presented to be valid.
1378. Transportation and subsistence is allowed to the point of enlistment, or for the same distance. Not subject to deduction for debts due the United States.
1380. Discharged Soldier under charge of fraudulent enlistment is not entitled to transportation and subsistence.
1383. Transfer Of Claims on the government made by an enlisted man are only recognized after discharge or furlough to the reserve. They must be in writing and must be endorsed by a commissioned officer or other responsible person known to the quartermaster.
1437. No one is allowed to accompany sick or wounded from the battle line to the rear except those specifically authorized.
1530. Ammunition lost or used without orders or not in line of duty shall be charged to the soldier using it.
Notes On The Laws Of War.
(From Manual for Commanders of Infantry Platoons, translated from the French at the Army War College, 1917. War Department Document No. 626.)
The laws of war were instituted under the generous error that certain well-organized peoples had entirely emerged from barbarism and that they considered themselves bound by the placing of their signatures to international conventions, freely agreed to.
An infinite number of acts minutely and officially investigated have established that our troops and our Nation should never count on the observance of these laws and that the atrocities committed prove to be not only individual violations dishonoring merely the perpetrator, but violations premeditated and ordered in cold blood by the commanders with the moral support of the heads of the enemy nation.
These laws are nevertheless repeated here in order that:
1. The knowledge of how the war should have been conducted may develop in the heart of each man the sentiment of hate (applicable only to foes such as we actually have), that in no case should a chief of platoon tolerate any intercourse between his men and the enemy other than that of the rifle; this duty is explicit and not to be departed from except in the case of the wounded and prisoners incapable of doing harm.
2. That every violator of these laws, taken in the act, shall be the subject of an immediate report with witnesses, then sent to the division headquarters to be tried as to the facts of the case.
The laws of war resulted from the Geneva convention, from the declaration of St. Petersburg (Petrograd), and from the different Hague conventions. All these diplomatic papers were signed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria.
The following are the principal articles:
Protect the wounded on the field of battle from pillage and from bad treatment; respect ambulances and evacuation convoys; respect the personnel exclusively concerned with the transportation, treatment and guarding of wounded; do not treat this personnel as prisoners of war if it falls into the hands of the enemy; but return such personnel, as well as material, when its retention shall be no longer necessary for the care of the wounded prisoners.
Refrain from employing any projectile which weighs less than 400 grams that is either explosive or loaded with incendiary or inflammable material, from all projectiles having for their sole object the spreading of asphyxiating or harmful gases, all expanding bullets or those which will easily flatten out inside the human body, such as jacketed bullets whose jacket does not entirely cover the core or is nickel.
Forbid the use of poisons or of poisoned arms, killing or wounding an enemy who has thrown down his arms and surrendered; declarations that there will be no quarter; refrain from bombarding towns and cities which are not defended, from firing on churches, historical monuments, edifices devoted to the arts, to science, to charity, to sick and wounded and which are marked by a conspicuous signal known to the enemy.
Prisoners should be treated as to rations, housing and clothing the same as troops of the country which has captured them. All their personal belongings, except their arms and military papers, should be left in their possession.
The following should be inviolate: The emissary—that is to say, an individual authorized by a belligerent to enter into talks with the authorities of the other side and coming under a white flag; also his trumpeter, his standard bearer, and his interpreter. He loses his inviolability if it is proven that he has profited by his privilege to provoke or commit treachery.
An undisguised military man can never be treated as a spy.