personally, but he inspects the subordinate agencies of the Army commander. He does that constantly-he and his assistant inspectors.

We are limited in the law to the number of three- and four-star positions that are available to the service. And the Secretary has been given flexibility. It is provided by law that the Secretary must submit to the President the specific positions which he recommends be filled by three-star and four-star officers. And each of these is only a temporary appointment, you see, and must be confirmed by the Senate.

Mr. VINSON. How many three-star billets are there? Are all the G's three stars?

General COLLINS. No, sir; not all of them.

Mr. VINSON. I mean the four top G's.

General COLLINS. No, sir; they are not. As it stands today, the G-1 is a three-star man; the G-2 is not; the G-3 is not; the G-4 is.

Mr. VINSON. What is the limit of three stars we have in the service? General COLLINS. Does anybody have that at their fingertips? Twenty-three, isn't it?

Colonel BAYA. There are 5 four-star and 23 three-star allowed.
General COLLINS. I think that is allowed.
General RUFFNER. Twenty-two and five.
General COLLINS. Twenty-two and five.

the Officer Personnel Act.

That is all provided for in

Mr. VINSON. Yes, sir. There are 5 four-star billets.
General COLLINS. That is right, sir.

Mr. VINSON. Enumerate those. The Chief of Staff and what else? General COLLINS. The Chief of Staff, the Vice Chief of Staff, the Chief of the Army Field Forces, the Commanding General in the Far East-General MacArthur occupies one of them; he is a fivestar man held over from the war, but we have to charge him

Mr. VINSON. That is right.

General COLLINS. And General Handy, who is our senior commander in Europe. Those are the five.

Mr. VINSON. Then there are 5 four-star generals and 23General COLLINS. Twenty-two or twenty-three, one or the other. Mr. VINSON. Three-star generals.

General COLLINS. Yes, sir.

Now I haven't answered Mr. Cole's question yet as to why this man shouldn't be confirmed by the Senate.

Mr. KILDAY. In that connection, I wanted you to consider what I had asked you about there, about the talk that had gone on heretofore that he should be higher ranking and perhaps he should be a man whose career had terminated.

General COLLINS. Yes, sir.

Mr. KILDAY. The idea of independence on his part.

General COLLINS. Right.

Mr. KILDAY. Whereas here he is purely at the pleasure of the Secretary, in being detailed only.

General COLLINS. Right.

As I say, the three-star business we have debated back and fourth. It is a question as to the relative importance of the various posts. At the moment the Secretary felt that it wasn't necessary or desirable to use one of those positions for the Inspector General. The question of bringing a retired officer back on active duty for this position: I per

60266-50-No. 187-11

sonally haven't given that too much individual thought, Mr. KildayI did not participate, I don't believe, in any of those discussions. So I am doing a little thinking out loud, again, to some extent on that. Our general reaction is that it is better not to get retired officers back on active duty. If I might put this off the record for just a mo

ment

Mr. KILDAY. Off the record, Mr. Reporter.

(Statement off the record.)

Mr. KILDAY. Before the war weren't there restrictions in the appropriation bills, or some other law, against calling retired men back to active duty? In other words, the policy had been established that it should not be done.

General COLLINS. I don't know.

Colonel BAYA. That is correct; there was, sir.

Mr. KILDAY. There was some discussion that the men still in their active career should have the opportunity to fill the few higher places available, rather than retired men coming back for that purpose. General COLLINS. Yes.

Mr. VINSON. Mr. Chairman, I think the general is absolutely sound on his hesitancy to call officers back to active duty.

Mr. KILDAY. I do, too. I just brought it up because I know there has been some talk around here on this particular position.

General COLLINS. Now to get back to Mr. Cole's question as to whether or not the Inspector General should or should not be confirmed by the Senate. I personally don't have any particularly keen feeling about it one way or the other. I would have to talk with the Secretary. I don't recall our discussions as to why this was left out here, except perhaps again that it was because this is not a career branch. It is very difficult to determine the qualifications of a man to act as the Inspector General. Therefore, you pretty nearly have to depend more upon your Secretary and on your staff to nominate men that are really qualified for this job through their broad experience.

Mr. VINSON. Well, the soundness of having somewhat of an independent Inspector General is that his type of work is that of measuring and reporting the efficiency of various officers in the establishment and the carrying on of the policies of the establishment. He should be, in my judgment, a little bit independent from the influence of the Secretary or the Chief of Staff, and he should have a little power to carry out what the words Inspector General mean to the layman's mind-someone to see if the rules and regulations are being carried out, someone to ascertain if everything is running right. For that reason you give anyone who gives him information immunity. He is just exactly what the words mean-an Inspector General to investigate and determine how everything is going on. Complaints are laid before him. Investigations are made. He should have a little power. Mr. KILDAY. Well, don't you think this: Don't you think it is significant that the two top law-enforcement men in the military service are in this special section or this special category? In other words, the Secretary and the Chief of Staff are the two men most anxious to see to it that everything goes right within the Department. Therefore, the two men who are to keep them advised and to take action to see that they do go right are men who are subject entirely to the

control of the Secretary and the Chief of Staff. In other words, he is completely relying on them. He is the man that he has confidence in and has the right to direct and see to it that the law is enforced, that there is no fraud, and all that sort of thing.

Mr. VINSON. It may not be wise

General COLLINS. I think that is well expressed, as Mr. Kilday has just put it. I think that comes probably more nearly at the heart of the thing than anything I have said.

Mr. VINSON. It may not be wise to have him confirmed by the Senate, but certainly the Inspector General's office ought to have some responsibility and have some influence in the Military Establishment.

General COLLINS. Most assuredly he does, Mr. Vinson. We have normally picked officers in their last tour of duty. We assign a man to this late in life. He is always an older man, a man of judgment, who has the courage of his convictions. We have today in General Craig a man eminently qualified for this job.

Mr. VINSON. Why shouldn't he have some statutory duties? He hasn't any today. Why shouldn't he have some positive statutory duties to report to you and report to the Secretary? Fix some responsibility on him.

General COLLINS. I don't think it would hurt, possibly, if he did have, Mr. Vinson. We will be very happy to see if we can work up some language.

Mr. VINSON. Put some responsibility on him besides just merely going out and looking at the climate and the way the wind is blowing. General COLLINS. Right.

Mr. VINSON. Give him something to do, fixed by statute.

General COLLINS. Right.

Mr. VINSON. It is a very responsible position.

General COLLINS. Of course, we have in our Army Regulations today

Colonel BAYA. We have them here.

General COLLINS. We have here the regulations which prescribe the duties of the Inspector General.

Mr. VINSON. Here it is in the Navy:

The Naval Inspector General shall be charged, when directed, with the inquiry into, and the report upon, any matter which affects the discipline or military efficiency of the Naval Establishment. He shall make such inspections, investigations, and reports as may be directed by the Secretary of the Navy or by the Chief of Naval Operations. He shall propose, periodically, programs of inspections to the Chief of Naval Operations and he shall recommend additional inspections and investigations as may from time to time appear appropriate.

Now this man should have some fixed responsibility, to my way of thinking, by statute-something to do. If I was in the Army and I was the Inspector General that had no fixed responsibility, I might just take life easy. But if I

General COLLINS. That is not the case. Of course, the Secretary of the Army prescribes his responsibilities. The difference is, again, the question as to whether you want to prescribe it by statute or by regulation. There is a complete pamphlet which outlines the duties and responsibilities of the Inspector General of the Army. It isn't left to the whim of the Inspector General. It is stated here what his duties are. This is Army Regulations 20-5, which outlines the re

sponsibilities of the Inspector General's Department. So it is not left hanging in the air.

Mr. KILDAY. Off the record for just a moment.

(Statement off the record.)

Mr. Towe. Of course, Mr. Chairman, there is a great deal of difference between the suggested work and responsibility of the Inspector General in the Navy and what we are talking about. From what Mr. Vinson just read, he works under the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations.

General COLLINS. That is right.

Mr. Towe. And does pretty much what they tell him to do.

General COLLINS. I don't want to commit my Secretary on this. He is not here. But certainly, Mr. Vinson, we will study this language in the Navy law very carefully. I will discuss it with Mr. Gray personally and at a later time will report to the committee as to that

matter.

Mr. COLE. In that connection, General, I would like to have you also consider the thought, designed to aid in the independence of this Inspector General and anticipating the time when there may be a conflict, the conscientious operation of an Inspector General and the unscrupulous perhaps that is too strong a word-the irresponsible attitude of a Secretary who under the language of this bill when he comes in conflict with an Inspector General can summarily dismiss the Inspector General and put in his place somebody who might not be quite so conscientious, destroying thereby the effectiveness of an Inspector General. I agree, of course, that the Inspector General has to be responsible to his Secretary in the normal routine operation of his work. But anticipating the possibility that the time may come when there is a severe conflict of interest between the Inspector General and the Secretary, it seems to me the law should prescribe some undue measures before that man is released as Inspector General. The only thought that comes to me momentarily through which this might be accomplished is giving the Inspector a term of years-2 or 3 years or some reasonable period of time-that after he is appointed and confirmed he cannot be removed by the Secretary, except he can only be removed and replaced by the President. And that would occur, when he is removed in advance of his term, only when a serious case has arisen and then of sufficient importance that the President should know about it.

Mr. VINSON. Now, Mr. Cole and General

General COLLINS. We will give consideration to that, sir.

Mr. VINSON. Then if you give all this responsibility to the Inspector General, to be consistent you have to get back to fix certain responsibilities upon the Chief of Staff. the Chief of Staff. Otherwise you would have fixed by statute responsibilities of a subordinate probably greater than that of the Chief of Staff. To be consistent, I think both of them ought to have responsibilities. But, of course, the Inspector General's responsibilities must always be subordinate to the Chief of Staff, because the Chief of Staff must be recognized by statute or rules or regulations, whichever we agee on, as the head man. We do not want to fix this responsibility on the Inspector and have no responsibility on the Chief of Staff, because then the Inspector will be almost as big as the Chief of Staff.

General COLLINS. That is right.

Mr. VINSON. What?

General COLLINS. Yes, sir; there would be a danger in that.
Mr. VINSON. That is right.

Mr. KILDAY. He probably would be the next Chief of Staff?

Mr. VINSON. The Inspector General would be running the establishment instead of the Chief of Staff. All right.

Mr. KILDAY. We will go to section 208.

TEXT OF SECTION 208, "DEPUTY AND ASSISTANT CHIEFS OF SERVICES'

Mr. BLANDFORD (reading):

SEC. 208: (a) Each of the officers named in sections 206 and 207 of this act shall have such deputies and assistants as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Army. Except as prescribed in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, and notwithstanding the provisions of section 513 of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 901; 10 U. S. C. 559g), such deputies and assistants shall be officers of the Army detailed to those positions by the Secretary of the Army, and no officer shall be entitled to any increase in rank, pay, or allowances solely by virtue of such detail.

(b) There shall be an Assistant Surgeon General with the rank of major general, who shall be an officer in the Dental Corps, and who shall be selected and appointed as prescribed in section 513 of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947. (c) There shall be an Assistant Judge Advocate General with the rank of major general, who shall be selected and appointed as prescribed in section 249 of Public Law 759, Eightieth Congress.

Colonel BAYA (reading):

EXPLANATION AND DISCUSSION OF SECTION 208, "DEPUTY AND ASSISTANT CHIEFS OF SERVICES"

Colonel BAYA (reading):

The number and rank of the assistants to the several chiefs of services are now specified by those parts of the National Defense Act quoted in paragraph 3 of this comment, which will be repealed by this bill. During the war years additional assistants have been detailed without express statutory authorization. The reasons for the statutory allotment of assistants are no longer valid. For example, the basis for three Assistant Quartermasters General was that one should be in charge of supply, one of construction, and one of transportation; but the responsibility for construction and utilities has since been transferred from the Quartemaster General to the Chief of Engineers, and for transportation to the Chief of Transportation, except marine transportation, which is now being again transferred to the Navy. Because of the increased size of the Army and the wider scope of its operations, the business of all the services has been vastly increased since the present statutory allotment of assistants was made. There may be changes in the duties and in the work load of the chiefs of services in the future. Following any such changes in duties or work load, it should be legally possible to change the number and distribution of the assistants. This section of the bill will permit this to be done.

As the statutes quoted in paragraph 3 of this comment show, existing law specifies the rank of assistants to the chiefs of services. All but two are brigardier generals. At the time when most of those statutes were passed, the only generals authorized in the service branches were the chiefs and assistant chiefs. However, the law now in force (secs. 511 and 512, Officer Personnel Act of 1947, 61 Stat. 898 et seq.; 10 U. S. C. 559e, 559f) authorizes the appointment of general officers from the service branches who need not be chiefs or assistant chiefs. The deputy and assistant chiefs of services provided for by section 208 of the bill will be officers of the Army detailed to those positions, and the detail of an officer will not, of itself, confer any increase in rank, pay, or allowances on the officer detailed. It is anticipated that the persons detailed as deputy and assistant chiefs of services will be those officers of the branches concerned who have been appointed to the grade of major general or brigardier general, or are appointed to those grades contemporaneously with their detail. The sections