Mr. BLANDFORD. That you strike out the word "military," since it no longer is confined to the Army.

General COLLINS. Right.

Colonel BAYA. Sir, I would like to mention something on that. This says the President might do so, and it might be a very good thing to have the authority in the President so he can combine these Army, Navy, and Air Force areas if it ever reaches that point.

Mr. BLANDFORD. That raises the whole issue for the subcommittee to decide at this point as to whether you want the Army to be in the position to have exclusive authority over all of the areas of the world, to the exclusion of the Air Force and the Navy. That could be the result of this section.

Colonel BAYA. There is nothing exclusive in this thing. The President is not in command of the Army only. He is in command of all of the armed forces.

Mr. BLANDFORD. That is quite correct.

Colonel BAYA. He is the Commander in Chief. If the President prescribes the areas, the Army must conform.

Mr. BLANDFORD. What you are in effect saying is that the section is not even necessary, as far as that is concerned.

Mr. PRICE. It pertains only to duties assigned to the Army.

Mr. BLANDFORD. I am just raising the question about the word "military."

General COLLINS. As far as I am concerned it could be changed "for Army purposes."

Mr. VINSON. That is what it ought to be.

Mr. KILDAY. That is all you intend?

General COLLINS. That is all we intend; yes, sir.

Colonel BAYA. There is the danger of an inference, though, if you say specifically that the President may divide the United States for Army purposes, that perhaps you mean he cannot divide it for Navy or Air Force purposes.

Mr. COLE. This bill does not touch the Navy in any respect and does not touch the Air Force in any respect.

Colonel BAYA. Right, sir.

Mr. COLE. Then, I do not see how you can argue that authorizing the President and the Secretary to do something with respect to the Army denies that he has authority to do the same thing with respect to the Navy or Air Force.

Colonel BAYA. I would not argue that, but some lawyers would. Mr. VINSON. All right, let us go ahead, Mr. Chairman.

General COLLINS. Are we finished with 304, then?

Mr. KILDAY. I think so.

Mr. BLANDFORD. Is the subcommittee then satisfied with 304, except for the change of the word "military"?

Mr. KILDAY. Yes.

Mr. VINSON. I hope they will keep the name "Army areas" for at least 6 months.

General COLLINS. I will promise you that, Mr. Vinson. I agree with you thoroughly.

Mr. VINSON. That is right. Otherwise it just keeps everybody in a constant state of confusion.

General COLLINS. I agree with you thoroughly.

TEXT OF SECTION 305, "ORGANIZED PEACE ESTABLISHMENT”

Mr. BLANDFORD (reading):

SEC. 305. The organized peace establishment of the United States Army, including the Regular Army, the National Guard of the United States, and the Organized Reserve Corps, shall include all of those military organizations, with their supporting and auxiliary elements, including combat, training, administrative, and logistic organizations and elements; and all personnel, including those not assigned to units; necessary to form the basis for a complete and immediate mobilization for the national security in the event of a national emergency.

EXPLANATION AND DISCUSSION OF SECTION 305, "ORGANIZED PEACE ESTABLISHMENT"

Colonel BAYA (reading):

Explanation of section 305. Section 305 is substantially a copy of the statute quoted in paragraph 3 of this comment, which will be repealed by this bill. It is also, except in minor details, the same as section 101 of H. R. 1437, Eighty-first Congress, the Army Air Force Authorization Bill, now pending before a committee of conference.

Mr. COLE. To my mind, that is just a lot of what is commonly called "gobbledegook," the way this is expressed in section 305. You say "the organized peace establishment of the United States Army, including the Regular Army, the National Guard," and so forth "shall include all of those military organizations"-shall include the Regular Army, National Guard of the United States, and Organized Reserves, "with their supporting and auxiliary elements." Why do you have to go back and say "shall include all of those military organization," since you just identified them?

General COLLINS. Yes. This is purely a technicality. I do not know what the answer is.

Mr. COLE. I have been happy to see that you have been rather particular about grammar, English, rhetoric, and nomenclature. And I am startled to see that you have strayed off the path in this section.

General COLLINS. You may well be right, Mr. Cole. I would like to have the expert answer that.

Mr. COLE. I appreciate that the precedent was set in the law that is being repealed, but that does not necessarily mean that you have to follow exactly the previous law.

Colonel BAYA. This section will replace section 3 of the National Defense Act, and is a mandate by the Congress that the organized peace establishment must include all of these things necessary to form the basis for a complete and immediate mobilization for national security in the event of a national emergency. At the time H. R. 1437 was under consideration it was first considered that it should specify the number of divisions for the Regular Army, the National Guard, and the Reserve. But after very thorough consideration, the Department was very firmly of the opinion that you should not prescribe the exact number of divisions for the Regular Army, National Guard, or Reserve by law. And they went back to the original provision that was included in the National Defense Act of 1916. Since this bill was framed as a comprehensive bill to cover all of the law pertaining to the organization of the Army, this provision was repeated in this bill. It is already in H. R. 1437, which was passed by the House and by the Senate with some differences and is now before a committee of conference. There is no need to have this provision in this bill if H. R. 1437 is enacted. It

might not be necessary to have it in the statutes at all. But that was the reason it was put here, in order to have in one act the laws relating to organization.

Mr. VINSON. Off the record, Mr. Chairman.

(Statement off the record.)

Mr. VINSON. All right.

Mr. BLANDFORD. Mr. Chairman, may I suggest in this section: I have noticed there is a change from existing law by striking out the words "declared by Congress' after the words "national emergency." So long as the Army has suggested that change, I am not so sure but what it might be advisable to strike the words "in the event of a national emergency" also. There must be a reason for striking out "declared by Congress." I do not think that the words "in the event of a national emergency" add to the section. As a matter of fact, they may be a limitation which they may not want in the event of a very immediate emergency in the Nation. What is a national emergency if it is not something declared by someone?

Mr. KILDAY. There are two kinds so far as I know: One declared by the President and one declared by the Congress.

Mr. BLANDFORD. This does not say either.

General COLLINS. Yes. But we wanted it to be in broad terms. I am inclined to agree with Mr. Blandford, that it wouldn't hurt if you would just scratch the last seven words, "in the event of a national emergency."

Mr. BLANDFORD. That would be my suggestion, because it is nebulous as to which type you are talking about. Rather than leave it as it is, either add the words "declared by Congress or the President" or strike it out entirely.

Mr. KILDAY. Would there be any objection tentatively to striking out that language? If not, we will proceed. We have already considered section 306, I think, completely. We will go to 307.

General COLLINS. Page 85.

Mr. KILDAY. That is page 85 of the blue book.

TEXT OF SECTION 307, "ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE"

Mr. BLANDFORD (reading):

SEC. 307. There shall be in the Army a Medical Service, which shall consist of the Surgeon General and the Assistant Surgeons General authorized by sections 206 and 208 of this act, the Medical Corps, the Dental Corps, the Veterinary Corps, the Medical Service Corps, the Army Nurse Corps, and the Women's Medical Specialist Corps. Each such corps shall consist of Regular Army officers appointed and commissioned therein and such other members of the Army as may be assigned thereto by the Secretary of the Army; but the Secretary shall not assign to any corps of the Army Medical Service any officer who has been appointed and commissioned in some other corps of the Army Medical Service, or in some other special branch, or in the Regular Army without specification of branch. The Medical Service Corps, the Army Nurse Corps, and the Women's Medical Specialist Corps shall include the Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs, and shall include the sections, as now prescribed by law.

EXPLANATION AND DISCUSSION OF SECTION 307, "ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE"

Colonel BAYA (reading):

Explanation of section 307. This bill will discontinue the use of the word "department" as a part of the title of any of the branches or services of the Army; because it is believed that that term should be reserved for the Department

of Defense and for the three military departments. Accordingly, what is now called the Medical Department will, under this bill, be known as the Army Medical Service. The provisions of this bill pertaining to the Assistant Surgeons General were discussed in the comment on section 208 of this bill. Except for the abovementioned changes, this bill will make no change in the law now in force and applicable to the Medical Department. The statute quoted in paragraph 3 of this comment is out of date, and much of it has been superseded by later laws. Mr. VINSON. Well, the main thing you are doing: You are just calling it Service instead of Department.

General COLLINS. Right.

Mr. KILDAY. Now these are your special branches that we are going to consider now; am I correct in that?

General COLLINS. That is right.

Mr. KILDAY. Your basic branches are not comparably set out in the proposed bill.

General COLLINS. No, sir.

Mr. KILDAY. Only your special branches?

General COLLINS. Right. And in each instance I think, Mr. Kilday, there has been recent action by the Congress dealing with these special branches. Since Congress has just acted on these things, we are not now coming back to ask you to do something else.

Mr. VINSON. Then in reference to the Medical Department, you are just merely changing it and calling it the Army Medical Service because there is no word "department" anywhere, except in the three Departments?

General COLLINS. Right.

Mr. COLE. Why don't you call it corps?

General COLLINS. Well, we have several corps within the Medical Service. It is very complicated. That is the reason we use the term "Service."

Mr. VINSON. You are not interfering with the functions of the Medical Corps, the Dental Corps, the Veterinary Corps, the Medical Service Corps, the Army Nurse Corps, and the Women's Medical Specialist Corps?

General COLLINS. No, sir.

Mr. VINSON. None of those functions are being interfered with by this bill?

General COLLINS. No, sir.

Mr. VINSON. And those specific statutes we have enacted at various times relating to them are not being repealed?

General COLLINS. Except this one, which is quoted on page 86.
Mr. VINSON. Now, let's see.

General COLLINS. It is out of date, anyway, Mr. Vinson. This bill is in consonance with the latest action of the Congress with respect to the Medical Department of the Army, except we change the name; that is all.

Mr. KILDAY. And which bill was that? I recall that

Colonel BAYA. There were two. There was an Army-Navy Nurse's Act, and there was a Medical Service Corps Act. Those two acts set up the Medical Service Corps, the Army Nurse Corps, the Women's Medical Specialist Corps.

Mr. VINSON. That is right.

Mr. KILDAY. And we have some provisions in the Officer Personnel Act dealing with the Medical Corps, Dental Corps, and Veterinary Corps.

Colonel BAYA. Right. That covers the separate promotion lists, the method by which they are promoted, percentages in grades, and so on. All of that is in the Officer Personnel Act.

Mr. VINSON. And none of those laws are being interfered with?
General COLLINS. No, sir.

Mr. BLANDFORD. May I raise one question, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. KILDAY. Yes.

Mr. BLANDFORD. You spell out very clearly that three officers of the Judge Advocate General's Corps will be brigadier generals. You do not do that for your doctors. Now what happens to your rank structure? In other words, what happens to your three assistants? Could they fall by the wayside?

Colonel BAYA. Shall I answer that?
General COLLINS. Yes.

Colonel BAYA. Under the Officer Personnel Act as originally enacted the officers of the Judge Advocate General's Corps were carried on the single Army promotion list. However, that act set up separate promotion lists, one for the doctors, one for the dentists, one for the veterinarians, one for the Medical Service Corps, and one for the chaplains. It prescribed percentages in grades for each of those special branches, authorizing a fixed number of general officers for each of those branches according to percentage figures. Subsequent to the enactment of the Officer Personnel Act, in connection with the revision of the Articles of War, the Congress enacted a law which said that officers of the Judge Advocate General's Corps would be carried on a separate promotion list. And in that act the number of general officers was not fixed by a percentage figure. Instead it was prescribed that they would have a Judge Advocate General with the rank of major general, an Assistant Judge Advocate General with the rank of major general, and three brigadier generals, who would form the

Colonel KING. Judicial Council.

Colonel BAYA. Yes; Judicial Council. That act on the Judge Advocate General's Corps did not specify a number of general officers equal to a percentage of the strength of the corps, but specified that they would have those five.

Mr. BLANDFORD. Well

Colonel BAYA. Does that answer your question?

Mr. BLANDFORD. It does, except for the possibility that as the bill is now written, while you will have a certain number of general officers in the Medical Service, it does not necessarily follow that the assistants located here with the Surgeon General in Washington will be general officers.

Colonel BAYA. The bill prescribes that the dental Assistant Surgeon General will be a major general.

Mr. BLANDFORD. Yes; but it does not necessarily follow that there will be any other general officers here.

Colonel BAYA. That is true. There are a certain number of generals in the Medical Service and some of them will be in Washington and some of them will be in the field, depending on the work load. Mr. BLANDFORD. Now off the record.

(Statement off the record.)

Mr. KILDAY. Still off the record.

(Discussion off the record.)