Officers on

51. (1) Officers ordered to duty under the Coast and Geodetic Survey shall report by letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, and duty in coast surwhile on this service they shall obey the orders and directions of vey. the Secretary of the Treasury and of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey.

(2) While on duty under the Coast and Geodetic Survey officers will be held directly responsible to the Navy Department for conformity to the rules and articles for the government of the Navy and the Navy Regulations, except only in so far as they may be inconsistent with the special service in which they are engaged. They will also be held responsible for the care of the persons, vessels, and public property that may be placed under their control.

SECTION 3.-LAW AND DECISIONS ON RANK AND COMMAND.

Act of Con

Statutes at

52. Commanding officers of vessels of war and of naval stations shall take precedence over all officers placed under their command, gress approved and the Secretary of the Navy may, in his discretion, detail a line March 3, 1871. officer to act as the aid or executive of the commanding officer of a Large, vol. 16, vessel of war or naval station, which officer shall, when not im- page 537. practicable, be next in rank to said commanding officer, and who, as such aid or executive, shall, while executing the orders of the commanding officer on board such vessel, or at such station, take precedence over all officers attached to such vessel or station: and all orders of such aid or executive shall be regarded as proceeding from the commanding officer; and such aid or executive shall have no independent authority in consequence of such detail; and staff officers, senior to the officer so detailed, shall have the right to communicate directly with the commanding officer, and in processions on shore, on courts-martial, summary courts, courts of inquiry, boards of survey, and all other boards, line and staff officers shall take precedence according to rank.

53. The foregoing are provisions of the statute laws of the country. In view of the fact that their meaning and force have been sometimes misunderstood, they are here given for the information of the service, with the following declarations and regulations promulgated as the views of the Secretary of the Navy upon the subject-matter, and his official construction of the law as it exists in relation thereto. By the force of naval law, and regulations made in conformity therewith, the following principles are established and exist as essentials of all military service, without which there can be neither command, discipline, nor responsibility:

(a) Officers intrusted with the command of vessels of war or naval stations, or with the command or direction of any military expedition or duty, whatever their rank, must, while properly in such command or direction, have full command, authority, and precedence over all officers and persons, of whatever rank, serving in such vessel, station, or expedition, or in the execution of such duty. This authority and precedence will descend to the officer or person on whom such command or direction may devolve by reason of the death, disability, or absence of the person otherwise in command or direction.

(b) In case of death, disability, or absence of an officer in military command or direction, this command and direction, with all its authority and precedence, devolves and rests upon the line officer eligible to command next in rank who may be present and on duty with such command. In processions on shore all officers take precedence according to their rank; but when such procession forms a

Decisions.

military command, the command devolves upon the senior line officer present eligible to command, subject to the limitation of article 1066, and authority and precedence attach accordingly. On all courts-martial, courts of inquiry, boards of survey, and other boards, line and staff officers take precedence according to rank. The senior officer of such courts or boards presides by virtue of his rank.

(c) Officers of the staff corps of the Navy shall on all occasions be treated with the same respect as officers of corresponding rank in the line not in command, under like circumstances. Their legal rank carries with it the same personal dignity and is to receive, in all respects, the same consideration. If they are at any time subordinated, for any purpose of organization or duty, to the exercise of authority delegated by law to their juniors in actual rank, it is for reasons growing out of the necessities of military service, operating alike on all officers of both line and staff under like circumstances, and subject to the same conditions applicable to all. The right of military command and to additional quarters is restricted by law.

(d) No officer of any grade of the Navy is authorized by virtue of his own mere rank and authority to give any order or grant any privilege, permission, or liberty to his senior in rank of any corps; nor is any senior officer required to receive such order, privilege, permission, or liberty from his junior, unless such junior is at the time in command of the vessel of war or naval station to which the senior is attached, or in command or direction of the military expedition or duty on which such senior is serving, or is, as aid or executive, executing such order of the commanding officer; and no commanding officer is authorized to delegate to any junior the authority to grant any permission, privilege, or liberty to his senior, but must himself receive and hear, under proper regulations, any request therefor from such senior, satisfying himself as to its propriety, and deciding the matter in the exercise of his own authority. Any officer on shipboard, however, who is intrusted by general provision or special order of proper authority with any duty, the present performance of which may involve the movements of the ship itself, or the attitude of the ship's company as a whole, represents the commanding officer for that purpose, and is intrusted, for the time, with all the authority necessary for the proper performance of such duty; and all officers, of whatever rank, are required to assist in carrying out such duty, and to receive and execute his orders for that purpose; nor will he be interfered with therein, unless by the captain, or the aid or executive, who are entitled to relieve him in the performance of such duty.

54. (1) The efficiency of every military organization requires of the commanding authority, besides the general duties of command and direction, the additional duties of organization, police, and inspection; all these appertain to and go with the command. For the relief of the commanding officer they are usually intrusted, in their details, to subordinates, but they are performed by his authority and under his direction. On shipboard the Secretary of the Navy, by authority of law, designates the senior line officer to perform these duties in addition to the ordinary duties assigned to him as such line officer attached to the ship. The officer so designated is called, for the time being, "the aid or executive of the commanding officer." This is not a new rank; nor has the officer by virtue of the title, or in consequence of the detail, any new "independent

authority.' It is merely a designation of the officer who, for the relief of the captain and by his authority alone, carries out, on board the ship, the details of organization, inspection, and police.

(2) As the officer in charge of the police of the ship and the execution of all provisions made for her general good condition, appearance, and safety, his duties are constant and call him everywhere, and give him, as representative of the captain for that purpose, charge of and authority over the details necessary to the proper performance of all police duties. To this authority all officers and persons are required to yield full and prompt acquiescence.

(3) As the inspecting officer of the ship, required at stated periods to examine and report her general condition and efficiency in all her departments, the aid or executive is entitled to make personal examination of and report upon all these, and for that purpose every facility is to be afforded him by every officer attached to the vessel; and all officers in charge of storerooms or other parts of the ship are required to have such storerooms or parts of the ship in proper condition for his inspection, at such times as may be designated by the commanding officer.

(4) As the officer to whom the details of the organization of the ship's company are intrusted, the aid or executive is the proper person to station the officers and crew, and to prepare, form, parade, and present them in proper attitude for review and inspection by the captain or other proper officer, and for this purpose he has autnority to take preliminary charge of all formations and parades, to see that the whole is properly organized and paraded, and to receive the reports customary on such occasions from the officers in charge of departments and divisions, and transmit them as a whole to the captain. While carrying out the details of organization and those of police and inspection, in execution of the orders of the commanding officer, the aid or executive takes precedence over all officers attached to the ship, and shall be obeyed and respected accordingly. Reports of heads of departments and of officers senior in rank to the aid or executive, other than those above mentioned, will be made direct to the commanding officer. The commanding officer is authorized to grant temporary leave of absence to the officers and others attached to the vessel. Under his orders and special directions such leave of absence may be granted by the aid or executive to officers who are junior to him in rank; these officers will report their return from leave to the aid or executive. Officers senior in rank to the aid or executive desiring to leave the ship will obtain the required permission directly from the commanding officer, and upon their return from leave will report the same to him. All officers will report their permission to leave the ship, and their return, to the officer of the deck. The departure and return of officers senior to the aid or executive will be reported to the latter by the officer of the deck.

(5) These duties of organization, inspection, and police devolve upon "the aid or executive of the commanding officer of a vessel of war" by virtue of his detail as such "aid or executive," and they, and the exercise of the authority necessary to execute them, are recognized by all military law and usage, and by the statute which authorizes his designation. But they are duties pertaining to the command, delegated, under sanction of law, by the captain to his "aid or executive," who, in carrying them out, is "executing the

orders of the commanding officer," and the authority exercised as necessary to their execution is the authority of "the commanding officer," exercised by his "aid or executive," and not the authority of the "aid or executive" himself. By the express provision of the statute, this officer has "no independent authority" as such "aid or executive," but exercises only the authority necessarily delegated for the execution of the orders of the commanding officer." This delegated authority, however, is recognized by the statute which confers on the "aid or executive," while exercising it, "precedence over all officers attached to the ship," of whatever rank or corps. But this special precedence is given to him only "while executing the orders of the commanding officer on board ship," and is not his under other circumstances.

(6) The officer in command of a ship of war is not authorized to delegate his power except for the carrying out of the details of the general duties to be performed by his authority. The command is his, and he can neither delegate the duties of it to another, nor avoid its burdens, nor escape its responsibilities; and his "aid or executive," in the exercise of the power given to him for “executing the orders of the commanding officer," must keep himself constantly informed of the commander's opinions and wishes thereon; and whenever and as soon as he may be informed or is in doubt as to such opinion or wishes he must remedy such defect by prompt and personal application, to the end that the authority of the captain may be used only to carry out his own views; and that he may not be, by its unwarranted exercise, in any measure relieved from his official responsibilities, which can neither be assumed by nor fall upon any other officer.

(7) The details of these duties may be more fully defined by general or special orders and regulations, but the "aid or executive of the commanding officer of a vessel of war" has, as such "aid or executive," no other duties or authority except those which come within the scope of the above descriptions; and any other authority at any time to be exercised by the officer designated as such "aid or executive" must be such authority only as belongs to him by virtue of his rank in the line. This is his in his own right, with all the power and precedence which belongs to it, but it is to be exercised only according to the general rules governing alike all officers of all corps and every grade.

(8) It is not necessary, nor consistent with military usage and efficiency, that the "aid or executive" should be required to announce with every order given or authority exercised by him as such, that he is "executing the orders of the commanding officer." The delegated character of this authority is fully understood, and is defined by the statute, which contemplates obedience to it as such by all officers attached to the vessel," and the statute, while it provides that the officer detailed to act as "aid or executive" shall, "when not impracticable, be next in rank to the commanding officer," still contemplates the same obedience when this is impracticable.

(9) Any complaint or appeal growing out of the exercise of these duties should be made to the commanding officer, and the right to make any such complaint or appeal shall not be denied to any one.

(10) The right of all officers, whether of the line or staff, to communicate with the commanding officer at all proper times and places, is not to be denied or restricted; but this does not interfere with the duty of all such officers to recognize and acquiesce in the

authority delegated to the "aid or executive" for the purpose of police, organization, and inspection as aforesaid, nor confer upon any such officer the right to interrupt the ordinary course of military organization or duty, while in actual execution, for the purpose of making such communication.

Officers in

ments.

55. Every officer in charge of a department has the general right, at all proper times, to communicate and confer directly with the charge of departresponsible commanding officer concerning any matter relating to his department; and his duty to do so is absolute whenever he thinks it necessary for the good of his department or of the service.

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