373. Heads of departments.-When vacancies shall occur in the position of chief of any staff corps or department the President may appoint to such vacancies, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, officers of the Army at large not below the rank of lieutenantcolonel, and who shall hold office for terms of four years. When a vacancy in the position of chief of any staff corps or department is filled by the appointment of any officer below the rank now provided by law for said office, said chief shall, while so serving, have the same rank, pay, and allowances now provided for the chief of such corps or department. Sec. 26, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 755).

374. Same-Chief to be selected from permanent officers of corps.— So long as there remain in service officers of any staff corps or department holding permanent appointments, the chief of such staff corps or department shall be selected from the officers so remaining therein. Id.

375. Same-Detailed officers eligible for permanent appointment. That hereafter whenever the number of officers holding permanent appointments in any staff corps or staff department of the Army, except the Quartermaster Corps, shall have been reduced below four and a vacancy shall occur in an office above the grade of colonel in said corps or department, any officer of the Army with rank above that of major who shall have served creditably for not less than four years by detail in said corps or department under the provisions of section twenty-six of the Act of Congress approved February second, nineteen hundred and one, shall, in addition to officers otherwise eligible, be eligible for appointment to fill said vacancy. Act of Apr. 27, 1914 (38 Stat. 356).

376. Same-Retirement.-Any officer now holding office in any corps or department who shall hereafter serve as chief of a staff corps or department and shall subsequently be retired, shall be retired with the rank, pay, and allowances authorized by law for the retirement of such corps or department chief. Sec. 26, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 755).

377. Promotions in staff corps and departments.-That so long as there remain any officers holding permanent appointments in the Adjutant-General's Department, the Inspector-General's Department, the Quartermaster's Department, the Subsistence Department, the Pay Department, the Ordnance Department, and the Signal Corps, including those appointed to original vacancies in the grades of captain and first lieutenant under the provisions of sections sixteen, seventeen, twenty-one, and twenty-four of this act, they shall be promoted according to seniority in the several grades, as now provided by law, and nothing herein contained shall be deemed to apply to vacancies which can be filled by such promotions or to the periods

for which the officers so promoted shall hold their appointments. Sec. 26, id.

378. Details to staff corps and departments.-When any vacancy, except that of the chief of the department or corps, shall occur which can not be filled by promotion as provided in this section, it shall be filled by detail from the line of the Army, and no more permanent appointments shall be made in those departments or corps after the original vacancies created by this act shall have been filled. Such details shall be made from the grade in which the vacancies exist, under such system of examination as the President may from time to time prescribe. Id.

379. Term of detail to staff corps and departments.-All officers so detailed shall serve for a period of four years, at the expiration of which time they shall return to duty with the line, and officers below the rank of lieutenant-colonel shall not again be eligible for selection in any staff department until they shall have served two years with the line. Id.

(For special rules in regard to officers serving details in the Ordnance Department, see chapter relating to that department.)

380. Appointments and details.-No officer hereafter detailed or appointed under the provisions of section twenty-six of the Act of February second, nineteen hundred and one, who has less than four years to serve from the date of his detail or appointment to the date of his retirement shall serve under such detail or appointment or be paid as if on the active list beyond the date of his retirement. Act of June 30, 1902 (32 Stat. 509).

381. Certain officers appointed to rank above that of colonel to retain relative position in corps or arm.-Hereafter, except as otherwise provided herein, when any officer shall under the provisions of section twenty-six of the act of Congress approved February second, nineteen hundred and one, be appointed to an office with rank above that of colonel, his appointment to said office and his acceptance of the appointment shall create a vacancy in the arm, staff corps, or staff department from which he shall be appointed, and said vacancy shall be filled in the manner prescribed by existing law, but he shall retain in said arm, staff corps, or staff department, the same relative position that he would have held if he had not been appointed to said office, and he shall return to said relative position upon the expiration of his appointment to said office unless he shall be reappointed thereto; and if under the operation of this proviso the number of officers of any particular grade in any arm, staff corps, or staff department, shall at any time exceed the number authorized by law, no vacancy occurring in said grades shall be filled until after the total number of officers therein shall have been reduced below the number authorized by law; but nothing in this

proviso shall be held to apply in the case of any officer who now holds a four-year appointment to an office with rank above that of colonel, and whose return to the relative position that he would have held if he had not been appointed to said office is not possible under existing law. Sec. 5, Act of Aug. 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 594).

382. Certain officers not reappointed in staff corps or staff departments may be appointed to former positions. That hereafter whenever the President shall deem it inadvisable to reappoint, at the end of a four-year term, any officer who, under the provisions of section twenty-six of the Act approved February second, nineteen hundred and one, or Acts amendatory thereof, has been appointed for such a term, in any staff corps or staff department, to an office with rank above that of colonel, but whose commission in the lower grade held by him in said staff corps or staff department at the time of his appointment under said Act to an office of higher grade has been vacated, the President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint said officer to be an officer of the grade that he would have held, and to occupy the relative position that he would have occupied, in said staff corps or staff department if he had not been appointed to said office with rank above that of colonel; and if under the operation of this proviso the number of officers of any particular grade in any staff corps or staff department shall at any time exceed the number authorized by law other than this Act, no vacancy occurring in said grade shall be filled until after the total number of officers therein shall have been reduced below the number so authorized. Act of Apr. 27, 1914 (38 Stat. 356).

383. Vacancies due to details.-Each position vacated by officers of the line transferred to any department of the staff for tours of service under this act shall be filled by promotion in the line until the total number detailed equals the number authorized for duty in such department. Thereafter vacancies caused by details from the line to the staff shall be filled by officers returning from tours of staff duty. If under the operation of this act the number of officers returned to any particular arm of the service at any time exceeds the number authorized by law in any grade, promotions to that grade shall cease until the number has been reduced to that authorized. Sec. 27, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 755).

384. Present for duty with troops.-That hereafter in time of peace whenever any officer holding a permanent commission in the line of the Army with rank below that of major shall not have been actually present for duty for at least two of the last preceding six years with a troop, battery, or company, of that branch of the Army in which he shall hold said commission, such officer shall not be de

Held that this section does not apply to the position of Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs. (Bulletin No. 4 (Dig. Op. J. A. G.), Feb. 1, 1913.)

tached nor permitted to remain detached from such troop, battery, or company, for duty of any kind; and all pay and allowances shall be forfeited by any superior for any period during which, by his order, or his permission, or by reason of his failure or neglect to issue or cause to be issued the proper order or instructions at the proper time, any officer shall be detached or permitted to remain detached in violation of any of the terms of this proviso; but nothing in this proviso shall be held to apply in the case of any officer for such period as shall be actually necessary for him, after having been relieved from detached service, to join the troop, battery, or company, to which he shall belong in that branch in which he shall hold a permanent commission, nor shall anything in this proviso be held to apply to the detachment or detail of officers for duty in the Judge Advocate General's Department or in the Ordnance Department, or in connection with the construction of the Panama Canal until after such canal shall have been formally opened, or in the Philippine Constabulary until the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fourteen, or to any officer detailed, or who may be hereafter detailed, for aviation duty. And hereafter no officer holding a permanent commission in the Army with rank below that of major shall be detailed as assistant to the Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs with rank of colonel, or as commanding officer of the Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry, or as chief or assistant chief (Director or Assistant Director) of the Philippine Constabulary, and no other officers of the Army shall hereafter be detailed for duty with the said Constabulary except as specifically provided by law. Act of Aug. 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 571).

385. Service as staff officer. That hereafter, in determining the eligibility, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve, of troop, battery, or company officers for detail as officers of the various staff corps and departments of the Army, except the General Staff Corps, service actually performed by any such officer with troops prior to December fifteenth, nineteen hundred and twelve, as a regimental, battalion, or squadron staff officer, shall be deemed to have been duty with a battery, company, or troop. Act of Mar. 2, 1913 (37 Stat. 706).

386. Promotions after fourteen years' service.-When any lieutenant of the Corps of Engineers or Ordnance Corps or Signal Corps has served fourteen years' continuous service as lieutenant, he shall be promoted to the rank of captain, on passing the examination provided by the preceding section, but such promotion shall not authorize an appointment to fill any vacancy, when such appointment would increase the whole number of officers in the corps beyond the number fixed by law; nor shall any officer be promoted before officers of the same grade who rank him in his corps. Sec. 1207, R. S., as amended by sec. 7, Act of Oct. 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 654).

'Also included in par. 937, and see par. 9381, post.