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nished "shelter" while on leave of absence or on sick leave can arise from the very nature of the condition of being on leave.

The question of "shelter" apparently narrows itself to the two conditions of temporary duty away from station and in hospital. The law does not contemplate such a permanency on temporary duty that it is not in fact temporary duty, nor such a permanency in hospital that return to active duty will not result therefrom. The law does not contemplate under such conditions of permanency occupying quarters as "shelter," and also receiving rental allowance.

There maintains a procedure when a change of station is ordered that an officer may request and be granted a leave of absence before proceeding to his new station; and in the naval service the procedure appears to be not to designate the new station immediately but to detach from the present station, leaving open until later the question of to which new station the officer may be assigned, and just prior to termination of the leave of absence designate the station to which the officer will proceed on expiration of the leave of absence. This raises the question of the officer's status with respect to the rental allowance during such period of detachment from the present station and assignment to new station while on the leave of absence. The change of station is take advantage of for a leave of absence and the matter of rental allowance originates not from the leave of absence, but from the change of station, and the practical procedure appears to be, that if the detaching from the present station requires the officer to vacate quarters and none are available for him by reason of the fact that his station to which he may be later assigned has not been determined, then in such case the officer is entitled to rental allowance during the leave of absence.

If exceptional situations arise, apparently not here specifically covered, they should be then made the matter of specific submission.

UNSETTLED ACCOUNTS OF OFFICERS' RESERVE CORPS-PAYMENT FOR THIRTY-FIRST DAY OF MONTH.

The accounts of individual members of the Officers' Reserve Corps on active duty for a continuous period of less than a calendar month and who have been paid the pay and allowance legally due under the laws in effect prior to September 14, 1922, have been settled within the meaning of the act of that date, 42 Stat., 841, and such members may not now be paid for the 31st day of the month, as authorized by said act in the case of those members whose accounts had not been settled.

Comptroller General McCarl to First Lieut. J. H. Doherty, United States Army, December 28, 1922:

There was received December 8, 1922, your first indorsement of November 27, 1922, on letter addressed to you by Maj. James F. Tomkins, Cavalry, Officers' Reserve Corps, October 9, 1922, request

ing decision, whether you are authorized to pay voucher therewith transmitted stated in favor of Major Tomkins, for pay for August 31, 1922, while he was on active duty pursuant to paragraph 2, Special Orders, No. 59, dated Headquarters, Sixty-second Cavalry Division, 27 West Washington Street, Hagerstown, Md., August 14, 1922.

The order cited placed Major Tomkins, with his consent, on active duty for 15 days for training, effective August 20, 1922, and directed that if not sooner relieved he be returned to his home to arrive thereat September 3, 1922, on which date he would stand relieved from further active duty. On his departure from Camp Meade September 3, 1922, he was paid on voucher No. 400, September, 1922, accounts Melvin Jones, captain, Finance Department, as follows: Pay, August 20 to September 3, 1922 (14 days). Subsistence, August 20 to September 3, 1922 (15 days).

$116. 67 27.00

143. 67

Subsequently a proviso appearing under the appropriation for "Arms, Uniforms, Equipment, and so forth, for Field Service, National Guard, 1922," in the act of June 30, 1922, 42 Stat., 749, was amended by section 3 of the act of September 14, 1922, 42 Stat., 841, to read as follows:

That members of the National Guard and Officers' Reserve Corps who have or shall become entitled for a continuous period of less than one month to Federal pay at the rates fixed for the Regular Army, whether by virtue of a call by the President, of attendance at school or maneuver, or of any other cause, and whose accounts have not yet been settled, shall receive such pay for each day of such period; and the thirty-first day of a calendar month shall not be excluded from the computation.

The amendment consisted of the words "and Officers' Reserve Corps," so that the provision would also be applicable to members of that corps if otherwise within it. A provision such as this, applicable only to members of the National Guard, has appeared in the appropriation acts for the Army for 1921, 41 Stat., 973; 1922, 42 Stat., 93, as well as for the fiscal year 1923. It was evidently designed to provide pay for the 31st day of a month under the conditions indicated in the proviso because of decision by the Comptroller of the Treasury, 23 Comp. Dec., 366, that officers of the Organized Militia and Naval Militia who were entitled under other laws in certain situations to the same pay as officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army and Navy of corresponding grades were not entitled, under the act of June 30, 1906, 34 Stat., 763, to pay for the 31st day of a calendar month included in a period of less than a month while so entitled to Federal pay.

As the provision is applicable only to officers" whose accounts have not yet been settled," the question for decision is whether the payment to Major Tomkins September 3, 1922, of all amounts due

him for his services August 20 to September 3, 1922, under the laws in effect when the payment was made, was a settlement of his

account.

As has been said, the provision originally and for more than two years included only members of the National Guard, and to ascertain its intent it is proper to consider its application to conditions in the National Guard. Section 98 of the act of June 3, 1916, 39 Stat., 207, provides:

When any portion of the National Guard shall participate in encampments, maneuvers, or other exercises, including outdoor target practice, for field or coast defense instruction, under the provisions of this Act, it may, after being duly mustered, be paid at any time after such muster for the period from the date of leaving the home rendezvous to date of return thereto as determined in advance, both dates inclusive; and such payment, if otherwise correct, shall pass to the credit of the disbursing officer making the same.

It has been held that where Federal funds are, pursuant to law, turned over to a State for disbursement by the United States property and disbursing officer of a State for authorized National Guard purposes, including pay of personnel when not in the service of the United States, the disbursing officer will be held accountable to the United States for any illegal disbursements, but that the claims of individual members based on their participation in encampments or other exercises in which the personnel is paid from funds so turned over or allotted to the State will not be received or considered. 27 Comp. Dec., 632, 633.

It is thus seen that, so far as the National Guard is concerned, it is the payment by the United States property and disbursing officer to the individual that constitutes the settlement of the individual's account for the continuous period less than a month he is entitled to full Federal pay of his grade, although the disbursing officer's account will thereafter be settled by the General Accounting Office. Ordinarily the only settlement of the accounts of individual members of the Officers' Reserve Corps on active duty for training for 15 days, so far as the individuals are concerned, is the payment by an Army disbursing officer of the pay and allowances due. The disbursing officer's account for the disbursement of public funds advanced to him, including payments made to members of the Officers' Reserve Corps, will, of course, ultimately be settled by the General Accounting Office.

Clearly, it is the payment of the individual members of the Officers' Reserve Corps on active duty for a continuous period of less than a calendar month that is contemplated by the statute here considered. The purpose and intent of the provision is to authorize payments for the 31st day of a month included in a continuous period of less than a calendar month where payment had not yet been made in full to the individual for his active duty for training, and was so worded to prevent the filing of a large number of small claims by members who

without the aid of the statute had been paid in full. If it were otherwise all members of the Officers' Reserve Corps on active duty prior to September 14, 1922, for a continuous period of less than a month which included the 31st day of a month would be entitled to pay for that day. As has been shown this would not be true in the National Guard for which the provision was originally made, and the members of the Officers' Reserve Corps can receive no greater benefits from the statute than do members of the National Guard.

Accordingly, I am of opinion that the accounts of individual members of the Officers' Reserve Corps on active duty for a continuous period less than a calendar month and who have been paid the pay and allowance legally due under laws in effect prior to September 14, 1922, have been settled within the meaning of the act of September 14, 1922, so far as pay for the 31st day of any calendar month included in the period is concerned.

The voucher is returned herewith and you are informed that you are not authorized to pay it.

NATIONAL GUARD OFFICERS ATTENDING ENCAMPMENTS, MANEUVERS, AND SERVICE SCHOOLS PAY AND SUBSISTENCE AND RENTAL ALLOWANCES.

The base-pay periods of officers of the National Guard for Federal-pay purposes, including armory drill pay, on and after July 1, 1922, are those expressly fixed for their respective grades by section 3 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 627, irrespective of prior service. Officers of the National Guard are not entitled to be credited with the longevity increase prescribed in sections 3 and 1 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 627, 625, in computing pay to which they are entitled under sections 94 and 97 of the act of June 3, 1916, 39 Stat., 206, 207, and section 99 of said act as amended by section 5 of the act of September 22, 1922, 42 Stat., 1035, for attendance at encampments, maneuvers, and service schools, or in computing their armory drill pay under section 109 of the act of June 4, 1920, 41 Stat., 783.

Officers of the National Guard are entitled to a subsistence allowance as prescribed by section 5 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 628, when entitled to Federal pay under sections 94 and 97 of the act of June 3, 1916, 39 Stat., 206, 207, and section 99 of said act as amended by section 5 of the act of September 22, 1922, 42 Stat., 1035.

Officers of the National Guard are entitled to a rental allowance as prescribed by section 6 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 628, while attending Army service schools under section 99 of the act of June 3, 1916, 39 Stat., 207, as amended by section 5 of the act of September 22, 1922, 42 Stat 1035, where public quarters are not available.

Comptroller General McCarl to the Secretary of War, December 29, 1922:

I received, December 7, 1922, your letter of December 2, 1922, requesting decision of four questions arising under the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 625, respecting the pay and allowances of officers of the National Guard entitled to Federal pay under sections 94 and 97 of the act of June 3, 1916, 39 Stat., 206 and 207, and section 99 of the same act as amended by section 5 of the act of September 22, 1922, 42 Stat., 1035, and the armory drill pay of officers of the National

Guard under section 109 of that act as amended by section 47 of the act of June 4, 1920, 41 Stat., 783.

The questions are stated and answered in their order.

(a) Are National Guard officers of grades corresponding to those of the Regu lar Army, entitled to the pay of the sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and first periods, regardless of period of prior service when participating in the exercises and duties set forth in sections 94, 97, and 99 of the Act of June 3, 1916; and if so, what would be the base pay of National Guard officers of each grade? For instance, is a captain of the National Guard to be paid at the rate of $2,000 or $2,400 per year, depending upon his length of service?

The first portion of the first question is answered in the affirmative. See 2 Comp. Gen., 113, 114, answer to question 3.

Answering the latter portion of the first question, the permanent base pay of commissioned officers of the National Guard in grades from second lieutenant to colonel, inclusive, and which are not affected by length of service, either Federal or State, are: Second lieutenant, first period, $1,500; first lieutenant, second period, $2,000; captain, third period, $2,400; major, fourth period, $3,000; lieutenant colonel, fifth period, $3,500; and colonel, sixth period, $4,000. Answer to the question asked in the illustration is contained in the foregoing.

(b) Are National Guard officers entitled to allowances for subsistence for themselves or dependents, as provided in the act of June 10, 1922, when entitled to Federal pay, under the provisions of sections 94, 97, and 99 of the national defense act?

Sections 5 and 14 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 628 and 631, so far as here material, provide:

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shall be

SEC. 5. That each commissioned officer on the active list, entitled at all times, in addition to his pay, to a money allowance for subsistence, The value of one allowance is hereby fixed at 60 cents per day for the fiscal year 1923, and this value shall be the maximum and shall be used by the President as the standard in fixing the same or lower values for subsequent years. To each officer of any of the said services receiving the base pay of the first period the amount of this allowance shall be equal to one subsistence allowance, to each officer receiving the base pay of the second, third, or sixth period the amount of this allowance shall be equal to two subsistence allowances, and to each officer receiving the base pay of the fourth or fifth period the amount of this allowance shall be equal to three subsistence allowances: Provided, That an officer with no dependents shall receive one subsistence allowance in lieu of the above allowances.

SEC. 14. That officers of the National Guard receiving Federal pay, except

*

for armory drill, • • shall receive the allowances herein prescribed for

officers of the regular services in sections 5 and 6 of this Act.

Sections 94 and 97 of the act of June 3, 1916, provide in part as follows:

SEC. 94. ENCAMPMENTS AND MANEUVERS.and the officers and enlisted men of such National Guard while so engaged shall be entitled to the same pay, subsistence, and transportation as officers and enlisted men of corresponding grades of the Regular Army are or hereafter may be entitled by law.

SEC. 97. •

Officers and enlisted men attending such camps shall be entitled to pay and transportation, and enlisted men to subsistence in addition, at the same rates as for encampments or maneuvers for field or coast-defense Instruction.

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