grade and length of service on June 30. 1922,

and nothing contained in this Act shall operate to reduce the total pay and allowances which any enlisted man of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard is now receiving during his current enlistment and while he holds his present grade or rating.

Under the acts of August 29, 1916, and July 1, 1918, officers of the Naval Reserve Force were entitled to retainer pay based upon the pay of officers of corresponding rank or grade in the Regular Navy. Section 3 of the act of June 10, 1922, in effect breaks the assimilation status as to commissioned officers and provides what the base pay of the various commissioned officers of the Naval Reserve Force shall be by expressly prescribing one period pay only for each grade. Furthermore, commissioned officers of the Naval Reserve Force are not "officers on the active list " of the Regular Navy.

Taking these two facts into consideration, I conclude that section 16 does not apply to the commissioned officers of the Naval Reserve Force.

While the assimilation in the pay of warrant officers and enlisted men of the Naval Reserve Force to that of similar members of the Regular Navy is not broken by the act of June 10, 1922, the fact that Congress has so legislated as to exclude commissioned officers of the Naval Reserve Force from the benefits of section 16, and has in section 10 made a specific "saving clause" provision for one class of the Naval Reserve Force in enlisted ratings, viz, "transferred members of the Fleet Naval Reserve," I conclude that neither the warrant officers of the Naval Reserve Force nor the enrolled members holding enlisted ratings therein come within the purview of section 16.

Questions (b) and (c) are accordingly answered that section 16 does not apply to the Naval Reserve Force.

(d) Section 1 of this law provides:

Commissioned warrant officers on the active list with creditable records shall, after six years' commissioned service, receive the pay of the second period, and after twelve years' commissioned service, receive the pay of the third period:

Under this provision, will the rate of pay provided therein be considered the base pay of commissioned warrant officers after 6 and 12 years upon which retainer pay should be computed, and may all commissioned service in any rank or grade in the Navy or Naval Reserve Force be counted in computing the 6 and 12 years' service, respectively?

The conferring of pay of the second or third period on a commissioned warrant officer of the Regular Navy does not raise his rank above that "to rank with but after an ensign." (Aet of Mar. 3, 1899, 30 Stat., 1007.) Section 3 of the act of June 10, 1922, specifically provides that the pay of a reserve officer serving in a grade corresponding to second lieutenant of the Army shall receive the pay of the first pay period, and the act of July 1, 1918, prescribes for retainer pay "the equivalent of two months' base pay

of the corresponding rank or grade in the Navy." Because of the specific provision in section 3 prescribing what shall be the base pay of commissioned officers of the reserve holding a grade corresponding to second lieutenant of the Army, I conclude that he is not entitled to the benefits of the rates provided for commissioned warrant officers of the Regular Navy after 6 or 12 years.

Question (d) is answered that a commissioned warrant officer is entitled to retainer pay computed upon $1,500 per annum.

(e) What will be the base pay of warrant officers of the Naval Reserve Force in computing retainer pay after July 1, 1922, under section 10 of this act, and may service of warrant officers be computed the same as under laws in force prior to July 1, 1922?

Following the rule laid down in 23 Comp. Dec., 279, 97 MS., Comp. Dec., 166, and 1 MS., Comp. Gen., 690, warrant officers with less than seven years of service are entitled to retainer pay computed on shore rate-$135 per month-with over 6 and less than 13 years of service, $147 per month, and with over 12 years of service, $168 per month.

As no provision appears in the act of June 10, 1922, changing in any way the provisions of the act of July 1, 1918, as to counting service of warrant officers of the Naval Reserve Force for purposes of retainer pay service is to be computed the same as under laws in force prior to July 1, 1922.

Question (e) is answered accordingly.

(f) Under the act of May 18, 1920, the pay of mess attendant, first class, was fixed at $42 per month. Under authority contained in section 10 of the act of June 16, 1922, mess attendant, first class, has been placed in the fifth pay grade. What will be the base pay of a mess attendant, first class, now in Naval Reserve Force for the purpose of computing retainer pay after July 1, 1922?

(g) In the case of nonrated men, second class, and nonrated men, third class, who have been placed in the sixth and seventh pay grades, respectively, and whose pay is thereby reduced, will the retainer pay to which they may be entitled on June 30, 1922, be reduced after July 1, 1922?

Applying the answers to questions (b) and (c), your questions (f) and (g) are answered that the retainer pay of enrolled members holding enlisted ratings is to be computed on and after July 1, 1922, on the basis of pay provided in section 10 of the act of June 10, 1922, according to the grade in which the various ratings in the Navy may be placed by the Secretary of the Navy under the authority conferred upon him in said section 10.

(h) In computing the permanent additions authorized for enlisted men of the Navy as provided in section 10 of the act, will members of the Naval Reserve Force, class 1, be entitled to count a minority enlistment as 4 years or as actual time served?

Section 10 puts all enlisted men of the Navy on a longevity increase of pay basis, and only actual service shall be counted for this purpose. Under the provision of section 10, allowing a percentage

increase for length of service, periods of enlistment, and what was formerly classed as "continuous service" are lost sight of. Only actual active duty, naval service, prior to transfer is to be counted by members of the Fleet Naval Reserve transferred after June 30, 1922, for longevity permanent addition. As applicable to enlisted men of the Navy, absence without leave and on furlough and absence from duty for causes enumerated in the acts of August 29, 1916, 39 Stat., 580, and July 1, 1918, 40 Stat., 717, viz, sickness, injury, misconduct, or disease, shall not be counted in making up longevity

service.

Question (h) is answered accordingly.

(i) Below are presented three cases for your consideration:

1. Albert W. Johnson, bsmth., 1st class, has had service in the Navy as follows:

On January 20, 1920, he was transferred to the Fleet Naval Reserve, class 1-c, after sixteen years' service. He has been paid retainer pay from date of transfer in accordance with the act of July 11, 1919. 41 Stat., 140, which made the temporary war increases of the act of May 22, 1917, 40 Stat., 87, permanent rates of pay of the enlisted men of the Navy during their present current enlistment and for those who enlist or reenlist prior to July 1, 1920, for the term of such enlistment or reenlistment.

To have adjusted his pay on the basis of the act of May 18, 1920, 41 Stat., 602 (Pub. No. 210), would have resulted in reducing his retainer pay contrary to section 13 of that act.

The following computations of his retainer pay show the component parts and the results if it were computed in accordance with either of the acts of May 13, 1908, July 11, 1919, or May 18, 1920:

Under the act of June 10, 1922, his rating is fixed in the second pay grade. To what rate of retainer pay is he entitled subsequent to June 30, 1922? To what rate would he have been entitled subsequent to June 30, 1922, had his first discharge been on September 7, 1907, and other service as stated?

2. F. J. Leonard was transferred to the Fleet Naval Reserve on July 28, 1921, as C. S. M., after service in the Navy as follows:

His retainer pay is computed on the basis of the act of May 18, 1920:

His rating is fixed in the first pay grade. To what retainer pay will Leonard be entitled under the act of June 10, 1922?

3. Henry R. McCarthy, who was transferred to the Fleet Naval Reserve on February 4, 1918, as B. M. 1c., has service in the Navy to his credit as follows:

His retainer pay has been computed since his transfer as follows:

His rating is fixed in the second pay grade, under the act of June 10, 1922. To what retainer pay is he entitled after June 30, 1922?

The retainer pay of members whose transfer occurs after June 30, 1922, will be the amount as fixed at date of transfer, viz, one-third or

one-half, respectively, of the base pay they were in receipt of as men of the Regular Navy at date of transfer under the act of June 10, 1922 (inclusive of those men whose pay is under the savings clause), plus the permanent additions they as men of the Navy were then thus in receipt of, and will remain fixed at said amount independently of reserve rating or change therein or of change in the pay or permanent additions of men of Regular Navy or of Reserves for active duty purposes unless otherwise directed by the Congress. 1 Comp. Gen. 77; 26 Comp. Dec. 483.

Members whose transfer occurred prior to July 1, 1922, and who prior to that time have not been confined to retainer pay in amount as fixed at date of transfer, but have been receiving retainer pay computed at one-third or one-half, respectively, of the base pay of a higher reserve rating than that held as a Regular when transferred, or on the base pay of the Regular rating as at transfer increased under the act of July 11, 1919, 41 Stat., 140, or May 18, 1920, 41 Stat., 602, under holdings in 26 Comp. Dec., 789, and 27 id., 126, 192, may retain the higher amount thus received by them to and including June 30, 1922.

On and after July 1, 1922, the retainer pay of members transferred prior to July 1, 1922, will be confined to that fixed at date of transfer, viz, one-third or one-half, respectively, of the then base pay of the rating held by them as men of the Regular Navy at date of transfer, inclusive only in the computation of pay under either the act of July 11, 1919, 41 Stat., 140, or May 18, 1920, 41 Stat., 602, in the event they were in receipt thereof as a Regular when transferred, plus the permanent additions they as men of Navy were then in receipt of, with the following exception:

Those transferred members for whom a different rate was expressly provided by section 6 of the act of May 18, 1920, 41 Stat., 603; that is, those who returned to active duty within one month after May 18, 1920, and continued thereon "until the Navy shall have been recruited up to its permanent authorized strength, or until the number in the grade to which they may be assigned is filled, but not beyond June 30, 1922," will continue on and after July 1, 1922, to have their retainer pay computed on their reserve grade pay for active duty as it existed at the time of their release from said active duty, plus the permanent additions to which entitled under the act of August 29, 1916, 39 Stat., 590. See 27 Comp. Dec., 26.

This does not operate to reduce the retainer pay to which any member transferred prior to July 1, 1922, was legally entitled on June 30, 1922.