422 Reporter's Statement of the Case and training in crash fire fighting, rescue work, structural fire fighting, hose runs, etc. From time to time, some of the fire fighters were sent on tours of inspection of the hangars and other buildings to locate and remove fire hazards. At all times, two members of the crew in plaintiffs' station were on watch duty. One of them was stationed in a watch tower outside of the station near the control tower, and one stood at the front of the fire house near the telephone. The firemen alternated on the two watches. 20. The time required in the performance of plaintiffs' duties, aside from fire-fighting work, during each 24-hour tour of duty varied from day to day and from week to week in accordance with the conditions at the base but, as an average, it amounted to about eight hours per day. 21. The hours from 10 p. m. to 6 a. m., each day, were designated as the rest period at plaintiffs' fire station, subject to fire fighters being called out at any time if a fire occurred during that period. Cots were provided in the rear of the station for the firemen to rest and sleep on during the rest period above mentioned. To some extent the rest or sleep of the firemen was interrupted due to their being called out on fire alarms or occasionally being assigned to other work during the night. The work of converting dry ice to carbon dioxide was usually performed at night, and required the attention of the men engaged on such work during the entire night. There were times during the rest period when the fire fighters were called out on drills in order to test their ability to respond quickly to a fire alarm. They were able to dress and leave the station in their trucks in not more than one minute. While the majority of the crash alarms occurred during daylight hours, the fire fighters were occasionally called out during the rest period to render stand-by service on the runways for an incoming plane in distress. The record does not disclose the frequency or number of the occasions above mentioned. If a crash landing occurred, one and sometimes two engines and crews were required to remain on hand at the runways until the plane was removed. In some instances, the number not being shown, this meant particular crew or crews had to stay out all or a large part of the night. It was a general rule, however, that when the Reporter's Statement of the Case 107 C. Cls. sleep of men was interrupted for fire-fighting work, they were allowed to sleep later the following morning or some of their routine duties would be cancelled for that day. 22. Throughout the periods covered by these claims, the tours of duty of each of the plaintiffs were regular and uniform and consisted of 24 hours on duty followed by 24 hours off duty. However, the hours during each tour of duty when the men were actually engaged in working were intermittent and irregular. There were portions of the 24-hour tour of duty, exclusive of the time spent on routine work and in fighting fires, when plaintiffs were not actually engaged in the performance of any work but during which they were required to remain subject to call, in or near the station, to respond to any alarm which might be received. After deducting the eight hours which, on the average, were required for the routine duties described in finding 19, there remain sixteen hours of each 24-hour tour of duty during which plaintiffs were either engaged in fire fighting activities or were on call and available for responding to any fire alarms sent to their station. Eight hours of the sixteen hours during which the firemen were on call were set aside as a time for resting and sleeping. With respect to the remaining eight hours, which included the time allowed for eating two meals, the record is not sufficient to show with reasonable accuracy how much time the firemen spent, on the average, in fire-fighting activities and how much time they were in an "on call" status but the evidence of the record is sufficient to show that more of this time was spent in waiting for fire alarms than in active fire fighting work. On some days no alarms were sent to their station and on others they received as many as five or six alarms. The length of time they were away from the station on a fire-fighting assignment varied from five minutes to as much as six hours. Generally, the men who were away from the fire station for more than an hour on fire-fighting work, were performing stand-by service on the runways after the crash landing of an airplane. In 1944 and 1945 records were kept at the Gulfport Army Air Base on all alarms answered by the fire department. These records were called Individual Run Reports and a summary of these reports, covering the 12-month period ending 422 Reporter's Statement of the Case June 30, 1945, was received in evidence as defendant's exhibit 1. Part of the records for 1944, from which the summary was compiled, was lost or destroyed. Although the summary covers the reports from six stations, only Stations Nos. 1 and 5 were in operation during the entire twelve-month period. The reports included not only the instances in which the fire trucks were away from the station on fire-fighting activities, but also false alarms, fire drills and trips made by the trucks for refueling or repairs. That portion of the summary covering the activities of Stations Nos. 1 and 5 for the first six months of 1945 shows that Station No. 1 responded to 158 calls or alarms received on 99 days and that Station No. 5, where plaintiffs were assigned, made 280 runs on 133 days of that six-month period. Of the 280 alarms received at Station No. 5 during that time, there were 62 for which the hour of response is not given so that it is impossible to ascertain in those instances whether the fire fighters were called out during daylight hours or during the rest period. However, on at least 35 of the 280 runs made by the men at Station No. 5 during that time, the alarms were received between the hours of 10 p. m. and 6 a. m. 23. (a) Plaintiff Albert F. Conn.-The following table shows the periods covered by plaintiff Conn's claim, his basic annual compensation during such periods and the amounts paid him by the defendant for overtime work during each month of such periods: For the purposes of computing his overtime compensation, the War Department classified plaintiff Conn as an intermittent or irregular employee during the periods from December 1, 1942, to June 30, 1943, and from July 1, 1944, to December 31, 1944. From December 1, 1942, to June 30, 1943, when his basic salary was less than $2,000 per annum, plaintiff was paid additional compensation in lieu of overtime equal Reporter's Statement of the Case 107 C. Cls. to 10 percent of his monthly compensation. During the period from July 1, 1944, to December 31, 1944, plaintiff was paid additional compensation in lieu of overtime equal to 15 percent of his monthly compensation. These payments were made in accordance with the provisions of Sections 9 and 9 (a) of War Department Orders U which are set out in finding 7, and sections 3-7a (2) and 3-7b of War Department Civilian Personnel Regulation No. 80 which are set out in finding 11. From January 1, 1945, to June 30, 1945, plaintiff was paid overtime compensation at the rate of one and one-half times his hourly rate for an average of 16 hours of overtime per week. This payment was made in accordance with the provisions of War Department Circular No. 13, dated January 25, 1945, which appear in finding 13. Plaintiff's hourly rate was computed by dividing his annual rate of pay by 360 to determine the daily rate and then dividing the resulting figure by 8 to determine the hourly rate of pay. 23 (b) Excluding all time during any week in which plaintiff Conn was off duty on sick leave, annual leave, holidays, or for other causes, the total hours of his tours of duty as a civilian firefighter in excess of 40 hours per administrative workweek were as follows: 23 (c) If plaintiff Conn was not properly classified by the War Department and is entitled to overtime pay at the rate of one and one-half times his regular rate of pay for all of the hours of his tours of duty in excess of 40 hours per administrative workweek, the net overtime compensation that would be due him, after deducting all amounts which the defendant paid him as overtime compenation, is $2,344.91. 23 (d) If plaintiff is entitled to overtime pay at the rate of one and one-half times his regular rate of pay and if his weekly hours of overtime should be arrived at by considering that he actually worked 16 hours within the spread of each 24-hour period of his tour of duty, the net amount that would 422 Reporter's Statement of the Case be due him after deducting all amounts which defendant has paid him as overtime compensation, is $431.09. 23 (e) If plaintiff is entitled to overtime compensation for the entire period of his claim on the same basis as that used by the War Department, i. e., 16 hours during each 24 hours, without deduction for leave, etc., in computing his overtime pay from January 1, 1945, to June 30, 1945, the net amount that would be due him after deducting all overtime pay received from defendant is $590.82. In computing the overtime of each of the plaintiffs from January 1, 1945, to and including June 30, 1945, the War Department considered that his average workweek was 56 hours and paid him overtime on the basis of such average workweek, during which no deduction in time was made while the employee was on leave with pay. 24. (a) Plaintiff Robert D. Flynt.—The basic annual compensation of plaintiff Flynt during the periods covered by his claim and the amount of compensation paid him by defendant for overtime during each month of such periods are shown below: 1, 860. 00 overtime compensation $67.16 Jan. 1, 1945 to June 30, 1945For purposes of computing his overtime compensation, the War Department classified plaintiff as an intermittent or irregular employee from the period of July 1, 1944 to December 31, 1944 and paid him additional compensation in lieu of overtime equal to $300 per year in accordance with the provisions of Sections 3-7a (2) and 3-7b of War Department Civilian Personnel Regulation No. 80 which are set out in finding 11. From January 1, 1945 to June 30, 1945, he was paid overtime compensation at the rate of one and one-half times his hourly rate for an average of 16 hours of overtime per week in accordance with the provisions of War Department Civilian Personnel Circular No. 13 which are set out in finding 13. 24. (b) Excluding all time in any week during which plain |