Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/76

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 Guard of the United States, and the Air National Guard whfie m the service of the United States; and waS to include all per- sons, enlisted or appointed in the Air Force, and all persons serving in the Air Force under call or conscription (incIudmg all members of the Air Iqational Guard while in tha service of the Urnted States) pursu- ant to call as provided by law3  The Regular Air Force was defined in sectior 302, a counterpart of section 302 of the Army Organization Act of 1950 which defined the Regular Army. It also specified which persons should be considered as mem- bers of the Regular Air Force3S Sections 303 and 304 of Ttle II! dealt with the 3at Force Reserve and the Aar National Guard of the United States as reserve components of the Air Force. Sec- tion 305 dealt with those units, organiza- tions, and personnel of the Air National Guard for Which federal responsxbllity had been invested by law in the Secretary of the Air Force or the Department of the Air Force. Section 306 provaded that Air Force personnel should return the same military status with the implementation of tins act that they had held when it went mto effect. Section 307 provided that specially qualified members of the Air Force should be des]g- hated, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Air Force, to perform the special services for which they were trained. There followed a list of the laws setting torth the qualifications for the respective types of dutms3  Section 307 (d) authorized separate pro- motion lists for the various categories of dut[es within the Air Force. These lists were to be set up at the dxscretion of the Secre- tary of the Air Force, and they were to conform to the provisions of the Ocers' Personnel Act of 194730 Section 308 of Article III provided that there should be "within the Air Force" three major air commands, ADC, SAC, and TAC. The Secretary of the Air Force was also empowered to establmh other com- mands and organizations in the Air Force in the interest of efficiency and economy of operation. The three major commands named above could be abolished or consoli- dated, or new major commands created by the Secretary for the duration of any na- tional emergency or war decfared by the President or Congress. ' By establishrag only three commands on a statutory basis, and by gving the Secretary of the Air Force broad discretionary powers in setting up other commands and orgamzations in the Air Force, Congress wsely guarded against settmg up a rigid organizational structure for the Air Force and made possible a flex- ible organization winch could be changed and strengthened as changing situations demanded. Section 309 provided that for Air Force purposes the United States, its territoMes and possessions, and other territory in which elements of the Air Force mght be stationed or operated, could be dwded into such areas as the Secretary of the Air Force might direct2-" Section 309 also prowdad hat the Air Force should continue to have its own Judge Advocate General, who was to be appointed for a four year term by, and with the consent of, the Senate; the term could be extended or termmaed by the President at any time. Although the Judge Advocate General was not to be a chmf of an arm, branch, or service wthin the meaning of section 513 of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, he was told to hold the grade of permanent major general in the legular Air Force--he was to be appointed m this grade ff he dd not already hold that rank TM Although provision was not made for a sepa- rate Judge Advocate General's Corps in the Air Force, the act did not pre- clude the establishment of such a corps. Nor dd t mean that the Air Force was to estab- lish a separate and individual code of mili- tary justice. A new uniform code of justice had recently been put into operation for all three branches of the armed services; this new code, of course, would be applied by the Air Judge Advocate General3  Title IV of the act contained repeals, amendments, and saving provisions. Cer- tain legislation winch was no longer appli- cable to the Air Force now that it had a firm statutory basis for is organization, and all other laws and parts of laws incon- THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958