Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/89

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 he (hd not consider qualified for promo- Il was provided that promotion-list offi- cers in the permanent grade of second heu~ tenant should be automatically promoted to the grade of first lieutenant after three years service. If found not to be fully quali. fled for this promotion second lieutenants were to have their commissions revoked and were .to be discharged. If vacancies in the grade of first lieutenant occurred m any promotion hst, officers of that list in the grade of second lieutenant could be pro- moted to fill those vacancies before comple- tion of three years service. o Elimination of officers in excess of the number authorized for any branch or serv- ice waa provided for by Section 509 of the act which set up a system whereby promo- tion list officers in the permanent grades of first lieutenant, captain, and major should be considered by selection boards for pro. motion to the permanent grade of captain, major, and lieutenant coIonel on the com- pletion of the required number of years of service (7, 14, and 21 years respectively). Those officers who were considered by two consecutive selection boards for promotion to thenext grade and failed to be recom- mended both times were to be elLminated lrom the active list of the Regular Army and retired or separated as the case might be. It was also provided that vacancies oc- curring in the number of officers authorized in. any specific grade in a promotion list could be filIed by promotion from the lower grades in the hst without consideration of number of years in service. Special provi- sxon was made for the promotion of officers on the Air Corps promotxon list to fill va- cancies occurring in the grades of captain, ma}or, or lieutenant colonel where there were special qualifications required for the vacant position. © pecial selection boards were to be set up by the Secretary of War to select officers [or promotion to fill erAsting and antici- pated vacancies in the grade of colonel. In the case of Air Corps vacanmes in the grade of colonel, provision was made for the re- quirement of special qualifications for pro* motion to fill these vacancies. Provision was also made for the appointment of selection boards to reconunend colonels for promo- tion to fill brigadier general vacancies, and for the promorlon of brlgadmr generals by th same process to fill vacancies in the grade of major general The act also contained provisions 1or the retirement of lieutenant colonels, colonels, and brigadier generals who wen too long without promotion to the next grade. It specxfied the procedure by which officers were to be recommended by five-officer boards for appointment by the President to be chiefs or assistant chiefs of branches, arms, or services. 6 The Officer Personnel Act also contained many other provisions, all of which it would bc hardly feasible to enumerate or dscuss in a study chiefly concerned with the over- all picture of Air Force legislatmn. It vided for the temporary appointment of officers of the Regular Army (and Air Force), officers of the Reserve components, and other persons to commissions in he Army of the United States; it laid down definitive rules for the granting of service credits; made special prowsion for the rank, pay, and retirement of professors of the Urnted States Mhtary Academy; amended the retirement laws; and established var- tous other regulations and procedures con- corning officer personnel. - This legislation remained in effect for the rest of the period under consideration, although there was further legislation en- acted dealing with the elimination of offi- cer personnel. With the setting up of the National Military Establishment under the National Security Act of 1947 a central selection board was set up by the Secretary of Defense, with the prescribed one year limit on its tenure. Later it became the practice to appoint four boards yearly to select officers for promotion to captsin, major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel re- spect[vely. The promotion system estab- lished under this legislation undoubtedly had many advantages over the old seniority system but after it had been h operation for a few years many Air Force officers THIS PAGE Declassflied lAW EO12958