ring at the beginning and/or end of a period of leave applied for and denied, may not be regarded as a part of the vacation which an employee foregoes when required to work and for which payment is authorized to be made under the provisions of section 2 of the act of June 3, 1941, 55 Stat. 241, and Executive Order No. 8817, dated July 5, 1941.

Accordingly, payment on the voucher may not be made for Sunday, September 28, 1941, or Sunday, October 19, 1941. However, a full day's salary may be paid for every Saturday for which four hours or one-half day's leave is charged occurring on the first or last day or within a period of leave applied for and denied, in this case, Saturdays, September 20 and 27, October 4, 11, and 18, 1941, and, also, for Sundays occurring within a period of leave applied for and denied, in this case, Sundays, September 21, October 5, and 12, 1941. In addition to certification shown on the voucher it should be certified that the employee would have permanently forfeited on January 1, 1942, the leave for which payment is here proposed (see section 1 of Executive Order No. 8817)-it being understood that the employee here involved (a clerk-stenographer) may not be regarded as coming within the purview of section 2 of said Executive order relating to current accrued leave. Also, the certificate on the voucher relative to the necessity for foregoing of the employee's requested leave is signed by E. J. Purfield, Captain, Q. M. C., Assistant, but said officer does not appear to be one authorized to execute such certifications in this class of cases. See subparagraphs b and c of paragraph 3 of memorandum of the Under Secretary of War dated July 15, 1941, quoted in the decision of January 5, 1942, B-21911, 21 Comp. Gen. 629, at page 635.

The voucher and supporting papers are returned herewith.

(B-25104)

UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT ALLOWANCES OFFICERS' RESERVE

CORPS

Section 1 of the act of March 9, 1942, dispensing with the requirement in the act of May 14, 1940, that members of the Officers' Reserve Corps be required to wear uniforms as a condition to receipt of the $50 uniform and equipment allowance for each of the three active-duty training periods for which payment is authorized therein, is not retroactive, but in determining whether a member is to be paid the allowance for such training periods subsequent to March 9, 1942, the periods prior to that date, whether or not uniforms were required to be worn, must be deducted from the total of three for which payment is provided.

The active-duty uniform and equipment allowance authorized by section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, for members of the Officers' Reserve Corps commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, is not limited by the provision of said section authorizing payment of the allowance to officers of the Army of the United States "originally commissioned below the grade of major" on or

subsequent to September 26, 1941, so that a Reserve officer commissioned above the grade of captain prior to September 26, 1941, or promoted or reappointed above such grade, without a break in service, either prior or subsequent to that date, may receive the allowance if otherwise entitled thereto. Although a member of the Officers' Reserve Corps commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, and accepted for active duty either prior or subsequent to that date, may have completed one or two periods of active duty training of 3 months or less prior to the uniform and equipment allowance act of May 14, 1940, he may receive, if otherwise qualified, the active-duty uniform and equipment allowance authorized by section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, for Reserve officers commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, who have received or would have been entitled to receive the allowance authorized by the act of May 14, 1940.

Under the first proviso of section 2 of the uniform and equipment allowance act of March 9, 1942, specifying that a member of the Officers' Reserve Corps shall not have "completed his first three periods of active duty training of 3 months or less in separate fiscal years * * as a condition to payment of the allowance provided therein, a period of active duty training of less than 3 months during which the uniform was not required to be worn should be counted in determining whether an officer has served the three periods mentioned, and this is so even though the duty may have been performed prior to the uniform and equipment allowance act of May 14, 1940. A member of the Officers' Reserve Corps commissioned more than 3 years prior to either September 26, 1941, or the uniform and equipment allowance act of May 14, 1940, who was accepted for extended active duty either prior or subsequent to September 26, 1941, and who has received no allowance for uniforms and equipment, is entitled to receive the active-duty uniform and equipment allowance authorized by the first proviso of section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, if he has otherwise met the terms of the act. A member of the Officers' Reserve Corps who, prior to either the uniform and equipment allowance act of May 14, 1940, or September 26, 1941, was reappointed after having allowed his original commission to lapse, or who, after having been originally appointed, was commissioned in the same or higher grade without break in service, and who was accepted for extended active duty either prior or subsequent to September 26, 1941, is entitled, if otherwise qualified, to the active-duty uniform and equipment allowance authorized by section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, for Reserve officers commissioned prior to September 26, 1941.

While the active-duty uniform and equipment allowance of $150 authorized by the first proviso of section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, for certain members of the Officers' Reserve Corps is, under the terms of the said section, subject to being reduced by any amounts paid under section 1 of the act, or under the act of May 14, 1940, which authorize for such officers a uniform and equipment allowance of $50 for each of three periods of active duty training, it should not be reduced by $50 for each of one or two periods of such training completed prior to May 14, 1940, for which payment has not been made.

A member of the Officers' Reserve Corps who completed under his original appointment three periods of active duty training of 3 months or less in separate fiscal years, and who was given a reappointment either prior or subsequent to September 26, 1941, in another branch of the service under which he completed no tours of active duty, is not entitled upon entry on extended active duty to the uniform and equipment allowance authorized by section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, for Reserve officers commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, and for persons originally commissioned on or subsequent to that date in the Army of the United States.

A member of the Officers' Reserve Corps who was reappointed in the Regular Army prior to September 26, 1941, is not entitled to the active-duty uniform and equipment allowance authorized by section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, for Reserve officers commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, who are accepted for active duty under their commissions, and for persons who are originally commissioned in the Army of the United States on or subsequent to September 26, 1941, regardless of whether he had completed any periods of active duty training of 3 months or less under his Reserve commission.

A member of the Officers' Reserve Corps who was commissioned below the grade of major prior to September 26, 1941, but after a break in service was given a new appointment in a grade above the grade of captain on or subsequent to that date, is not entitled to the active-duty uniform and equipment allowance authorized by section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, for Reserve officers commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, and for persons originally commissioned in the Army of the United States below the grade of major on or subsequent to that date.

Assistant Comptroller General Elliott to the Secretary of War, May 21, 1942: There has been considered your letter of April 25, 1942, requesting decision on questions arising under various conditions as to the right of officers of the Army of the United States to the uniform and equipment allowance authorized by the act of March 9, 1942, Public Law 492, 56 Stat. 148.

The act of March 9, 1942, Public Law 492, provides:

That the act of May 14, 1940 (Public, Numbered 511, Seventy-sixth Congress), be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: "That officers of the Officers' Reserve Corps of the Army shall be entitled to an allowance for uniforms and equipment of $50 per annum upon completion, in separate fiscal years, of each of their first three periods of active duty training of three months or less, following their original appointment."

Sec. 2. Any person originally commissioned below the grade of major, on or subsequent to September 26, 1941, an officer in the Army of the United States or in any component thereof, except the Army Nurse Corps, from any source except graduates of the United States Military Academy, shall be entitled to an allowance of $150 for uniforms and equipment, which shall be payable, in the case of an officer of the Regular Army, upon, acceptance of such commission, and in the case of other officers, when they shall have been ordered to, found qualified, and accepted for active duty in the military service of the United States for a period of more than three months within three years from the date of, and under their respective original commissions: Provided, That any officer of the Officers' Reserve Corps commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, who has received any allowance under the provisions of the act of May 14, 1940 (Public, Numbered 511, Seventy-sixth Congress), as originally approved, or who would have been entitled to receive such allowance if he had completed any duty prescribed in the said act and, in either case, who has not completed his first three periods of active duty training of three months or less in separate fiscal years following his original appointment, shall be entitled to receive the allowance provided in this section, if he has been or shall be ordered to, found qualified, and accepted for active duty for a period in excess of three months under his commission: Provided, however, That any sum which shall have been paid to any officer under the provisions of section 1 of this act or under the provisions of the act of June 3, 1941 (Public, Numbered 97, Seventy-seventh Congress), as an allowance for uniforms and equipment shall be deducted from the amount payable to him under this section: And provided further, That payment to any officer of the allowance provided in this section shall disqualify such officer thereafter from receiving the allowance provided in section 1 hereof or section 4 of the act of June 3, 1911 (Public, Numbered 97, Seventy-seventh Congress).

In your letter of April 25, 1942, it is stated:

House Report No. 1706 on Bill No. S. 1891 shows that the date of September 26, 1941, used in section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, supra, was the date of graduation from the first officers' candidate school. It is the view of this department that there is no doubt as to the right of officers of the group commissioned on or subsequent to that date to receive an allowance for uniforms and equipment, if otherwise within the provisions of the act. However, as to officers commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, the following questions are presented:

(The questions are quoted below and will be answered in the order stated.)

1. What is the effective date of the deletion of the requirement for the wearing of the uniform, i. e., may an officer of the Officers' Reserve Corps who received active duty training prior to September 26, 1941, receive the allowance, if otherwise entitled thereto, without a showing that he was required to wear the uniform during a substantial portion of any period of such training for which he claims payment of the allowance?

It is assumed this question refers to the payment of $50 annual increments under section 1 to Reserve officers for active duty training of 3 months or less and not to any rights they may have under the first proviso of section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, and the answer is made on that assumption.

The language contained in the act of May 14, 1940, Public No. 511, 54 Stat. 212, 10 U. S. C. 361b, was identical to that contained in section 1 of the act of March 9, 1942, supra, except for deletion at the end thereof of the phrase "during which periods the uniform is required to be worn." By the omission of this language in section 1 of the act of March 9, 1942, the condition for the wearing of the uniform is not one of the requisites to payment under that section where the other conditions are met. Section 1 of the act of March 9, 1942, has no retroactive operation; one of the conditions for payment of a $50 increment for uniforms and equipment under the act of May 14, 1940, was the wearing of the uniform during periods the uniform is required to be worn. 20 Comp. Gen. 37. The requisites for payment of the $50 increment under the act of May 14, 1940, having remained in effect until March 9, 1942, the modified conditions dispensing with the requirement for the wearing of the uniform are not applicable to active duty training of three months or less completed prior to March 9, 1942, that is, the effective date of the deletion of the requirement for the wearing of the uniform as to payments for prior periods is March 9, 1942, and your illustrative question is answered in the negative. This answers so much of question 17 as refers to this question.

For any payments for periods of active-duty training subsequent to March 9, 1942, however, in counting the prior periods to determine whether the officer has completed in separate fiscal years of each of their first three periods of active duty training of 3 months or less following their original appointment, all periods of active duty training within the act are to be counted whether the uniform was or was not required to be worn. See 20 Comp. Gen. 37, 38, particularly paragraphs 1 and 3. No change was made by the amendment except the elimination of the requirement as to wearing the uniform.

2. May an officer of the Officers' Reserve Corps, commissioned above the grade of captain prior to September 26, 1941, and who has not completed his first three periods of active duty training of three months or less in separate fiscal years following his original appointment, be entitled to receive the allowance provided in section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942, if he has been or shall be ordered to, found qualified, and accepted for active duty for a period in excess of three months following his original appointment?

As originally introduced, S. 1891, Seventy-seventh Congress, provided for the gratuitous issue of uniforms and equipment having a money value of not to exceed $447, such uniforms and equipment to remain the property of the United States. In a report of the War Department, enactment of the bill as originally introduced was opposed for reasons more fully stated in a letter of the Secretary of War dated November 14, 1941, to the Chairman, Committee on Military Affairs, United States Senate, but the opinion was expressed that an allowance of $150 would be a sufficient financial assistance for newly commissioned officers who accept extended active duty, provided this amount is payable in one sum at the time needed, and it was accordingly recommended that S. 1891 be amended to accomplish that purpose. By an amendment of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, the language of the original bill was deleted entirely, substituting therefor other language and as so amended, was reported out and passed by the Senate. The House Committee on Military Affairs reported the amended bill as passed by the Senate with two amendments, the first amendment providing for the addition of the words "below the grade of major," page 2, line 3, of bill (first line of section 2 of the act), and the second amendment providing for the addition of the words "who have been or shall be" in lieu of the words "upon being," page 3, line 1, of the bill. It appears, however, that when the bill as amended by the House Committee on Military Affairs was reported out, a member of that committee offered an amendment at its direction to strike out all after the colon, page 2, line 15, of the bill down through the word "act" in line 5, page 3, and to insert in lieu thereof the following:

Provided, That any officer of the Officers' Reserve Corps commissioned prior to September 26, 1941, shall be entitled to receive the allowance provided in this section, if he has been or shall be ordered to, found qualified, and accepted for active duty for a period in excess of three months under his commission: Provided further, That any sum which shall have been paid to any officer under the provisions of such act of May 14, 1940, prior to its amendment by section 1 of this act.

As thus amended, S. 1891 was passed by the House. See Congressional Record for February 10, 1942, pages 1221-1222. In conference the Senate receded from its disagreement to the first House amendment with an amendment to insert in lieu thereof the words "below the grade of major on or"; and as to House amendment No. 2, which presumably included the amendment on the floor of the House just quoted, the Senate agreed thereto with an amendment which finally became the first proviso and the first two lines of the second proviso in section 2 of the act of March 9, 1942.

In explanation of the action agreed upon in conference, it was stated in the report of the House conferees, House Report No. 1801, 77th Congress, 2d Session: