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GENERAL ORDERS,

No. 41.

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, June 24, 1897.

The following rules prescribed by the President, in accordance with section 3 of the act of Congress approved October 1, 1890, providing for a system of examination to determine the fitness for promotion of all officers of the Army below the grade of major, are published for the information and guidance of all concerned:

The examination of all officers of the Army below the rank of major shall be conducted by boards selected in accordance with laws approved October 1, 1890, and July 27, 1892, published in G. O., No. 116, 1890, and G. O., No. 57, 1892, respectively, and composed as follows:

Officers of the Line.-The board will consist of five members and a recorder. Two of the members will be medical officers and three will be line officers senior in rank to, and, as far as practicable, from the same arm of service as the officer to be examined.

Officers of the Corps of Engineers, the Signal Corps, the Ordnance, Quartermaster's and Subsistence Departments.— The board will consist of five members, two of whom will be medical officers, and three of the same corps or department, when practicable, as the officer to be examined, and senior to him in rank, the junior of whom will act as recorder.

Medical officers.-The board will consist of three medical officers, senior in rank to the officer to be examined, the junior of whom will act as recorder; provided, that whenever a medical officer is found to be physically disqualified the board will report to the Adjutant General and adjourn, pending appointment of two additional members, who may be from any line or staff officers available, senior in rank to the officer to be examined. The board will then proceed under the rules governing retiring boards.

The organization of boards will conform to that of retiring boards, the recorder swearing the several members, including the medical officers, faithfully and impartially to examine and report upon the officer about to be examined, and the president of the board then swearing the recorder to the faithful performance of his duty. Proceedings will be made separately in each case.

Previously to the swearing of the board, members thereof may be challenged, for cause stated to the board, the relevancy and validity of which shall be determined by the full board, according to the procedure of courts-martial in like cases. The record will show that the right to challenge was accorded. If the number of members is reduced by challenge or otherwise, the board will adjourn, and report the facts to the Adjutant General, through the president of the board, for the action of the War Department. Medical officers will not take part in the professional examination except in the cases of assistant surgeons. They will make the necessary physical examination of all officers and report their opinion in writing to the board. All questions relating to the physical condition of an officer shall be determined by the full board.

If anything should arise during the examination requiring the introduction of evidence, the inquiry shall proceed upon written interrogatories as far as possible, the board determin ing to whom questions shall be forwarded. When, in the opinion of the board, it becomes essential to take oral testimony, the facts should be reported to the War Department for the necessary orders in regard to witnesses to be summoned from a distance. Witnesses examined orally will be sworn by the recorder.

All public proceedings will be in the presence of the officer under examination; the conclusions reached and the recom mendations entered in each case will be regarded as confidential.

Before proceeding with the physical examination, the officer about to be examined will be required to submit, for the information of the board, a certificate as to his physical condition. In event of no cause for disqualification existing, the certificate will take the following form:

"I certify, to the best of my knowledge and belief, I am not affected with any form of disease or disability which will interfere with the performance of the duties of the grade for promotion to which I am undergoing examination.”

The physical examination will be thorough, and will include the ordinary analysis of the urine.

Defects of vision, resulting from errors of refraction, that are not excessive, and that may be entirely corrected by glasses, do not disqualify, unless they are due to or are accompanied by organic disease.

When the board finds an officer physically incapacitated for service, it shall conclude the examination by finding and reporting the cause which, in its judgment, has produced his disability, and whether such disability was contracted in the line of duty.

Whenever the board finds an officer disqualified for promotion from any cause, the record will contain a full statement of the case.

When the board finds an officer qualified for promotion it will be stated in the following form:

The board is of the opinion that

has the

physical, moral, and professional qualifications to perform efficiently all the duties of the grade to which he will next be eligible, and recommends his promotion thereto."

The record in each case where an officer is found physically disqualified shall be authenticated by all the members, including medical officers, and the recorder. In all other cases the medical officers will not be required to sign the proceedings. If any member dissents from the opinion of the board, it will be so stated.

Any officer reported by a retiring board as incapacitated by reason of physical disability, the result of an incident of service, shall, if the proceedings of said board are approved by the President, be regarded as physically unfit for promotion within the meaning of section 3 of the act of October 1, 1890, and will be retired with the rank to which his seniority entitles him whenever a vacancy occurs that otherwise would result in his promotion on the active list; provided, that before the occurrence of such vacancy he shall not have been placed on the retired list.

During oral and practical examinations all the members, excepting the medical officers, will be present.

Written examinations may be conducted in the presence of one member of the board, or the recorder, for which purpose the board may be divided into committees, before whom the examination shall be conducted from day to day until completed; after which the board will reassemble to consider its finding.

Papers should be given out so that everything in the hands of the officer being examined may be answered before a recess or adjournment. A statement showing that such was the procedure during the written examinations will be embodied in the record. The number and value will be entered on the margin of questions used for the written examination. Origi nal questions prepared by the board will, for convenience of the reviewing authority, indicate where answers may be found.

To secure some degree of uniformity of examination of line officers, boards will be furnished by the Adjutant General with lists of questions, with values attached. Boards will not, however, be confined to the questions contained in these lists, and are authorized to ask any questions, selected from the publications recommended herein for study, deemed necessary during the progress of the oral, written, or practical examinations. Where blackboard or other illustrations will facilitate the oral and practical examinations, their use is authorized. Examinations will be conducted in a sufficiently exhaustive manner to determine not only that the subject is thoroughly comprehended, but the degree of proficiency of the officer being examined, and until the board is positively satisfied as to his ability to impart instruction in the various subjects. In case of unpropitious weather, practical exercises may be postponed from day to day, but never omitted or materially curtailed.

Whenever the oral examination of any line officer is unsatisfactory in any subject the board will at once proceed with a written examination in that subject, and in case the officer is not found proficient, the questions and answers will be attached to the proceedings.

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