3 where in the United States, shall be allowed the following holidays, to wit: The first day of January, the twenty-second day of February, the fourth day of July, the twenty-fifth day of December, and such days as may be designated by the President as days for national thanksgiving, and shall receive the same pay as on other days.' "This Joint Resolution was subsequently extended by later acts to include other holidays than those mentioned. "The particular question for determination appears to be whether enlisted men of the Army in the performance of extra duty are per diem employees within the meaning of Joint Resolution of January 6, 1885. 66 Paragraph 172 of the Army Regulations for 1908 reads as follows: "Soldiers on extra duty will be paid the extra rates of pay allowed by law for the duty performed, and for the exact number of days employed; and no greater number of men will be employed on extra duty at any time than can be paid the full legal rates for the time employed from the funds provided. Payments made in violation of the above rules will be charged against the officers who ordered the details.' "This regulation in practically the same form has been in force since 1884, and appears to have been based upon a rule of the War Department published in Circular No. 10, Adjutant General's Office, dated November 10, 1884, which reads as follows: 666 "Extra duty pay to enlisted men is given for services actually rendered of not less than ten days; the ten days has no reference to Sunday, but solely to days of labor. Such service should be certified to by an officer, who can only give a certificate for days of actual labor. Teamsters, watchmen, and others actually employed on Sundays, and when the labor is continuous, may be paid for Sundays.' "This ruling and the present Army Regulations apparently contemplate payment of extra duty only for services actually performed. I am not aware of any decision by the Accounting officers, or by the Courts, on the question of whether an enlisted man of the Army on extra duty is a per diem employee. The principal part of a soldier's compensation is his monthly pay. The extra compensation allowed for the performance of extra duty is based on services actually performed, on the basis of eight hours per day, and if such a soldier was actually employed on extra duty for more than eight hours a day he would be entitled to compensation on the basis of eight hours per day for the time actually employed. I am therefore of the opinion and so decide that enlisted men of the Army are not entitled to extra duty pay on a holiday unless such enlisted men were actually in the performance of extra duty on such holiday." I do not think enlisted men in the Army detailed to perform extra duty are per diem employees within the meaning of 4 Joint Resolution of January 6, 1885, supra, and therefore they are not entitled to extra duty pay for the days they are not actually employed on such extra duty, and the decision by the Auditor that they are not entitled to extra duty pay except for days when they are actually employed is approved. (See decision of this office to W. B. Lemly, Major and Assistant Quartermaster, U. S. M. C., of August 30, 1910; 4 Comp. Dec., 499; 8 id., 219). [1750658, A. G. O] L. P. MITCHELL, Asst. Comptroller. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: LEONARD WOOD, Major General, Chief of Staff. OFFICIAL: HENRY P. McCAIN, Adjutant General. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 32. WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, March 10, 1911. The accompanying tables, exhibiting the results of knowndistance rifle firing and revolver firing of the troops of the Regular Army, excluding those that had practice in the Philippines, for the target year 1910, and the standing of the different organizations in the proficiency test prescribed in Chapter II, Part VIII, Provisional Small-Arms Firing Manual, 1909, are published for the information of all concerned. [1718186, A. G. O.] BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF War: OFFICIAL: LEONARD WOOD, Major General, Chief of Staff. HENRY P. MCCAIN, 2 TABLE I-Consolidated annual return of known-distance rifle firing and revolver firing of the troops of the Regular Army, excluding those that had practice in the Philippines, for the year 1910. a Includes Company A, Signal Corps, which fired at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. b Includes cadets, first class, United States Military Academy. 3 TABLE II.-Classification of the regiments of the Regular Army, excluding those that had practice in the Philippines, for the year 1910. a Company G had no target practice: Companies E and H stationed in the Philippines. Troops E, F, G, and H excused from target practice. c Includes N. C. S. and Batteries C, D, E, and F only. d Includes Batteries A and B only. 4 |