Military department

“ In the discharge of his ordinary duties, he has no distinct command; his duties consist in details of service, and not in active military command. The order of the 16th of March 1816, directing double rations to be allowed to officers commanding military departments, is construed to relate to the geographical sections of country, into which the two divisions of the army are divided, and which were denominated departments; and intended to designate the extent of actual command, given to the officer commanding each department ”

“ In the Department of War a man might form a plan of a campaign and write judicious letters on military operations; but still these were nothing but essays,—everything would depend on the execution. I thought that with the army I should have better control over operations and events, and might even aid, so far as I could give aid at all, the person in the Department of War. ”

“ The first corps, under General McDowell, was designated for this protective service, numbering 38,454 men. Two new military departments were at once erected--the Department of the Rappahannock, under General McDowell, and the Department of the Shenandoah, lying between the mountain department and the Blue Ridge, under General Banks. ”

“ In connection with this force the governor is authorized to appoint the following officers, who will be recognized and paid by the United States, to wit: One major-general, to command the whole of the State forces brought into service, who shall be the same person appointed by the President to command the United States Military Department of the West, and shall retain his commission as major-general of the State forces only during his command of the said department; one adjutant-general, one inspector-general, and one quartermaster-general, each with the rank and pay of a colonel of cavalry ”

“ CITIZEN-GENERAL,—The military talents of which you have given so many proofs, and the confidence of the Government, call you to the command of an army. During the winter you have REORGANISED the War Department, and you have provided, as far as circumstances would permit, for the wants of our armies. ”

“ They have another feature in army administration which we would do well to emulate. On the theory perhaps that a cat may look at a king, the lowest may address the highest. The official ear and mouthpiece of the War Department is the military secretary. ”

“ Proper honors will be paid to the memory of the late Chief Magistrate of the nation at headquarters of each military department and division and at each military station.
The General of the Army will give the necessary instructions for carrying this order into effect.
ROBT. T. LINCOLN, Secretary of War.
II. On the day after the receipt of this order at the headquarters of military commands in the field, and at each military station, and at the Military Academy at West Point, the troops and cadets will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. ”

“ There are enough regular army officers to command the troops now enlisted, but Congress has authorized, and the Department has followed the example of Congress and exercised the authority conferred by detailing these army officers to duty other than that of the command of troops. For instance, there are a large number of army officers assigned to duty with military colleges or in colleges in which military training is given. ”

“ It had become the practice of the War Department to present to the army every five years a comprehensive military problem involving an imaginary attack upon this country by a powerful foreign foe, and the proper line of defense. The competition was open to both officers and men. ”

“ That objection would apply to any of the other departments; and whenever this rule of dividing business shall be adopted, we shall get men of inferior talents to do it. When the Government was established, it was thought that a War Department would be equal to the military and naval concerns of this country. But it was said a navy was not then thought of; it was, however, doubtless thought of when the frigates were ordered to be built, and it was not then gone into. ”

“ The Minister for War, who must be a general officer, has charge of the military administration of an army lately fixed at 6,000 men, and the chief control of men and matters in the army, and is to exercise supervision over army divisions, and all buildings and forts under his Department. ”

“ He is saluted not only by all these civilian officials and employés, but by the officers and soldiers of the army. He ranks with the Generals commanding army-corps, and in time of peace even takes precedence of them. When a new General comes into a Department he calls on the Prefect, and by him is introduced to the civil authorities, and in the same way all the official calls on New Year’s Day are paid first to the Préfecture. Even in time of war, because the State is greater than its army, it is only in strictly military matters that the Generals in his Department are his superiors. ”

“ Whatever view may be taken, it cannot be considered as a distinct military organization, independent of the departments of the army and navy, and under the supervision and control of neither of them, having no superior outside of its own officers, except the president. Such a position is at war with the whole policy of the distribution of power among the executive departments, as we have already shown; and while it may be true that it is not so exclusively a part of the navy as ships and navy-yards are, yet its general supervision and control remain with the navy department. ”

“ To fill the task force, the War Department deferred reorganizing and filling the 97th Infantry Division, the last of the Organized Reserve divisions to enter active military service, and reduced three partially trained divisions to less than 50 percent of their authorized strengths. To avoid stripping divisions again and disturbing their training, the War Department designated the 76th and 78th Infantry Divisions as replacement units to receive, train, and hold men until needed. ”

“ The United States will, as soon as it can dispense with military occupation and control of any road of which the Quartermaster's Department is in charge, turn it over to the parties asking to receive it who may appear to have the best claim, and be able to operate it in such a manner as to secure the speedy movement of all military stores and troops, the quartermaster general, upon the advice of the commander of the department, to determine when this can be done, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. ”

“ The master general, who, in his military character, is commander in chief over the artillery and engineers, has, in his civil capacity, the entire control over the whole ordnance department: he can alone do any act, which can otherwise, if he does not interpose, be done by the board. He can order the issue of money, but that order must be executed in the usual mode, by three board officers.
The lieutenant general, who is second in command over the artillery and engineers, is, in his civil capacity, the first in rank among the members of the board ”

“ When any commissioned officer shall die or be killed in the service of the United States, the major of the regiment, or the officer doing the major’s duty in his absence, or in any post or garrison, the second officer in command, or the assistant military agent, shall immediately secure all his effects or equipage, then in camp or quarters, and shall make an inventory thereof, and forthwith transmit the same to the office of the department of war, to the end that his executors or administrators may receive the same. ”

“ The military departments shall, with the approval of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower) , issue appropriate instructions, manuals and regulations in connection with the leadership responsibility for equal opportunity, on and off base, and containing guidance for its discharge.
2. The military departments shall institute in each service a system for regularly reporting, monitoring and measuring progress in achieving equal opportunity on and off base. ”

“ From the day on which a town is invested, every thing is thrown into motion. The train of artillery is directed to be brought out with necessary stores and ammunition, and proper carriages, with their drivers, are impressed; every department, in a word, performs its allotted duty, and the board of ordnance, as well as the commissary general’s office become subservient to the orders that are issued by the general in chief. ”

“ The commander of the guard will place a civilian in confinement on an order from higher authority only, unless such civilian is arrested while in the act of committing some crime within the limits of the military jurisdiction, in which case the commanding officer will be immediately notified. ”

“ The military installation has members of the Armed Forces on active duty and members of reserve components of the Armed Forces that use the installation as a training and operational base, with members routinely deploying in support of the global war on terrorism. (2) The military population of an installation will significantly increase by 2013 due to actions related to either Grow the Force initiatives or recommendations of the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission. ”

“ Several agencies share responsibility for internal security, including the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Ministry of Interior, and the Revolutionary Guards, a military force that was established after the revolution. ”

“ The staff and other officers of each department are under the immediate orders of their respective commandants, who are enjoined to conduct their departments in strict conformity to the existing rules and discipline.
The establishment is founded upon principles of the strictest economy; and the expence of being at the institution, with all the advantages of theoretical instruction and practical improvement, does not exceed the necessary charges and disbursements to which every officer is subject when he lives with his regiment. ”

“ If the enemy combatant so elects, the Assisting Military Officer may also present information to the Review Board on behalf of the enemy combatant. If the enemy combatant has made such an election and the Assisting Military Officer believes that it would aid the Review Board’s deliberations, the Assisting Military Officer may also, outside the presence of the enemy combatant, comment upon classified information that has been submitted to the Board and that bears upon the enemy combatant’s presentation. ”

“ War Department, Feb. 10, 1813.
Sir: In reply to the letter you did me the honor to write to me, on the 5th instant, by direction of the Committee on Military Affairs, I respectfully submit the following opinions:
1st. That an increased number of general officers is essential to the public service. The number of regiments provided for by law, is, two of light dragoons, three of heavy artillery, one of light artillery, one of riflemen, and forty-five of infantry, making, together, fifty-two regiments.
The simplest organization is ever the best. ”

“ Military service work shall be handled by the people's armed forces departments in entities with such departments; where entities do not have people's armed forces departments, they shall designate a department to handle military service work. Regular colleges and universities shall have institutions responsible for military service work. ”

“ Every thing which relates to the different branches belonging to the senior department, is conveyed in French, in order that officers may be enabled to improve the knowlege they acquire at the establishment, by reading with facility, the military writers that are most in estimation. The majority of such authors being found among the French, that language is, of course, most cultivated; by which means the first object of acquirement will not only be obtained, but will ensure to the general staff of the army a disposable body of intelligent officers, that are conversant in a continental tongue. ”

“ Chiefs of War Department bureaus are intermediate commanders between higher authority and the officers and enlisted men of their respective corps or departments, who are serving under the exclusive control of themselves and their subordinates. ”

“ What does this imply in terms of practical application? Simply [Pg 163] that the custodianship of esprit must ever be in the hands of the officer corps. When the heart of the organization is sound, officership is able to see its own reflection in the eyes of the enlisted man. For this simple reason: insofar as his ability to mould the character of troops is concerned, the qualifying test of the leader is the judgment placed upon his military abilities by those who serve under him. If they do not deem him fit to command, he cannot train them to obey. ”

“ In the staff corps the word general is also used, as surgeon-, quartermaster-, adjutant-general, etc., to denote that the holder of the office has charge of his special department, and does not necessarily imply that he is a general officer. The chiefs of staff departments, however, in the U. S. service are usually of the rank of brigadier-general. In the German armies, and among the sovereigns of the North, there are certain generals of cavalry, and others of infantry, who take rank of all lieutenant-generals. ”