Non-commissioned officer

“ A few years in the army does no man any harm, if he is steady and well-con [Pg 69] ducted; and if well educated, as you are, he is certain to get his stripes in a couple of years. The life of a non-commissioned officer is by no means an unpleasant one; and there is always a chance of getting a commission, though this is not a very bright one, as so many young fellows who, having failed to pass, enter the ranks with the hope of getting one some day. ”

“ If in any case the Commissioner considers that the public interest requires that any inspector, non-commissioned officer or constable should cease to exercise the powers and functions of his office instantly, he may interdict such officer from the exercise of such powers and functions provided that disciplinary or criminal proceedings are being instituted or are about to be instituted against such officer. ”

“ Like the officers, non-commissioned officers have broken, in their minds, all the ties which bound them to civil life; like the former, they devote themselves permanently to the service, and perhaps make it even more exclusively the object of all their desires: but non-commissioned officers are men who have not yet reached a firm and lofty post at which they may pause and breathe more freely, ere they can attain further promotion. ”

“ Some idea of the unpleasant condition of affairs is shown by another extract from the same letter.
'Officers have been put under arrest by their commandant, and courts-martial have been demanded, and which have likewise been requested by the officers in defence of their conduct, but no inquiry into the conduct of any individual above the rank of a non-commissioned officer can take place, and the consequences will be obvious to your Lordship where so little harmony prevails between the commandant and his officers. ”

“ The object of the argument is to make independent § 1229 of § 1342, and to give a cadet the protection expressed by the former, on the ground that a cadet is an officer, but not a commissioned officer. That a cadet is an officer is deduced from the fact that he is appointed by the President, takes an oath to obey his 'superior officers,' and receives pay. But, as we have already intimated, it is not necessary to dispute that a cadet is an officer. ”

“ Make it plain that the men detailed from day to day are merely acting non-commissioned officers and that you are merely placing them in charge to give them an opportunity to demonstrate their ability. ”

“ To avoid the clerical work involved by the carrying out of the re-attesting of the whole of the citizen forces, partially paid and Volunteer, under the new Act it was provided that every officer, non-commissioned officer and man who did not, in writing, notify his intention to sever his connexion with the forces owing to the new conditions, would continue in the service, and the date for the beginning of his period of service under the new Act, namely, three years, would be entered in his existing attestation papers by the respective commanding officers. ”

“ In addition, when members of more than one armed force are prisoners of war or otherwise detained by a hostile entity so that circumstances prevent resort to the normal chain of command, a commissioned officer of one armed force who is not a medical officer or chaplain is 'his superior commissioned officer' with respect to a member of another armed force who is his junior in rank. ”

“ The commanding officers of regiments must enforce the orders of the army, regarding the constant inspection and superintendance of the officers over the conduct of the men of their companies in their cantonments, and they must endeavour to inspire the non-commissioned officers with a sense of their situation and authority, and the non-commissioned officers must be forced to do their duty, by being constantly under the view and superintendance of the officers. ”

“ The third way a commission is sometimes obtained is by direct appointment to a Second Lieutenancy by the President, who has the power, and exercises it when vacancies occur over and above those filled by cadet graduates of West Point, and by candidate non-commissioned officers from the ranks. In the case of the President having appointed a civilian to fill a vacancy, the appointee is called upon to pass an examination, mentally and physically. ”

“ And any major-general or brigadier-general, for misconduct within their own knowledge, or upon complaint lodged in writing, by any commissioned officer, shall have power to arrest any lieutenant-colonel commandant, aid-de-camp, brigade inspector, and major, or any other inferior officer ”

“ I will earn their respect, obey their orders, and establish a high degree of integrity with them. I will exercise initiative in the absence of orders and will make decisive and accurate decisions.
I will not compromise my integrity nor my moral courage. I will not forget that I am a professional, I am a leader — I am a Noncommissioned Officer. ”

“ The company officers must sustain the noncommissioned officers in the exercise of their authority, except, of course, when such authority is improperly or unjustly exercised. If they do wrong, they should be punished the same as the privates, but if it be simply an error of judgment they should merely be admonished. A noncommissioned officer should never be admonished in the presence of privates. ”

“ In principle it is desirable that the duties of absent Officers should be performed by the Officer next in the order of appointment in their own respective departments, but as it may not be found practicable in all cases to act upon that rule, it is still to rest with the Governor, or Lieutenant Governor for the time being, to select the Officers, of Government to whom they shall think proper to entrust the duties of the absent officers. ”

“ Orders and regulations require that men respect and obey their noncommissioned officers, and discipline makes it imperative that they do so.
It is not for a private to question in any way the fairness, justice, propriety or wisdom of an order received from a noncommissioned officer. When ordered by a noncommissioned officer to do a thing, whatever it may be, do it promptly and thoroughly, and then if you feel that you have been injured in any way, report the matter to your company commander, who will see that you receive justice. ”

“ But this was to be accomplished consistently with the declaration of the act 'that no officer now in the service shall be reduced in rank or deprived of his commission by reason of any provision of this act reducing the number of officers in the several staff corps.' And to this end the whole scheme of reform embodied in the legislation was made prospective. ”

“ But we, you and I, and many of those here present, who have the experience of public life, know but too well that, even if the head of a public department does possess that knowledge, he will, so long as he is exposed to political pressure, not be left free to act upon it. We know but too well that this independent and enlightened discretion of the appointing officer to be freely exercised for the good of the service is a myth. ”

“ My impression therefore is, that in a mixed company of civilians, &c., no officer is entitled to take rank higher than the civil title incorporated in his commission would imply, apart from his grade in the service to which he belongs. ”

“ Of course the commissioning of officers in the Army lies entirely within the President's discretion and is not subject to judicial control. Although there can be no doubt about that, it does not follow that Congress is precluded from drafting a special group into the Army on condition that they will be commissioned. Receiving a commission is clearly not a matter of right; but granting it may be a condition for retaining a person in the Army. The commissioning of officers in the Army is, no doubt, a matter of discretion within the province of the President as Commander in Chief. ”

“ So, in the case of appointing officers, if it can be truly said that these heads of departments are the servants of the President alone, we shall make the executive department a dangerous one.
I do not admit that any man has an estate in his office. I conceive all officers to be appointed during pleasure, except where the Constitution stipulates for a different tenure—unless, indeed, the law should create the office, or officer, for a term of years. After observing this, I must contend that the power of removal is incidental to the power of appointment. ”

“ Obviously, the decision of the surveyor general, approving the act of his deputy, was not a finality, since the papers were forwarded by him to the commissioner of the land office, and by him to the secretary of the interior for final approval. So long as there was a superior officer, whose approval was contemplated by law or the regulations of the department, no approval by a subordinate officer would operate as a finality. ”

“ The opinion having prevailed that an officer may throw up his commission and abandon the service at his discretion, the general considers it his duty to correct a delusion so pregnant with mischief to the public interest, and so subversive of every principle of subordination and discipline; it is therefore to be clearly understood that no officer, bearing a commission in the United States, has the power to resign the same, or quit the service without the president’s permission, or that of some subordinate duly authorized, and all offences against this order are to be punished with rigor. ”

“ There is, of course, no doubt of the power of Congress to create such an office as is provided for in the above section. Under the provision that the officer might be removed from office at any time for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office, we are of opinion that if the removal is sought to be made for those causes, or either of them, the officer is entitled to notice and a hearing. ”

“ Whenever the Commission finds, after due notice and opportunity for explanation, that any person has been appointed to or is holding any position, whether by original appointment, promotion, assignment, transfer, or reinstatement, in violation of the Civil Service Act or Rules, or of any Executive Order or any regulation of the Commission, or that any employee subject thereto has violated such Act, Rules, orders, or regulations, it shall certify the facts to the proper appointing officer with specific instructions as to discipline or dismissal of the person or employee affected. ”

“ DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE AND POLITICAL APPOINTMENT.—Individuals who, for a covered period of time as established by the State, hold or have held public office, individuals who are or have been candidates for elected public office, and individuals who serve or have served as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a campaign committee of a candidate for public office are disqualified from serving on the commission. ”

“ When a person is found thus openly in the occupation of a public office, and discharging its duties, third persons having occasion to deal with him in his capacity as such officer are not required to investigate his titled, but may safely act upon the assumption that he is a rightful officer. ”

“ It will depend on circumstances how I shall act in re my commission in Her Majesty’s service (which I do not hold too fast to, seeing any future employment would not be accepted, even if in the very improbable case of its being offered) ; but I consider that every officer has a right to resign, and if he resigns he is no longer subject to military orders, and is free to go when and where he likes. ”

“ The incumbent became an officer with a view to public benefits, and when these require his removal they are not to be sacrificed to private interests. It is the people, and they alone, who have a right to complain when a bad officer is substituted for a good one. He who is removed has the same means of obtaining a living that are enjoyed by the millions who never held office. ”

“ The action of the officer is based on the authority of an act of the general assembly of the state, which, although it may be null and void, because unconstitutional, as against the applicant, gives the color of official character to the conduct of the officer in his refusal ”

“ We agree with the latter interpretation that the availability of an officer as law member was intended by Congress to be a matter within the sound discretion of the appointing authority. Ordinarily the 'availability' of military personnel who are subject to assignment by an appointing authority is understood to depend upon a discretionary determination by the superior. ”

“ The principal or principals in command alone are culpable, and the other officers, while they stand unimpeached, have their full merit. There were, it is true, divers persons, from misrepresentation, put into commission at the beginning, without fit qualification, and perhaps the number may have been increased by later appointments; but it follows not that the gentleman or man of merit should be neglected or overlooked on their account. None other than a gentleman, as well as a seaman both in theory and practice, is qualified to support the character of a commission officer in the navy ”

“ It is admitted that officers may be taken from the old corps and reduced and arranged in the new in inferior grades, as was done under the former reduction. This admission puts an end to the objection in this case; for if an officer may be reduced and arranged from one corps to another by an entire change of grade, requiring a new commission and a new nomination to the Senate, I see no reason why an officer may not be advanced in like manner. ”