Service member

“ I have a right, I think, to insist that those who volunteer or are invited to give advice as to appointments shall exercise consideration and fidelity. A high sense of duty and an ambition to improve the service should characterize all public officers. ”

“ Servant, a person, male or female, that attends another for the purpose of performing menial offices for him, or who is employed by another for such offices, or for other labor, and is subject to his command. ”

“ A truly right-minded officer, therefore, at the head of any department, whether it be that of a ship, a fleet, an army, or a cabinet, will seldom, if ever, take into his calculations the effect which any measure is to produce on himself or his own interests—but will steadily seek to discover what is best for the public service. ”

“ This meeting, gentlemen, is an attempt to further co-ordinate the efforts of all the agencies that are at work for the ex-service man. Ours is a tremendous responsibility, both from the standpoint of our duty to the ex-service man and of our duty to the taxpayer as well. ”

“ A member of the Task Force may designate a senior level official who is a full-time officer or employee of the member's department, agency, or office to perform the member's functions on the Task Force. ”

“ As an officer in the service of my country for more than fifty years, I believe that I am more intimately informed as to the needs of our Army than the great majority of our people, and that it is not only my right, but my duty, to urge the consideration of those needs upon your Excellency and the authorities at Washington. ”

“ The young son of an officer, of a warrant-officer, of a seaman, or of a marine, enters the Service already more than half trained. He has the spirit of the Service in his blood, and its collective honour is already his own private honour. ”

“ For example, at the time when I am writing these pages, a young gentleman, who is an intimate friend of mine, and who has received a scientific education, is diligently preparing himself to pass an examination for a commission in the artillery next month. Being obliged to serve in the army in any case, and having a right degree of amour-propre, he wishes to be an officer, and in a scientific branch of the service. ”

“ The report of the Secretary of War herewith attached, and forming a part of this message, gives all the information concerning the operations, wants, and necessities of the Army, and contains many suggestions and recommendations which I commend to your special attention.
There is no class of Government employees who are harder worked than the Army--officers and men; none who perform their tasks more cheerfully and efficiently and under circumstances of greater privations and hardships.
Legislation is desirable to render more efficient this branch of the public service. ”

“ As special directions, adapted to special circumstances, cannot be given, much must be referred to your own discretion as Commanding General of the Expedition. You will, however, in general avail yourself of the services of any Persons, whether Fugitives from Labor or not, who may offer them to the National Government; you will employ such Persons in such services as they may be fitted for, either as ordinary employees, or, if special circumstances seem to require it, in any other capacity with such organization, in squads, companies, or otherwise, as you deem most beneficial to the service. ”

“ It must be borne in mind, however, that official duties were simple as compared with the functions of the modern public officer, and that, in the absence of foreign travel, standards of comparison were lacking. ”

“ A sergeant and a file of men might perform your duty, but I require, in addition, the discretion, courtesy, and consideration of a gentleman who will command an equal respect from those with whom his duty brings him in contact. ”

“ We deem it expedient to afford a greater encouragement to the Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers of Our Army who may have distinguished themselves, or who may have given good, faithful, and efficient service. ”

“ Besides undoubted fitness for these exalted responsibilities, as head of a department and as counsellor, a member should have such acknowledged position in the country that his presence inspires confidence and gives strength to the Administration. ”

“ Listen to what the Chief of Staff of the Army has to say about this in the preface to the Field Service Regulations: "Officers and men of all ranks and grades are given a certain independence in the execution of the tasks to which they are assigned and are expected to show initiative in meeting the different situations as they arise. ”

“ If, upon marches, guards, or in quarters, different corps of the Army happen to join or do duty together, the officer highest in rank of the line of the Army, Marine Corps, or militia, by commission, there on duty or in quarters, shall command the whole, and give orders for what is needful to the service, unless otherwise specially directed by the President, according to the nature of the case. ”

“ These commissioned personnel specifications are for use in recruiting officer material, in selecting men for training as officers, and making assignments. Statistical studies have been made of the relative significance of age, education, civilian earnings, intelligence and other qualifications of officers in the different branches of the service. ”

“ Much of the administrative duty in our army is done by unenlisted men, or by soldiers detached from their companies. Where such is the case, the ratio of this branch of the service ought to be no higher than is represented above. ”

“ Numbers of zealous, meritorious, and valuable officers have made the duties of the general staff objects of special study; have embraced the staff as a branch of the profession in which under existing laws they are entitled to promotion for merit and long service, just as the line officers have a right to promotion in their branch. ”

“ The officers and the officials who are recognized as giving their services as a family tradition, as a patriotic service, or out of sheer love of the profession of arms, are rather liked than disliked, and give a tone and set a standard for all the rest. ”

“ I am satisfied that both in and out of the classified service great benefit would accrue from the adoption of some system by which the officer would receive the distinction and benefit that in all private employments comes from exceptional faithfulness and efficiency in the performance of duty. ”

“ The regular officer of some years' standing already knew, as a matter of course, what a new volunteer officer must spend some time in learning. There is something of value also in the habit of mind formed in actual service, even if the service is in subaltern grades and on a petty scale. ”

“ The work would be so national, and the request made to you proceeding from the Government, your position would ensure the respect and consideration of every one, especially in a service where official rank carries so much weight. ”

“ If I was allowed to give one special piece of advice to a young officer, whether of the army or navy, I would say—Respect scientific men; associate with them; learn from them; find them to be, as you will usually, the most pleasant and instructive of companions: but always respect them. Allow them chivalrously, you who have an acknowledged rank, their yet unacknowledged rank; and treat them as all the world will treat them, in a higher and truer state of civilisation. ”

“ The reports of the various officers at the head of the administrative branches of the military service, connected with the quartering, clothing, subsistence, health, and pay of the Army, exhibit the assiduous vigilance of those officers in the performance of their respective duties, and the faithful accountability which has pervaded every part of the system. ”

“ That in appointments to office in the several Executive Departments of the General Government and the various branches of the public service connected with said Departments preference shall be given to such meritorious and honorably discharged soldiers and sailors—particularly those who have been disabled by wounds received or diseases contracted in the line of duty—as may possess the proper qualifications. ”

“ We may prove from etymology that every person who confers a favor on another is his servant. We may present a lawyer’s brief showing to the satisfaction of every local and national court that every employee in the eye of the law is a servant. We may argue from the biblical standpoint and show without a flaw in our chain of reasoning that we are all servants of one another. We may point to the classification of occupations made by the national census bureau and show that clergymen, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and domestic servants are placed together. ”

“ In the Dominion, officers are continued for life or good behavior, with the obvious benefit, in matters requiring special skill and experience, produced by a civil service well established, on a correct system of selection, which with us has only recently been attempted. ”

“ The cheerfulness and regularity with which the officers and soldiers of the temporary army have returned to the condition of private citizens, is a testimony clear and conclusive of the purity of those motives which induced them to engage in the public service; and will remain a proof, on all future occasions, that an army of soldiers drawn from the citizens of our country, deserve our confidence and respect. ”

“ I have served my country ever since I was sixteen, and my brother officers have found no cause of complaint—any position as an officer and a gentleman would be generally deemed a sufficient guarantee. ”

“ Indeed, in many of them there could scarcely be found at the commencement of the service a man who could either read or write. Many an officer can recall his rather novel experience in teaching his first sergeant enough of figures and script letters to enable the latter to make up and sign the company morning report. All honor to those faithful, patient officers, and all honor, too, give to those ambitious sergeants who after a while conquered great difficulties and became educationally proficient in their lines of duty. ”

“ Service in the staff office of a division or army corps alternates with employment on the great general staff, so that the officer whose diligence and ability have opened for him the staff career, and whose performance secures his periodical return to it, passes through the various stages of regimental service, of service on the general staff of the great constituent units of the army, and of employment in the great central agency of direction. ”

“ It is a primary rule of the military service of the country that an officer must be a gentleman. That means that good breeding, consideration for the feelings of others, kindness, tact and all the other well known qualifications used in defining the word gentleman must govern the conduct of an officer. ”

“ The fifth section of the bill is intended to encourage honesty and efficiency in the service and to give the public servant an honorable record in the form of a testimonial. The Secretary will please read it. ”

“ Officers who displayed any remarkable ability were allowed to be taken away from their own corps for the more attractive and better-paid appointments appertaining to civil employ or the Irregular service. ”

“ First, ministers of religion could be drawn from the ranks of the Veterans—men over forty-five years old who had completed their term of State service. You must remember that these will not be worn out wrecks, as too many of the working classes are at that age now. ”

“ A Personnel Service whose duties it shall be to assemble and classify information concerning appropriate candidates for positions in the war-labor administration and make recommendations for appointment. ”

“ Every worthy officer desires to make his official action a gain and an honor to his country; but the people themselves, far more than their officers in public station, are interested in a pure, economical, and vigorous administration. ”

“ You officers are generally favourites among the ladies. My friends, madam, have been upon very disagreeable duty, I assure you. The fair should, in some measure, recompense the toils of the brave.
Miss Rich. Our officers do indeed deserve every favour. The gentlemen are in the marine service, I presume, sir? ”

“ And to this end, the officer aforesaid is hereby authorized and required to employ so many persons as he may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain them in his service, so long as circumstances may require. ”

“ Commander, and to the officers who, associated with you, have assisted in the formation of this noble corps, composed of men selected from among their fellows for fine qualities of manhood,—I owe to you, sir, and to those of your associates who united with me in the original organization of this body, the heartiest and most emphatic expression of my cordial thanks. I shall follow you, Mr. Commander, your officers, and your men, with a friendly and personal solicitude, to say nothing of official care, which can hardly be said of any other corps which has marched from Massachusetts. ”

“ Others are serving our country full time in the military or in programs such as AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Peace Corps. I urge citizens to keep a record of their service experiences in a journal that will enable them to share them with their children and grand children, inspiring new generations to engage in community service. ”

“ Officers and noncommissioned officers serve voluntarily, and morale is usually satisfactory within those groups. The service experience of the noncommissioned-officer applicants and the long training period required of officer candidates assure that both leadership groups understand and freely accept the conditions of service before they assume their duty responsibilities. ”