ARTICLE VII.

ENLISTED MEN

28. Examination of applicants for appointment as post noncommissioned staff officers.-1. Under the requirements of paragraph 96, Army Regulations, the following rules governing the examination of applicants for appointment as post noncommissioned staff officers under the provisions of paragraphs 93, 94, and 95, Army Regulations, are published for the information and guidance of all concerned:

SCOPE OF THE EXAMINATION.

2. Applicants will be examined in penmanship; orthography; arithmetic, including the four fundamental rules, common and decimal fractions, reduction and simple proportion; Army Regulations; manual of the staff department in which appointment is sought, including the preparation of property and money accounts; geography of the United States and its territorial possessions; elementary history of the United States; and probable efficiency and aptitude.

CONDUCT OF THE EXAMINATION.

3. On December 1 of each year the Chief of Ordnance and the Quartermaster General will each send sets of examination papers, prepared in his office, to The Adjutant General of the Army, requesting transmission, under seal, to the proper commanding officer of one set for each soldier who may have applied for examination during the preceding 12 months, with instructions to have the examination held on February 1, in the presence of an officer, and the papers forwarded through military channels to The Adjutant General of the Army, who will transmit them to the proper chief of bureau. Should more than one examination be found necessary in any year, it will be similarly conducted upon the request of the proper chief of bureau.

4. Prior to the examination the officer in charge will obtain from a medical officer a certificate showing whether the applicant is physically suited to perform all duties incident to the position sought. Certificates from responsible persons will also be obtained showing the applicant's character as to integrity, intelligence, and temperance. These certificates and a certificate expressing the opinion of the officer in charge of the examination as to the general qualifications of the applicant for the position sought will accompany the examination papers when completed.

5. Each applicant examined will be required to prepare a letter in his own handwriting, addressed to the chief of the proper bureau, stating date and place of his birth, his educational advantages, whether married or single; if married, number and ages of minor children, if any, and whether they are living with him at his station; giving an account of his enlistment and reenlistments, the length of time he has been a noncommissioned officer, and a full statement of the experience he has had in duties relating to the staff department in which he seeks appointment. If during his service he has been reduced in grade, he will state the cause therefor. If he has ever been tried by court-martial he will give the finding and sentence in each case.

6. Recourse to books, memoranda, or other sources of assistance will not be allowed to the applicant during his examination. He will enter all his work in ink upon the examination sheets, and will note at the head of the first sheet on each subject the time he began and finished work on the subject. Papers should be given out in such a manner that all questions relating to the examination in the hands of the applicant may be answered before a recess is had or at the completion of the day's work. A statement of the officer in charge that such was the procedure will accompany the papers.

7. Only one side of the several examination papers in the case of each candidate will be utilized for work, and those papers, with the certificates and letter hereinbefore mentioned, will be securely fastened together at the top, so as to permit of ready review. Each set of papers will be indorsed to show the name, age, and regiment of the candidate and the place

and date of the examination.

8. Upon receipt of all the examination papers the chief of the bureau concerned will have them considered, marked, and

classified, and will make recommendation to The Adjutant General of the Army as to the action that should be taken in each case.

EFFICIENCY RATING.

9. The rating of the candidate will be determined in the following manner:

(a) Marking of answers.-The officers who may be designated by the chief of the bureau concerned for the duty mentioned in the preceding paragraph will, independently of one another, examine the written answers and make a memorandum upon a separate sheet of paper of the value that they assign to each answer, estimated on a scale of 100. The sum of the several values thus given to a particular answer by the officers concerned divided by the number of officers will give the mark for that answer.

(b) Marks for subjects.-The sum of all the marks for a given subject divided by the number of questions in the subject will give the mark for that subject.

(c) Relative weights of subjects.-The following relative weights will be given to subjects: Arithmetic, 5; orthography, 4; penmanship, 4; Army Regulations, 3; Manual of Department, 4; geography of United States and its territorial possessions, 2; elementary history of the United States, 1; probable efficiency and aptitude, 5.

(d) General average showing efficiency.-The subject marks will be multiplied by their relative weights, the sum of these products will be divided by the sum of the relative weights of all the subjects, and the general average resulting will show the rating of the candidate.

10. A summary of the markings and a statement of the age and physical condition of the candidate, and a positive recommendation as to his general fitness for the appointment he seeks, will be embraced in the record of proceedings in each case according to the following form:

fitness for appointment: 11. An applicant to be successful must attain a "general average" of at least 75 per centum and an average in arithmetic of at least 65 per centum. An applicant failing in one examination is not barred from renewing his application.

12. Each year after the examinations have been completed a "register of eligibles "'will be prepared on which the names of all those who have passed a satisfactory examination for that year will be entered according to their ratings, following the names of those holding over as eligibles from preceding years.

13. The period of eligibility will be three years, but at the expiration of that period an applicant, if he so desires and if he is below the age limit, may be reexamined, and if successful may be retained upon the register without loss of standing.

14. From the register of eligibles appointments will be made to fill vacancies as they occur. The fact that an applicant has passed a satisfactory examination will not insure his appointment within a year from the date of his examination, or even later, unless a sufficient number of vacancies occur and he is still eligible.

15. All records pertaining to these examinations will be filed in the office of the chief of bureau concerned. (G. O. 43, 1909-1482930, A. G. O., as amended by Par. II, G. O. 232, 1909-1582211, A. G. O.)

29. Reports of discharge of post noncommissioned staff officers. When a sergeant of the post noncommissioned staff is discharged the officer under whose orders he is serving will as early as practicable notify the head of the staff department to which the sergeant belongs of the fact of nis discharge, setting forth the date, place, and cause, and whether or not the soldier reenlisted. (Par. I, G. O. 92, 1902.)

30. Quarters for noncommissioned staff officers.-In Circular No. 10, November 13, 1885, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant General's Office, the following decision was published:

It has always been the custom for the post commander to assign to each noncommissioned staff officer such quarters as he deemed for the best interests of the service, without regard to rank or right of selection. In fact, the right of selection of quarters by a noncommissioned officer, according to his rank, has never been recognized, and never should be.

This decision is reaffirmed so far as regards noncommissioned staff officers who are entitled to a room as quarters, except in cases where appropriations have been made by Congress for quarters for a specified class of noncommissioned staff officers. (Par. 3, Cir. 18, 1905–976024, M. S. O.)

31. Chief musicians, colored regiments.-Only colored men will be appointed as chief musicians of colored regiments. (Par. III, G. O. 52, 1909—1499345, A. G. O.)

32. Appointment of noncommissioned officers and transfer of enlisted men of school detachments.-The president of the Army War College and the commandants of the several other service schools at which school detachments are organized are authorized to appoint and reduce all noncommissioned officers, except master electricians, master signal electricians, engineers, electrician sergeants, quartermaster sergeants, Quartermaster Corps, sergeants first class, Hospital Corps, and master gunners, who will be appointed and reduced as is prescribed in Army Regulations for the corresponding grades in the Army at large, subject to such modifications to meet special cases as may in each such case be authorized by the Secretary of War, and to appoint and reduce all mechanics, artificers, farriers, horseshoers, and cooks authorized for their several detachments. Enlisted men of the Army at large may be transferred to a school detachment and enlisted men to a school detachment may be transferred to the Army