Officers of the Field Artillery who have been transferred within a year from organizations equipped with matériel different from that of the organization with which they are serving at the date of examination may, at their own request, take the examination prescribed for officers of the organization with which they served prior to the date of transfer.

(c) Officers of the Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry (except the field officers) will be examined at San Juan, P. R.

6. When, on account of active operations in the field, the occupation of foreign territory, or other cause, officers are prevented from appearing before examining boards convened as hereinbefore provided, they will be examined as the War Department may direct, or they may be promoted subject to examination as provided in section 32 of the act of Congress approved February 2, 1901, hereinbefore quoted (f).

7. So far as practicable, examining boards will be permanent, members being replaced one at a time and at sufficient intervals apart to preserve a continuity of purpose and policy. They will be convened at the most suitable season for the work in hand so as to interfere as little as possible with the routine work of the Army. When a board is first convened for the year's work, it will, as a rule, dispose of all cases that are to come before it during the year, officers to be examined being called before the board by the president thereof so that the business of the board may proceed with thoroughness and dispatch.

Composition.

8. Except for the examination of officers of the Medical Corps, an examining board will consist of five officers, two from the Medical Corps, selected without regard to rank, and three, senior in rank to the officer being examined, and, when practicable, chosen from the corps, department, or arm (in the Field Artillery, the branch) to which he belongs. The junior of these three will be the recorder of the board. Except where the action of the entire board is required by this order, the medical officers will participate in the proceedings connected with the physical examination only. In the examination of chaplains, one member of the board will, when practicable, be a chaplain.

9. Boards for the examination of officers of the Medical Corps will consist of three officers of that corps senior in rank to the officer being examined. The junior will act as recorder. 67993°-18- -4

10. Officers detailed as members of examining boards will be selected with special reference to their fitness for such detail and, so far as practicable, will be continued on that duty for a period of not less than two years. When engaged in the work of examination, they will not, as a rule, be required to perform duties that will interfere with their proper functions as members of the board. Specially qualified officers may be directed by the War Department to report to commanders of departments, of tactical divisions, and of separate brigades for duty on examining boards.

11. As soon as practicable after January 1 of each year the War Department will furnish commanders of territorial departments, tactical divisions, and separate brigades the names of officers that will be examined by boards convened by them within their respective commands during the year. If any officer so named is not serving under the department, division, or separate brigade commander, as the case may be, he will be directed by the War Department to report by letter to the proper commander for examination.

Procedure.

12. An examining board (including medical members) having assembled and the officer to be examined having appeared before it, the recorder will read the orders convening the board and directing the officer to report for examination. Members may then be challenged for cause, the relevancy and validity of the challenge being determined by the full board. If the number of members be reduced by challenge or otherwise, the board will adjourn, and the president thereof will report the facts to the convening authority for action. In matters of challenge and where the introduction of testimony becomes necessary, officers being examined may employ counsel if they so desire.

12. The right of challenge having been accorded, and all the members being present, the recorder, in the presence of the officer to be examined, will administer the following oath to the members: "You (naming the members other than himself) do swear (or affirm) that you will faithfully and impartially discharge your duties as members of this board in the matter now before you. So help you God." The president will then administer the following oath to the recorder: "You (naming him) do swear (or affirm) that you will faithfully

and impartially discharge your duties as a member of this board in the matter now before you, and that you will, according to your best ability, accurately and impartially record the proceedings of this board and the evidence to be given in the case in hearing. So help you God."

In case of affirmation, the closing sentence of adjuration will be omitted.

14. Should anything arise during the examination requiring the introduction of evidence, the testimony of witnesses will be taken, orally, if the witnesses are immediately available and it can be done without expense to the Government, otherwise, as a rule, by interrogatories and depositions prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Manual for Courts-Martial. Should it become necessary, in the opinion of the board, to procure the oral testimony of a witness not immediately available, the facts will be reported to the convening authority for action. All witnesses examined orally will be sworn by the recorder, the oath being the same as that administered to witnesses in trials by courts-martial. During such proceedings the officer being examined will be permitted to cross-examine witnesses and to submit evidence in his own behalf. All hearings of this nature will be conducted in open board and in the presence of the officer being examined. The conclusions reached and the recommendations made in each case will be regarded as confidential.

15. The examination of an officer for promotion will be conducted in the following order:

(a) As to physical fitness and skill in horsemanship.
(b) As to general efficiency.

(c) As to professional fitness.

Examination as to physical fitness and skill in horsemanship.

16. After a careful consideration of the medical history referred to the board as prescribed in paragraph 20 of this order, the medical officers will make a thorough physical examination of the officer being examined. In doubtful cases they will be guided by the following decision of the Secretary of War:

"An incurable disease or injury, or a disease or injury not curable within a reasonable time, either of which is of such a character as to disqualify an officer for duty on the active list, constitutes incapacity for service under this act

(act of Oct. 1, 1890). If, however, a disease or injury be curable within a reasonable time, the officer should be regarded as physically qualified for promotion. The question as to the curability of a disease or injury is one for an examining board to determine upon the advice of its medical members. If a board be unable to determine such question, it should recommend that the officer be reexamined after such period as, in its opinion, may be necessary to permit a determination to be reached."

17. On the conclusion of the physical examination, the medical officers will report their findings in writing to the board, which will then assemble to consider and act thereon. All questions pertaining to the physical fitness of an officer for promotion then or thereafter arising will be determined by a majority vote of the board (including the medical members).

18. When the board finds an officer incapacitated for active service by reason of physical disability, the examination, except as noted in this paragraph, will cease and the board will report its findings (par. 30), stating in full the cause of disability and whether or not it was contracted in line of duty. Where a medical officer on his first examination for promotion to any grade is found physically unfit for promotion by reason of disability not contracted in line of duty, the examination will be completed.

19. If the board finds an officer physically qualified for active service, it will then test his skill in horsemanship. Such test, under the supervision of at least one member of the board,' will consist in his riding from 15 to 18 miles in three consecutive hours, and for officers of Cavalry and Field Artillery of such additional exercises as are especially applicable to those arms.

If during such test an officer displays excessive fatigue or appears unduly distressed, the examination will be suspended, and as soon thereafter as practicable he will be reexamined physically by the medical members. If he is then found physi

1 In special cases the War Department may direct this portion of the test to be supervised by an officer not a member of the board; when this is done the certificate of the officer detailed will be forwarded to the board and will be evidence of the proficiency of the officer being examined or of the necessity for the board to proceed with the additional test.

cally incapacitated, the board will proceed as provided in paragraph 18 of this order.

If the test should develop no physical disability, but indicate deficiency of skill in horsemanship, the officer will then be examined by the full board (less medical officers) in regard thereto. The examination in this case will consist of a series of exercises, marked by the board as explained in paragraph 24 of this order, and will form part of the examination as to his professional fitness.

Examination as to general efficiency.

20. Under this head the board will consider (1) the use an officer has made of his opportunities, (2) his ability to apply practically his professional knowledge, (3) his general trustworthiness and ability in performance of his official duties, and (4) his ability to command troops or control men. Το this end, when an officer is to be examined for promotion, The Adjutant General of the Army will forward to the board, if it is convened by the War Department, otherwise to the convening officer for transmission to the board, all papers on file in his office (including medical history) relating to the officer's efficiency. In addition, any officer under whom the officer to be examined has served will forward in writing directly to the board any information in his possession relating to the general efficiency of the said officer which has not already been reported to the War Department in time to reach the board, and the board is authorized to communicate directly with any such officer in regard to the general efficiency of the officer being examined. Should any such information be of a disqualifying nature, the board will furnish a copy thereof to the officer concerned and make such investigation in regard thereto as the circumstances warrant. In the absence of competent evidence to the contrary, an officer's fitness as to general efficiency will be presumed. The report of the board will follow the form prescribed in paragraph 30 of this order, and when the board finds an officer not qualified the reasons for such finding will be fully stated in the report.

Examination as to professional fitness.

21. The examination of an officer is for the purpose of testing his knowledge of the duties that may devolve upon him when promoted. It will be in no sense scholastic, or such