64TH CONGRESS
1st Session
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H. R. 14618
REPORT
A
To create the grade of aviator in the Signal Corps of the United States Army.
Mr. KAHN
Committee on Military Affairs
April 14, 1916
SUMMARY
Creates the enlisted grade of aviator in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Provides
that the appointment of aviators will be made when it is impracticable to obtain
the total number of officers for the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps from the
Army. Requires that the aviators be obtained from suitable enlisted men of the
Aviation Section or specially qualified civilians. Permits returning an appointed
aviator to his former enlisted grade or discharging him from the Army if his services become unsatisfactory. Provides for $150 per month as the base pay for an
aviator and the allowances of a master signal electrician. Allows the Secretary of
War to fix the number of enlisted men to be instructed in the art of flying. Abolishes the provision from the act of July 18, 1914, making age, marital condition, or
rank a bar to officers being detailed or redetailed to the Aviation Section.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
April 14, 1916
Introduced by Rep. KAHN and referred to the Committee
on Military Affairs.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY RESOURCES
HEARINGS
No hearings were conducted on H. R. 14618.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
No committee report was prepared on H. R. 14618.
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
CONGRESSIONAL JOURNALS
Volume 53
House Journal, 64-1
6184 (Apr. 14, 1916)
587 (Apr. 14, 1916)
RELATED BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
SIMILAR
Sixty-Fourth Congress
H. R.
12766
For making further and more effectual provision for the national defense (Mr. HAY, Committee on Military Affairs,
Mar. 6, 1916)
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H, R, P
NOTES AND REFERENCES
H. R. 14618 was incorporated into the National Defense Act. See National Defense Act of 1916, Pub. L. No. 64-85, 39 Stat. 166, 175–76. The source of personnel
for the grade of aviator, Signal Corps, was the primary difference between H. R.
14618 and the provision incorporated into the National Defense Act. H. R. 14618
stated that personnel must be obtained from “especially qualified civilians” or
“suitable enlisted men of the aviation section of the Signal Corps.” On the other
hand, the National Defense Act provided that personnel for the grade of aviator
would only come from “especially qualified civilians.” A separate provision of the
National Defense Act addressed enlisted men by authorizing the Secretary of War
to “cause as many enlisted men of the aviation section to be instructed in the art of
flying as he may deem necessary.”
The background and purpose of the act of July 18, 1914, are explained in the
Airgyle Legislative History Report for H. R. 5304 in the Sixty-Third Congress. See
A.L.H. REP. NO. 63-HR5304-A.
A further discussion on H. R. 14618 is provided in the Airgyle Legislative History Report for Senate Joint Resolution 65 in the Sixty-Fourth Congress. See
A.L.H. REP. NO. 64-SJRes65-A.
THE LEGISLATION
64TH CONGRESS—PUBLIC LAW NO. 85
1ST SESSION—CHAPTER 134
H. R. 12766
39 Stat. 166
June 3, 1916
An Act For making further and more effectual provision for the national defense,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, That the Army of the United States shall consist of the Regular Army, the Volunteer Army, the Officers’ Reserve Corps, the Enlisted Reserve Corps, the National Guard while in the service of the United States,
and such other land forces as are now or may hereafter be authorized by law.
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[175] . . . That, when it shall be impracticable to obtain from the Army officers
suitable for the aviation section of the Signal Corps in the number allowed by law
the difference between that number and the number of suitable officers actually
available for duty in said section may be made up by appointments in the grade of
aviator, Signal Corps, and that grade is hereby created. The personnel for said
grade shall be obtained from especially qualified civilians who shall be appointed
and commissioned in said grade: Provided further, That whenever any aviator
shall have become unsatisfactory he shall be discharged from the Army as such
aviator. The base pay of an aviator, Signal Corps, shall be $150 per month, and he
shall have the allowances of [176] a master signal electrician and the same per-
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64TH CONGRESS
H. R. 14618
centage of increase in pay for length of service as is allowed to a master signal
electrician.
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