It was also stated that the rulings of the Appointment Division made promotions unduly slow and difficult; that, if a man showed ability and was promoted to a position of greater responsibility, he was seldom granted the salary due to that promotion or equal to the salary of the former incumbent or to that which would be paid a new man; and that these conditions caused dissatisfaction and the loss of many men whose services were valuable and badly needed. The authorized and actual numbers of civilian employees of the Construction Division at Washington and their classifications and salaries, on November 11, 1918, were as follows: In the field were about 10,000 civilian employees who received salaries similar to those paid the Washington employees. These were classified as follows: Engineers, assistant engineers, rodmen, instrument men, draftsmen, auditors, accountants, material inspectors, time inspectors, timekeepers, clerks, bookkeepers, stenographers, typists. Military promotions in time of peace are made under the act of October 1, 1890, section 1 of which provides that— * Hereafter promotions to every grade in the Army below the rank of brigadier general throughout each arm, corps, or department * * shall be made according to seniority in the next lower grade of that arm, corps, or department. Section 3 of the same act provides that professional examination to determine the fitness of such promotions be prescribed by the President. If an officer fails in a professional examination, his right to promotion is suspended for one year, when he is eligible for reexamination. In the event of a second failure he is discharged from the service. In case of failure to pass the required physical examination, the officer is placed on the retired list with the rank to which he would have been promoted had he been found qualified. (Military Laws of the United States, 1915, 5th ed., pars. 927-933 inclusive.) Promotions in war time are made by the chief of each arm, corps, or department, upon the recommendation of the officer in charge of each branch or division of such arm. Increase of salary of civilian personnel is made by recommendation to the Appointment Division of the office of the Secretary of War. If, however, promotion includes a change to another classification, the applicant must pass the examination of the Civil Service Commission for that classification. COMMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS. Based on the statements and criticisms above referred to which were made or confirmed by headquarters officers, constructing quartermasters, field auditors and contractors, the disadvantages far outweight the advantages of civil service regulation on construction work done under war conditions. This would naturally follow from the fact that civil service is defined as the executive branch of the public service as distinguished from military, naval, legislative, and judicial. The Board of Review is of the opinion that, in an emergency, the bureau charged with construction should be freed entirely from civil service requirements and authority, if its chief so recommends, and that its method of advancement and salary list should be revised by the War Department to provide for the prompt payment of adequate salaries and for reasonably rapid advancement when recommended by the chief of a bureau. Relief might be found for some of these difficulties by the establishment of additional listed grades in the Army, open to both men and women, on the same basis as like positions now held by civilian employees. The board believes that war experience has shown that construction work in time of war should not be subordinate to any military or civil authority of less authority than a Cabinet officer. SECTION 23. CONSTRUCTION DIVISION AS LATER CONSTITUTED. The Board of Review obtained much of the information herein given as to the duties and procedure of the divisions of the Construction Division by calling the division chiefs before it, examining them, receiving their oral statements of facts and opinions, and discussing all details. It also requested and received a supplementary written statement from the chief of each division. The annexed Exhibit No. 9 is a general organization chart of the Construction Division of the Army. ORGANIZATION. The organization is an outgrowth of the previous organizations with duties and methods dictated largely by experience. It operates under Office Order No. 99, issued September 3, 1918, with but slight modifications. This order provides for seven divisions or branches of the Construction Division, as follows: (a) Building division (formerly the constructing branch). (b) Engineering division. (c) Contracts division. (d) Procurement division. (e) Administrative division. (f) Accounting division. (g) Maintenance and repair division. The authority, duties, office procedure and organization of these divisions, and their personnel as of November 11, 1918, are as follows: AUTHORITY. From: The Adjutant General of the Army. OCTOBER 5, 1917. 1. The Secretary of War directs that all building and construction rendered neces sary in the United States by the present emergency and provided for by existing or pending appropriations shall be executed by the Quartermaster General's Depart ment under the direction of Col. Littell. 2. If any special case seems to any head of a department an exception to this rule, the Secretary of War will pass on it separately. By order of the Secretary of War: JOHN S. JOHNSON, Adjutant General. FEBRUARY 19, 1918. From: The Adjutant General of the Army. * * * The Construction Division will hereby constitute a part of the office of the Chief of Staff in connection with section 3, paragraph 5, General Order No. 14, February 9, 1918, War Department, now in process of issue. By order of the Secretary of War: GEORGE L. Hicks, Jr., Adjutant General. MARCH 13, 1918. From: The Adjutant General of the Army. To: Officer in charge of cantonment construction. * * * approved Under authority granted in section 1 of the act of Congress May 18, 1917, the President directs that the Cantonment Division of the Quartermaster Corps (including as a part thereof construction and repair division of the Quartermaster Corps), now operating as a part of the office of the Chief of Staff, shall hereafter be called the Construction Division and shall be temporarily increased during the present emergency so as to consist of, including commissioned personnel of Quartermaster Corps, Regular Army, National Guard, National Army, and Reserve Corps heretofore authorized, and including officers of other arms, staff, corps, and departments who may be detailed for duty with the Construction Division other than liaison duty. By order of the Secretary of War: J. B. WILSON, Adjutant General. APRIL 10, 1918. From: The Adjutant General of the Army. 1. You are informed that all plans, specifications and estimates for construction work to be prepared by or under the supervision of the Construction Division upon general requirements given in advance by the bureau involved, all engineering services and services of contractors in connection herewith will be done by the Construction Division. 2. The Construction Division will see to it that the designs will fulfill in an effi- ` cient manner the general requirements laid down and will be solely responsible for the execution of the construction work. * * * By order of the Secretary of War: ROY A. HILL, Adjutant General and the Director of Storage and Traffic. Supply Circular No. 90, issued September 10, 1918, by the Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division, General Staff, paragraph 6, reads as follows: The Construction Division shall prepare and at all times maintain as a live and up-to-date record an approved construction program, which shall be divided into two classes: (a) Construction projects undertaken by the Construction Division as prescribed herein (whether class I, the sole or primary purpose of the contract, and to be consummated by the War Department under its immediate supervision and for direct Government needs, or class II, incidental to the primary purpose of a contract for the furnishing of supplies or the doing of a service, the construction work paid for directly out of Government funds). (b) Construction projects incidental to other contracts and not undertaken by the Construction Division but undertaken by a contractor of one of the bureaus as prescribed herein. * * * By authority of the Secretary of War: GEO. W. GOETHALS, Major General, Assistant Chief of Staff, SECTION 24. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF CHIEF OF CONSTRUCTION DIVISION. DUTIES. The duties of the executive office of the Chief of the Construction Division are, in general, to pass upon and decide broad questions of policy, to issue instructions for the general conduct of the organization and to coordinate and direct matters which may be of interest to more than one division of the Construction Division. All communications prepared for higher authority in the War Department, as well as letters or memoranda for other branches of the Government, are viséd in this office and signed by the Chief of the Construction Division before transmission. Daily conferences are held by the Chief of the Construction Division with the division heads at which questions of policy and procedure are discussed and methods of handling determined, and information of mutual interest and value is exchanged by the division heads. PERSONNEL. Chief of the Construction Division: Brig. Gen. R. C. Marshall, jr. SECTION 25. BUILDING DIVISION. DUTIES. Obtains requirements, authorizations, and funds for projects, directs the constructing forces of the division in the field and advises and directs the commercial relation of the Construction Division as follows: (a) Prepares preliminary information and estimates of cost of construction for the approval of the Secretary of War, based upon fundamental engineering principles, standards, and requirements laid down under the head of engineering. (b) Conducts the procedure of authorizations and allots funds for construction work. (c) Passes upon the recommendations for general contractors made by the committee on emergency construction of the War Industries Board. (d) Supervises the execution of the work in accordance with the general plans, fundamental principles, and standards set down under the head of engineering, and supplements those where necessary with such additional details as may be needed for the proper execution of the work. (e) After execution of contract directs and supervises all relations with each general contractor carrying out a construction project. (f) Maintains progress records and statistical data, including man-hour production and unit prices on construction work. (g) Conducts through supervising constructing quartermasters all correspondence, except the allotment of funds from the division in Washington to the field forces. |