User:SuperWIKI/sandbox4

[Instructions from the Continental Congress, 22 June 1775]

• Appointed George Washington as general and commander in chief of the Army of the United Colonies.

• Terminated grade of lieutenant general upon the appointment of a "general of the armies of the United States".^[2]

• Authorized one grade of general (Ulysses S. Grant).

• Terminated grades of general and lieutenant general at next vacancy.

• Authorized promotion to general on the retired list one officer who served as Commanding General of the United States Army (Ulysses S. Grant).

• Terminated grade of lieutenant general and merged with grade of general (Philip H. Sheridan).

• Authorized temporary general officer appointments during the World War I emergency.

• Authorized emergency grade of general for the Chief of Staff of the Army and commander of United States forces in Europe (Tasker H. Bliss, Peyton C. March, John J. Pershing).

• Authorized grade of general of the Armies of the United States to be specially conferred upon a general officer of the Army for distinguished higher command of military forces on foreign soil during World War I (John J. Pershing).

• Terminated all emergency grades.

• Assigned ex officio rank of general to the Chief of Staff of the Army (Charles P. Summerall).

• Authorized promotion on the retired list to highest grade held during World War I (Tasker H. Bliss).

[Second Supplemental National Defense Appropriation Act of 1941]

• Authorized temporary appointments to higher ranks or grades during a national emergency.

[Private Law 76-379]

• Authorized promotion of John L. Hines to general on the retired list.

• Authorized temporary appointments in the Army of the United States during the World War II emergency.

• Authorized officers retired for physical disability incurred while temporarily appointed to a higher grade to retire in that grade (Jonathan M. Wainwright IV, Robert C. Richardson Jr., Barton K. Yount, William H. Simpson, Lucian K. Truscott Jr.).
• Authorized officers retired for reasons other than physical disability who subsequently incurred physical disability while temporarily appointed to a higher grade to be promoted on the retired list to that grade (Ben Lear, Walter Krueger).

• Authorized temporary grade of general of the Army (George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Henry H. Arnold).

[Private Law 79-140]

• Authorized appointment of Omar N. Bradley as Administrator of Veterans' Affairs while retaining rank of general.

• Authorized permanent grade of general of the Army for those who served in such temporary grade after December 14, 1944 and before December 14, 1945 (George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Henry H. Arnold).

[National Security Act of 1947]

• Established U.S. Air Force.
• Transferred to U.S. Air Force all personnel in Army Air Forces, Air Corps, and General Headquarters Air Force.

[Officer Personnel Act of 1947]

• Assigned ex officio rank of general to general officers serving in positions designated by the President to carry that rank.
• Capped total positions with ex officio ranks of general at 25 percent of the total number of positions with ex officio ranks above major general.
• Capped total officers above grade of lieutenant general at nine, with two being the chief of staff of the Army and commanding general of the United States Army Air Forces, and of the remaining seven, four in the Army and three in the Air Corps.
• Exempted from caps general officers serving as Chief of Staff to the President or specifically authorized by act of Congress to hold appointments to diplomatic or civil offices.
• Authorized retirement in highest rank held on active duty.
• Authorized promotion to general or lieutenant general on the retired list of Regular Army officers who served in those grades between December 7, 1941, and June 30, 1946 (John L. DeWitt, Brehon B. Somervell).

• Authorized permanent appointment as general one officer who served in such temporary grade from March 29, 1945 to June 26, 1948, and successfully commanded an army group composed of as many as four field armies from August 1, 1944 to August 15, 1945 (Omar N. Bradley).

[Army and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948]

• Authorized promotion on the retired list of Regular Army and Regular Air Force officers to the highest temporary grades in which they served satisfactorily for at least six months between September 6, 1940, and June 30, 1946.

[National Security Act Amendments of 1949]

• Authorized the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to hold rank of general or admiral as a position of importance and responsibility under the Officer Personnel Act of 1947 (Omar N. Bradley).

[Career Compensation Act of 1949]

• Established pay grade O-8 for general, lieutenant general, and major general.

• Authorized waiver for the President to appoint George C. Marshall as secretary of defense while retaining rank of general of the Army.

[Private Law 81-956]

• Authorized promotion of Omar N. Bradley to permanent grade of general of the Army.

[Private Law 81-1083]

• Authorized posthumous promotion of Walton H. Walker to general.

[Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 1952]

• Capped total officers at grade of general of the Army at 0.0003 percent of the total number of active-duty commissioned officers.
• Capped total officers at grade of general at 0.00055 percent of the total number of active-duty commissioned officers.

• Capped total number of officers holding grade of general of the Army at four.
• Capped total number of Army officers holding grade of general at eight.

[Officer Grade Limitation Act of 1954]

• Capped total number of general officers as a function of total commissioned officer strength.
• Capped total officers above grade of brigadier general at 50 percent of all general officers.

• commanding general of Army Ground Forces between March 8, 1942, and August 16, 1945 (Lesley J. McNair, Ben Lear);
• in command of a field army in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations between December 11, 1941, and May 8, 1945 (Lucian K. Truscott Jr., Leonard T. Gerow, William H. Simpson, Alexander M. Patch);
• in command of a field army in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations between December 8, 1941, and August 16, 1945 (Robert L. Eichelberger, Simon B. Buckner Jr.);
• in command of Army forces including one or more field armies and supporting units in either theater between March 8, 1942, and August 16, 1945 (Robert C. Richardson Jr.);
• commanding general of United States forces in China and chief of staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the China Theater of Operations between March 8, 1942, and August 16, 1945 (Albert C. Wedemeyer);
• or in command of Western Defense Command between December 5, 1939, and June 14, 1943 (John L. DeWitt).

• Authorized posthumous promotion of George Washington to general of the Armies of the United States effective July 4, 1976.^[3]
• Established that grade of general of the Armies of the United States has rank and precedence over all other grades of the Army, past and present.

[Goldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of October 4, 1986]

• Established position of vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and assigned officeholder ex officio rank of general.
• Assigned ex officio rank of general to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Assigned ex officio rank of general to the vice chief of staff of the Army (Maxwell R. Thurman).
• Required the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to submit joint duty performance evaluations to the secretary of defense for the recommendation of any officer for initial appointment to grade of general, lieutenant general, admiral, or vice admiral.
• Required the secretary of defense to inform the President of the qualifications needed for an officer to carry out effectively the duties of a position of importance and responsibility at three-star or four-star grade, should there be a vacancy in such position.

[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996]

[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008]

[Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011]

[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012]

[Private Law 80-176]

• Authorized officers retired for physical disability incurred while temporarily appointed to a higher grade to retire in that grade (Hugh A. Drum, Jonathan M. Wainwright IV, Robert C. Richardson Jr., Lloyd R. Fredendall, Barton K. Yount, George Grunert, William H. Simpson, Richard K. Sutherland, John C. H. Lee, Barney M. Giles, Lucian K. Truscott Jr., Edmund B. Gregory, Oscar W. Griswold).
• Authorized officers retired for reasons other than physical disability who subsequently incurred physical disability while temporarily appointed to a higher grade to be promoted on the retired list to that grade (Stanley D. Embick, Ben Lear, Walter Krueger).

[National Security Act of 1947]

• Established U.S. Air Force.
• Transferred to U.S. Air Force all personnel in Army Air Forces, Air Corps, and General Headquarters Air Force.

[Officer Personnel Act of 1947]

• Assigned ex officio rank of lieutenant general to general officers serving in positions designated by the President to carry that rank.
• Assigned ex officio rank of lieutenant general to senior members of the Military and Naval Staff Committee of the United Nations.
• Capped total positions with ex officio ranks above major general at 15 percent of the total number of active-duty general officers.
• Capped total officers above grade of major general at 44, of whom not more than nine to be above grade of lieutenant general.
• Capped total officers above grade of major general at 17 in the Air Corps and 27 not in the Air Corps.
• Exempted from caps general officers serving as Chief of Staff to the President or specifically authorized by act of Congress to hold appointments to diplomatic or civil offices.
• Authorized retirement in highest rank held on active duty.
• Authorized promotion to general or lieutenant general on the retired list of Regular Army officers who served in those grades between December 7, 1941, and June 30, 1946 (John L. DeWitt, Brehon B. Somervell, Wilhelm D. Styer, Eugene Reybold, Levin H. Campbell Jr., Troy H. Middleton).

[Private Law 80-394-A]

[Army and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948]

[Career Compensation Act of 1949]

[Private Law 81-1083]

[Officer Grade Limitation Act of 1954]

• Capped total number of general officers as a function of total commissioned officer strength.
• Capped total officers above grade of brigadier general at 50 percent of all general officers.

• commanding general of Army Ground Forces between March 8, 1942, and August 16, 1945 (Lesley J. McNair, Ben Lear);
• in command of a field army in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations between December 11, 1941, and May 8, 1945 (Lucian K. Truscott Jr., Leonard T. Gerow, William H. Simpson, Alexander M. Patch);
• in command of a field army in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations between December 8, 1941, and August 16, 1945 (Robert L. Eichelberger, Simon B. Buckner Jr.);
• in command of Army forces including one or more field armies and supporting units in either theater between March 8, 1942, and August 16, 1945 (Robert C. Richardson Jr.);
• commanding general of United States forces in China and chief of staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the China Theater of Operations between March 8, 1942, and August 16, 1945 (Albert C. Wedemeyer);
• or in command of Western Defense Command between December 5, 1939, and June 14, 1943 (John L. DeWitt).

[Private Law 84-892]