37 U.S.C. § 418 (PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES)
§ 418. Clothing allowance: enlisted members
(a) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, may prescribe the quantity and kind of clothing to be furnished annually to an enlisted member of the armed forces or the National Guard, and may prescribe the amount of a cash allowance to be paid to such a member if clothing is not so furnished to him.
(b) In determining the quantity and kind of clothing or allowances to be furnished pursuant to regulations prescribed under this section to persons employed as National Guard technicians under section 709 of title 32, the Secretary of Defense shall take into account the requirement under subsection (b) of such section for such persons to wear a uniform.
(c) A uniform allowance may not be paid, and uniforms may not be furnished, under section 1593 of title 10 or section 5901 of title 5 to a person referred to in subsection (b) for a period of employment referred to in that subsection for which clothing is furnished or a uniform allowance is paid under this section.
(d)
(1) In the case of athletic footwear needed by members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force upon their initial entry into the armed forces, the Secretary of Defense shall furnish such footwear directly to the members instead of providing a cash allowance to the members for the purchase of such footwear.
(2) In procuring athletic footwear to comply with paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense shall—
(A) procure athletic footwear that complies with the requirements of section 2533a of title 10, without regard to the applicability of any simplified acquisition threshold under chapter 137 of title 10 (or any other provision of law); and
(B) procure additional athletic footwear, for two years following the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, that is necessary to provide a member described in paragraph (1) with sufficient choices in athletic shoes so as to minimize the incidence of athletic injuries and potential unnecessary harm and risk to the safety and well-being of members in initial entry training.
(3) This subsection does not prohibit the provision of a cash allowance to a member described in paragraph (1) for the purchase of athletic footwear if such footwear—
(A) is medically required to meet unique physiological needs of the member; and
(B) cannot be met with athletic footwear that complies with the requirements of this subsection.
(4) This subsection does not apply to the furnishing of athletic footwear to members of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, or the Space Force upon their initial entry into the armed forces, or prohibit the provision of a cash allowance to such members for such purpose, if the Secretary of Defense determines that compliance with paragraph (2) would result in a sole source contract for procurement of athletic footwear for the purpose stated in paragraph (1) because there would be only a sole certified source of supply for such footwear.
(5) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that all procurements of athletic footwear to which this subsection applies are made using firm fixed price contracts.
(Pub. L. 87–649, Sept. 7, 1962, 76 Stat. 478; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title X, § 1038(c), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 432; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title VI, § 654, Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2583; Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title VI, § 611], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–150; Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(c), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314; Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VIII, § 817, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2272; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VI, § 633, Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1431; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title IX, § 925(e)(2), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3827.)
text: Historical and Revision Notes
Revised section
Source (U.S. Code)
Source (Statutes at Large)
418
37:305.
Oct. 12, 1949, ch. 681, § 505, 63 Stat. 828.
The words “the armed forces” are substituted for the words “the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard” to conform to the definition in section 101(4) of this title. The words “the Naval Reserve, the Marine Corps Reserve, . . . the National Guard of the United States, the Air National Guard of the United States, the Army Reserve, the Air Force Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve” are omitted, since, under the definitions of the armed forces concerned in sections 3062(c), 5001(a)(1) and (2), and 8062(d) of title 10, and section 751a of title 14, those organizations, or their successors, are components of the armed force concerned.
heading: Editorial Notes
heading: References in Text
text: The date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, referred to in subsec. (d)(2)(B), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 114–328, which was approved Dec. 23, 2016.
heading: Amendments
text: 2021—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 116–283, § 925(e)(2)(A), substituted “Marine Corps, or Space Force” for “or Marine Corps”.
Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 116–283, § 925(e)(2)(B), substituted “the Marine Corps, or the Space Force” for “or the Marine Corps”.
2017—Subsec. (d)(4), (5). Pub. L. 115–91 added pars. (4) and (5).
2016—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 114–328 added subsec. (d).
2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–296 substituted “of Homeland Security” for “of Transportation”.
2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title VI, § 611(1)], substituted “The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation, with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy,” for “The President”.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title VI, § 611(2)], substituted “the Secretary of Defense” for “the President”.
1996—Pub. L. 104–106 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsecs. (b) and (c).
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–201 substituted “for which clothing is furnished or a uniform allowance is paid under this section” for “for which a uniform allowance is paid under section 415 or 416 of this title”.
heading: Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
heading: Effective Date of 2002 Amendment
text: Amendment by Pub. L. 107–296 effective on the date of transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, see section 1704(g) of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as a note under section 101 of Title 10, Armed Forces.
heading: Executive Documents
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 10113. Clothing Allowances for Enlisted Personnel
text: Ex. Ord. No. 10113, Feb. 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 1065, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13286, § 83, Feb. 28, 2003, 68 F.R. 10631, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, it is ordered as follows:
1. The Secretary of Defense with respect to enlisted men of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Naval Reserve [now Navy Reserve], the Marine Corps Reserve, the National Guard, the Air National Guard, the National Guard of the United States, the Air National Guard of the United States, the Organized Reserve Corps [Army Reserve] and the Air Force Reserve, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to enlisted men of the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve, are hereby authorized and directed, after appropriate consultation with the Director of the Bureau of the Budget [now Director of the Office of Management and Budget], to perform the functions vested in the President by section 505 of the Career Compensation Act of 1949, approved October 12, 1949 (Public Law 351, 81st Congress) [this section], relative to prescribing the quantity and kind of clothing which shall be furnished annually to enlisted men of the aforesaid services and relative to prescribing the amount of the cash allowance to be paid to such enlisted men in any case in which clothing is not so furnished to them.
2. The quantity and kind of clothing, and any cash allowances in lieu thereof, prescribed by the Secretary of Homeland Security hereunder with respect to the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve shall, so far as practicable, be in conformity with those prescribed by the Secretary of Defense with respect to the Navy and Naval Reserve [now Navy Reserve], respectively.
3. Existing regulations prescribing the quantity and kind of clothing furnished, and any cash allowances in lieu thereof, shall remain in effect until modified, revoked, or superseded by action taken pursuant to this order.
4. The term “enlisted men” as used in this order shall be deemed to apply to enlisted persons of either sex.
5. This order shall become effective on April 1, 1950, and on that date shall supersede Executive Order No. 10049 [Apr. 4, 1949, 14 F.R. 1563] entitled “Delegating the Authority of the President to Prescribe Clothing Allowances, and Cash Allowances in Lieu Thereof, to Enlisted Men in the Armed Forces.”