An Act to provide for the establishment of a United States Air Force Academy, and for other purposes
PL 83-325 (H.R.5337), enacted 04/01/1954

68 S T A T . ] 
PUBUC LAW 325-APR- 1, 1954 
47 
subsection, and (B) claim for such credit or refund is filed with 
the Secretary before July 1,1955. 
"(6) All provisions of law, including penalties, applicable in 
respect of the tax imposed under subsections (a) and (b) shall, 
insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with this subsection, 
be applicable in respect of the credits and refunds provided for 
in this subsection." 
Approved March 31, 1954. 
Public Law 325 
CHAPTER 127 
AN ACT 
To provide for the establishment of a United States Air Force Academy, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may 
be cited as the "Air Force Academy Act". 
SEC. 2. There is hereby established in the Department of the Air 
Force a United States Air Force Academy, hereinafter referred to as 
the "Academy", for the instruction and preparation for military 
service of selected persons who shall be known as Air Force cadets. 
SEC. 3. (a) The Secretary of the Air Force shall determine the 
location of the Academy within the United States in the following 
manner: 
(1) Tlie Secretary of the Air Force shall establish immediately a 
commission, and appoint five members thereof, to advise him in 
connection with the selection of a permanent location for the Academy. 
The commission shall make its report to the Secretary as soon as 
practicable. 
(2) The Secretary shall accept the unanimous decision for a per-
manent location by such commission. In the event such recommen-
dation is not unanimous, the commission by a majority vote shall 
submit to the Secretary three sites from which the Secretary shall 
select one as the permanent location. 
(b) Following the selection of a location for the Academy, the 
Secretary of the Air Force is authorized— 
(1) to acquire land from other Government agencies without 
reimbursement, with the consent of such agencies; 
(2) to acquire lands and rights pertaining thereto, or other 
interests therein, including the temporary use thereof, by donation, 
purchase, exchange of Government owned lands, or otherwise, 
without regard to section 601, Act of September 28,1951 (65 Stat. 
365;40U. S. C. 551); 
(3) to prepare plans, specifications, and designs, to make sur-
veys and to do all other preparatory work, by contract or other-
wise, as he deems necessary or advisable in connection with the 
construction, equipping and organization of the Academy at such 
location; and 
(4) to construct and equip temporary or permanent Public 
Works, including buildings, facilities, appurtenances, and utilities, 
at such location. 
SEC. 4. For the purpose of providing temporary facilities and ena-
bling early operation of the Academy, the Secretary of the Air Force 
is authorized to provide for the erection of the minimum additional 
number of temporary buildings and the modification of existing 
structures and facilities at an existing Air Force base and to provide 
for the proper functioning, equipping, maintaining, and repairing 
thereof; and to contract with civilian institutions for such operation 
or instruction as he may deem necessary. 
AprU 1, 1954 
[H. R. 5337] 
Air Force Acad-
emy Act. 
Location. 
Teii5>orary facil-
ities. 
48 
PUBLIC LAW 326-APR. 1, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
Organization. 
Appointment 
c 
Air Force cadets 
Applicable laws. 
SEC. 5. All appropriate provisions of law, not inconsistent with the 
purposes of this Act, which pertain to the United States Military 
Academy shall, by the authority of this section, also pertain to the 
United States Air Force Academy. All references in these laws to 
the Secretary of the Army, the Army, or any officer or agency thereof 
shall, in pertaining to the Air Force Academy, be construed as 
referring, respectively, to the Secretary of the Air Force, the Air 
Force, and such officers and agencies of the Air Force as he may 
designate. 
The organization of the Air Force Academy shall be 
prescribed by the Secretary of the Air Force. 
SEC. 6. To permit an orderly increase in the number of Air Force 
cadets during the period ending not more than four years after the 
entrance of the initial class at the Academy, the Secretary of the Air 
Force may limit the number to be appointed each year during that 
period in the following manner: 
(a) Each Senator and Representative shall nominate not to exceed 
ten persons, who shall be eligible to take a competitive examination 
which shall be held annually. The number of vacancies allocated to 
each State shall be proportional to the representation in Congress from 
that State. Appointments from each State shall b^ made from among 
qualified candidates nominated from that State in the order of merit 
established by the examinations. 
(b) Vacancies allocated to other sources shall be filled from among 
qualified candidates in each category in order of merit established by 
similar competitive examinations and shall not exceed 15 per centum 
of the total number of appointments authorized. 
SEC. 7. Section 302 (b) of the Air Force Organization Act of 1951 
(65 Stat. 329; 10 U. S. C. 1832 (b)) is amended by inserting after the 
words "provided by law," the words "the professors and cadets of the 
Air Force Academy,". 
SEC. 8. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each cadet 
at the United States Military Academy and the United States Air 
Force Academy and each midshipman at the United States Naval 
Academy shall, prior to his graduation from such Academy, be 
afforded an opportunity to state a preference for appointment as a 
commissioned officer of the United States Army, the United States 
Navy, the United States Air Force, or the United States Marine Corps, 
upon his graduation, and, with the consent of the Secretaries of the 
military departments having jurisdiction over such Academy and 
over the armed force in which he prefers appointment, shall, upon 
his graduation, be accepted for appointment in such armed force, 
except that not more than I21/2 per centum of the members of any 
graduating class of any such Academy shall be appointed as com-
missioned officers in armed forces other than the one administering 
such Academy. For the purpose of the foregoing limitations, gradu-
ates of the United States Naval Academy appointed as commissioned 
officers in the United States Marine Corps shall not be considered as 
having been commissioned in armed forces other than the United 
States Navy. 
(b) The Secretary of Defense shall by regulation provide for the 
equitable and fair distribution of appointments made pursuant to this 
section in the event that more than 121^ per centum of a graduating 
class of any academy referred to herein expresses a preference to 
be so appointed. 
(c) The provisions of this section shall take effect (1) in the year in 
which the first class of the United States Air Force Academy gradu-
ates, or (2) upon the rescission of the present agreement under which 
graduates of the United States Military and Naval Academies may 
volunteer for appointment in the United States Air Force, whichever is 
earlier. 
Service p r e f er-
ence for appoint-
ment as officer. 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBUC LAW 326-APR. 1, 1954 
49 
SEC. 9. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated not to exceed 
the sum of $126,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this Act, of 
Avhich not to exceed $26,000,000 shall be appropriated for any period 
beginning prior to January 1, 1955. Of the amount so appropriated 
for any such period, not to exceed $1,000,000 may be iitilized for the 
purpose of section 4 of this Act. 
Approved April 1, 1954. 
Appropriation. 
Public Law 326 
CHAPTER 128 
AN ACT 
To provide for the exchange between the United States and the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico of certain lands and interests in lands in Puerto Rico. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress asseTubled^ 
TITLE I 
SEC. 101. The Secretary of the Army is authorized to convey to the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Eico, in exchange for the land identified in 
title IV hereof, all right, title, and interest of the United States in and 
to real estate identified in titles I I and I I I and more fully described on 
maps and in descriptions on file in the Office, Chief of Engineers, 
United States Army. 
TITLE I I 
SEC. 201. Those lands acquired by the United States of America, 
without payment of compensation, under the Treaty of Paris and set 
aside for military purposes by Executive order, dated June 30, 1903, 
identified as follows: 
(a) A strip of land alongside of Munoz Rivera Avenue, San Juan, 
and east of Army medical building, containing four and eight-tenths 
acres; the site of the San Sebastian Guardhouse at 205 Sol Street, 
San Juan, containing five one-hundredths acre; old walls around 
La Fortaleza containing sixty-six one-hundredths acre; driveway to 
Insular Department Justice containing eleven one-hundredths acre, 
and all show-n in detail on drawing numbered 15-02-142, dated August 
15, 1951, entitled "Fort Brooke Military Reservation." 
(b) Fort Mayaguez Military Reservation, comprising seven and 
five one-hundredths acres and shown on drawing numbered 18-01-180, 
dated August 17,1949, entitled "Fort Mayaguez Military Reservation." 
TITLE I I I 
SEC. 301. Those lands acquired by the United States of America 
through condemnation proceedings and payment of just compensa-
tion as determined thereby, identified as follows: 
(a) Punta Las Marias Military Reservation, comprising eighty-
seven one-hundredths acre, and shown on drawing 
numbered 
18-01-150, dated November 24, 1948, entitled "Punta Las Marias SL 
and FC Site." 
(b) Punta Cangrejos (Battery Lancaster) Military Reservation, 
comprising fifteen and eight one-hundredths acres, and shown on 
drawing numbered 18-01-114, dated November 10, 1948, entitled 
"Battery Lancaster (Numbered 264) Military Reservation." 
April 1, 1954 
[S. 1548] 
U. S. and Puerto 
Rico. 
E x c h a n g e 
of 
lands. 
39777 O—55—pt. 1-