An Act to integrate the Judge Advocates promotion list with that of the Army to restore lost seniority and grade, and for other purposes
PL 83-614 (H.R.9000), enacted 08/21/1954

758 
PUBLIC LAW 614-AUG. 21, 1954 
[68 S 
T A T , 
SEC. 2. The amendment made by this Act shall apply to payments 
with respect to the care given to disabled soldiers, sailors, and airmen 
on and after the first day of the month next following the month 
during which this Act is enacted: Provided^ That said payments shall 
be made regardless of whether said veteran may be receiving 
domiciliary care or hospitalization in said home and the appropriations 
of the Veterans' Administration for medical, hospital, and domiciliary 
care shall be available for this purpose: Provided further^ That no 
such payment to a State or Territory shall be made until the 
Administrator of Veterans' Affairs determines that the veteran, on 
whose account such payment is requested, is eligible for such care in 
a Veterans' Administration facility, and after such determination of 
eligibility such payment shall be made covering the period of eligibility 
from the date such care commenced, except that no such payment shall 
be made effective prior to the date of receipt by the Veterans' 
Administration of an appropriate request for determination of 
eligibility in the case of any eligible veteran with respect to whom 
such request is not received within ten days following the date such 
care commenced. 
Approved August 21, 1954. 
August 21 1954 
[H. R. 9000] 
Public Law 614 
CHAPTER 783 
AN ACT 
To integrate the Judf?e Advocate's promotion list witli tliat of ttie Army to 
restore lost seniority and grade, and for otlier purposes. 
Army. 
J udg e 
Adv o-
c a t e ' s 
promotion 
list. 
61 Stat. 795. 
34 u s e 3a note. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemoled^ That the first para-
graph of section 247 of the Universal Military Training and Service 
Act (formerly the Selective Service Act of 1948 (62 Stat. 643; 10 
U. S. C. 65)) be amended to read: 
"Regular Army officers shall be permanently appointed by the 
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, in the 
Judge Advocate General's Corps in the commissioned officer grades 
of major general, brigadier general, colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, 
captain, and first lieutenant." 
SEC. 2, The names of officers on the Judge Advocate's promotion 
list who were transferred thereto from the Army promotion list shall 
be entered on the Army promotion list in the positions they would 
have attained if they had not been transferred to the Judge Advocate's 
promotion list: Provided^ That the names of officers on the Judge 
Advocate's promotion list in the permanent grade of colonel shall be 
entered on the Army promotion list without change in the order of 
their precedence on the Judge Advocate's promotion list. 
SEC. 3. The names of officers on the Judge Advocate's promotion 
list, other than those provided for in section 2, shall be entered on the 
Army promotion list in the positions they would have attained if they 
had been entered on the Army promotion list at the time of original 
appointment. 
SEC. 4. To the extent necessary to give effect to sections 2 and 3, 
officers on the Judge Advocate s promotion list who would have 
attained a higher grade had they been carried on the Army promotion 
list rather than on the Judge Advocate's promotion list shall, within 
one hundred and twenty days after the date of enactment of this Act 
and in the manner prescribed in the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, be 
considered for and, if selected, be promoted to such higher grade. 
Officers considered for promotion to the grades of captain, major, and 
lieutenant colonel under the provisions of this section but not selected 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 615-AUG. 21, 1954 
759 
shall be deemed to have failed of selection within the meaning of sec-
tion 509 of the Ofl5.cer Personnel Act of 1947. 
SEC. 5. To the extent necessary to give effect to sections 2, 3, and 4, 
the Secretary of the Army shall adjust the dates of rank in permanent 
grade of the officers described therein. For an officer entered on the 
Army promotion list in the grade of lieutenant colonel under this Act 
or promoted to that grade under section 4 hereof, the date specified as 
the adjusted date of rank shall be considered as the beginning of a 
j)eriod of service under a permanent appointment in the grade of 
lieutenant colonel for the purposes of section 510 of the Officer Per-
sonnel Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 897; 10 U. S. C. 559d). 
SEC. 6. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as changing existing 
laws pertaining to the appointment and commissioning of Regular 
Army officers in the Judge Advocate General's Corps or to the status 
of the Judge Advocate General's Corps as a special branch of the 
Army. 
SEO. 7. No officer of the Judge Advocate General's Corps shall suffer 
a reduction in grade by reason of the enactment of this Act. 
An 
officer who, on the day prior to the effective date hereof, is a "deferred 
officer" within the meaning of section 509 of the Officer Personnel Act 
of 1947 shall not, by reason of any provision of this Act, cease to be a 
"deferred officer". 
SEC. 8. The second paragraph of section 247 of the Universal Mili-
tary Training and Service Act (formerly the Selective Service Act 
of 1948 (62 Stat. 643; 10 U. S. C. 65)) and the last sentence of section 
308 of the Army Organization Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 270; 10 U. S. C. 
61-1) are hereby repealed. 
SEC. 9. No retroactive pay or allowances shall accrue as a result of 
the enactment of this Act. 
SEO. 10. The Secretary of the Army, or such subordinate as he may 
designate, shall have authority to make all determinations necessary 
in the administration of this Act. 
SEC. 11. This Act shall become effective thirty days after the date 
of its enactment. 
Approved August 21, 1954. 
10 u s e S59c. 
10 u s e S59c. 
Repeals. 
Effective date. 
Public Law 615 
CHAPTER 784 
AN ACT 
To extend certain civilian-internee and prisoner-of-war benefits under the War 
Claims Act of 1948, as amended, to civilian internees and American prisoners 
of war captured and held during the hostilities in Korea. 
August 21, 1954 
[H. R. 9390] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That (a) section 5 temiei^ind* PHS-
of the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended (50 App. U. S. C , sec. oners o
f war. 
2004), is hereby amended by adding the following new subsection uiesV*^" 
at the end thereof. 
62 stat. 1242. 
"(g) (1) As used in this subsection, the term 'civilian American 
citizens' means any person who, being then a citizen of the United 
States, was captured in Korea on or after June 25,1950, by any hostile 
force with which the Armed Forces of the United States were actually 
engaged in armed conflict subsequent to such date and prior to the date 
of enactment of this subsection, or who went into hiding in Korea in 
order to avoid capture or internment by any such hostile force; except 
(A) a person who at any time voluntarily, knowingly, and without 
duress, gave aid to or collaborated with or in any manner served any 
such hostile force, or (B) a regularly appointed, enrolled, enlisted, or 
inducted member of the Armed Forces of the United States.