Appell v. United States

130 Ct. Cl. 673, 1954 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 41
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJanuary 5, 1954
DocketNo. 48948
StatusPublished

This text of 130 Ct. Cl. 673 (Appell v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Appell v. United States, 130 Ct. Cl. 673, 1954 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 41 (cc 1954).

Opinion

MadbeN, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiff sues for the difference between the pay which he received as a private in the Army, from June 24, 1943, to October 15, 1945, and the amount which he would have received for that time as a first lieutenant. He claims the pay of a first lieutenant because, he says, the commission which he had formerly held in that rank had not been validly terminated.

The plaintiff was, from 1931 to 1940, a member of the Officers Reserve Corps, having been a second lieutenant until 1935 and a first lieutenant thereafter. On October 26,1940, [674]*674be received his third appointment to a five-year terms as a Reserve Officer. During those years he was called to active duty for only the usual two-week summer encampments.

On December 2, 1940, the plaintiff was ordered to active duty pursuant to the Act of August 27,1940. He first served for some seven months in Company B of the 84th Battalion, and then commanded Company C of that Battalion for two and one-half months. Then he was transferred, on August 29,1941, to Company C, 22nd Quartermaster Regiment. In this position he had strained relations with the colonel who was the Executive Officer of the Sixth Army Corps, and was in charge of administration and operations. On October 2, 1941, four of the plaintiff’s superior officers conferred, and the colonel advised the captain who was the plaintiff’s immediate superior to secure the plaintiff’s resignation from the Army, since, if he did not resign, reclassification proceedings would be instituted. The captain so advised the plaintiff on October 3. On that 'day the plaintiff wrote and gave to the captain an unqualified resignation of his commission. The captain indorsed it with the word “Approved” and his signature; the major who was next in command indorsed it “forwarded”; and the plaintiff delivered it to Battalion Headquarters.

On October 4 the plaintiff orally indicated to the captain and the major that he was going to withdraw his resignation. On October 7 he was ordered to take a final-type physical examination of the kind that one takes when leaving the Army, and he took the examination on October 8. On October 9 he submitted a formal and unqualified withdrawal of his resignation.

After the plaintiff had on October 4 orally indicated to his superiors that he intended to withdraw his resignation, and they so reported to their superiors, they were advised that their indorsements were incomplete, and the simple indorsements were torn off and new ones were pasted on the plaintiff’s resignation. The new indorsements stated that the plaintiff had been advised that he would be recommended for reclassification, and that his resignation was voluntary. The modification of the indorsements was to make them comply with the Reclassification Regulation, [675]*675which was A. E. 605-230 and which provided that any officer who had been notified that he was going to be recommended for reclassification would be permitted to resign under A. E. 605-275, and said:

The letter of resignation and the first indorsement will clearly indicate that such action is voluntary on the part of the officer.

The Eeclassification Eegulation then in force also said:

The officers resigning under the provisions of this paragraph are not entitled to a certificate of service.

The last-quoted provision would have made any officer who was not in serious difficulties hesitate to present a resignation intended to be in lieu of reclassification. When the plaintiff’s superiors were changing the indorsements on his resignation, to make them comply with the Eegulation relating to a resignation in lieu of reclassification, it would seem that they would have wanted to make sure that they had, from the plaintiff, that kind of a resignation. On its face it did not comply with the Eegulation that it “clearly indicate” that it was voluntary. In view of the serious consequence to the officer who had had ten years of honorable membership in the Eeserve Corps, we think his superiors had no right to try to prevent his withdrawal of his resignation by construing it as something which, on its face, it was not.

The plaintiff’s superiors paid no attention to his withdrawal, on October 9, of his resignation. The applicable Eegulation (A. E. 605-275) at that time provided that a resignation was revocable at any time before acceptance, except in the case of a resignation to which a condition was attached “as for the good of the service.” A resignation in lieu of reclassification is in no sense comparable to a resignation “for the good of the service”. When that expression was defined in a 1944 amendment to A. E. 605-275, the definition was:

4. Eesignation for good of service.- — a. An officer whose conduct has rendered him triable by court martial for an offense punishable by dismissal may tender his resignation for the good of the service in lieu of trial by court martial, using Form C * * *.

[676]*676Form C required the soldier to recognize that the discharge would be considered as under other than honorable conditions, and that he would forfeit mustering-out pay, accrued leave, and all rights based upon his period of service.

Paragraph 3 of the same 1944 amendments, relating to resignation in lieu of reclassification, provided that even if the recommended reclassification was based on factors over which the officer had control, such as drunkenness or laziness, his separation would “not be considered for the good of the service.”

The reclassification procedure did not contemplate that it would often result in dismissal. Paragraph 1 of A. R. 605-230 provided that—

The purpose of these regulations is to save to the service the commissioned manpower of the Nation where such services can be utilized to the advantage of the Government, and to provide a means of eliminating those who are found unsuitable.

Paragraph 2 provided:

Reclassification of an officer is necessary when it is found, that there has been a lowering of efficiency, an error in assignment, or when it is believed that his retention in the service is undesirable. Reclassification embraces those procedures necessary to place the individual in the proper assignment, or to separate him from the service.

The Government’s attempt to, assimilate the plaintiff’s resignation to one “for the good of the service” and thus make it irrevocable is not sound. Indeed, we feel fairly certain that if the plaintiff’s superiors had recognized the withdrawal of his resignation, as they should have, and initiated their contemplated reclassification proceeding, the Reclassification Board would have found some useful place in the Army for an officer who had held a commission for ten years and who was, as we have found, an honest, honorable, and loyal officer. There are many positions less trying than the chaperoning of GI. truck drivers.

The Government says that the plaintiff’s service as a Reserve Officer on active duty was terminable a/t the pleasure of the President, and that, since it could have been so termi[677]*677nated, be has not been harmed by its termination by action on his resignation. The answer, of course, is that his service was not terminated by the President.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 Ct. Cl. 673, 1954 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 41, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/appell-v-united-states-cc-1954.