32 U.S.C. § 710 — Accountability for property issued to the National Guard
submitted 70 years ago by ch. 1041 to r/title-32-NATIONAL-GUARD · 671 words · no verdicts yet
Military property issued to the National Guard remains United States property. The Secretaries must establish accounting and responsibility rules, and the section sets when members or jurisdictions may be charged for losses and how unserviceable property may be disposed of.
(a) All military property the United States issues to the National Guard remains United States property.
(b) The Secretary of the Army must issue rules for accounting for property issued to the Army National Guard and assigning responsibility for it. The Secretary of the Air Force must do the same for the Air National Guard. As far as practical, each service’s rules must be uniform among its components.
(c) Under those rules, a member may be charged for the value of National Guard property that is lost, damaged, or destroyed when an active-duty Army or Air Force member would be charged in similar circumstances. A State, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands may be charged when the loss, damage, or destruction occurs during duty directed by and supporting that jurisdiction’s legal authorities. A member’s charge must be paid from pay due for National Guard duties, unless the Secretary remits or cancels it for good cause. A jurisdiction’s charge must be paid from its funds or other non-Federal funds.
(d) If surveyed property is unserviceable or unsuitable, the Secretary or designated representative must direct its sale or other disposal. The proceeds must be deposited in the Treasury under section 4(b)(22) of the Permanent Appropriation Repeal Act, 1934, from: (1) a sale; (2) a deduction from a National Guard member; or (3) a collection from a person or listed jurisdiction reimbursing the United States for lost, destroyed, or damaged property.
(e) If a listed jurisdiction neglects or refuses to pay a charge under subsection (c), the Secretary may bar it from receiving Army National Guard or Air National Guard appropriations until it pays.
(f) (1) Instead of subsections (b), (c), and (d), property that becomes unserviceable through fair wear and tear in service may, under regulations, be sold or otherwise disposed of after an inspection and finding by a Secretary-designated commissioned officer. The jurisdiction concerned is then no longer accountable for it. (2) For Army National Guard inspections, the officer must be a Regular Army commissioned officer or an Army National Guard commissioned officer who is also a commissioned officer of the Army National Guard of the United States. For Air National Guard inspections, the officer must be a Regular Air Force commissioned officer or an Air National Guard commissioned officer who is also a commissioned officer of the Air National Guard of the United States.
All military property issued by the United States to the National Guard remains the property of the United States.
The Secretary of the Army shall prescribe regulations for accounting for property issued by the United States to the Army National Guard and for the fixing of responsibility for that property. The Secretary of the Air Force shall prescribe regulations for accounting for property issued by the United States to the Air National Guard and for the fixing of responsibility for that property. So far as practicable, regulations prescribed under this section shall be uniform among the components of each service.
Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned under subsection (b), liability for the value of property issued by the United States to the National Guard that is lost, damaged, or destroyed may be charged (1) to a member of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard when in similar circumstances a member of the Army or Air Force serving on active duty would be so charged, or (2) to a State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands when the property is lost, damaged, or destroyed incident to duty directed pursuant to the laws of, and in support of the authorities of, such jurisdiction. Liability charged to a member of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard shall be paid out of pay due to the member for duties performed as a member of the National Guard, unless the Secretary concerned shall for good cause remit or cancel that liability. Liability charged to a State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands shall be paid from its funds or from any other non-Federal funds.
If property surveyed under this section is found to be unserviceable or unsuitable, the Secretary concerned or his designated representative shall direct its disposition by sale or otherwise. The proceeds of the following under this subsection shall be deposited in the Treasury under section 4(b)(22) of the Permanent Appropriation Repeal Act, 1934:
A sale.
A stoppage against a member of the National Guard.
A collection from a person, or from a State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands, to reimburse the United States for the loss or destruction of, or damage to, the property.
If a State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands, whichever is concerned, neglects or refuses to pay for the loss or destruction of, or damage to, property charged against it under subsection (c), the Secretary concerned may bar it from receiving any part of appropriations for the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard, as the case may be, until the payment is made.
Instead of the procedure prescribed by subsections (b), (c), and (d), property issued to the National Guard that becomes unserviceable through fair wear and tear in service may, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary concerned, be sold or otherwise disposed of after an inspection, and a finding of unserviceability because of that wear and tear, by a commissioned officer designated by the Secretary. The State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands, whichever is concerned, is relieved of accountability for that property.
In designating an officer to conduct inspections and make findings for purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall designate—
in the case of the Army National Guard, a commissioned officer of the Regular Army or a commissioned officer of the Army National Guard who is also a commissioned officer of the Army National Guard of the United States; and
in the case of the Air National Guard, a commissioned officer of the Regular Air Force or a commissioned officer of the Air National Guard who is also a commissioned officer of the Air National Guard of the United States.
Source credit: (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 615; Pub. L. 85–861, § 33(c)(3), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1567; Pub. L. 96–328, § 1(a), (b)(1), Aug. 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 1027; Pub. L. 96–513, title V, § 515(8), Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2937; Pub. L. 97–258, § 3(h)(2), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1065; Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XII, § 1234(b)(1), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2059; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title V, § 524(e), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1657; Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title X, § 1057(b)(3), Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3441.)
- 1956Enacted · Act of Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041
- 1958Amended · Pub. L. 85-861 · 72 Stat. 1567
- 1980Amended · Pub. L. 96-328 · 94 Stat. 1027
- 1980Amended · Pub. L. 96-513 · 94 Stat. 2937
- 1982Amended · Pub. L. 97-258 · 96 Stat. 1065
- 1988Amended · Pub. L. 100-456 · 102 Stat. 2059
- 1993Amended · Pub. L. 103-160 · 107 Stat. 1657
- 2006Amended · Pub. L. 109-163 · 119 Stat. 3441
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 1041 on 1956-08-10.
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