1182 SIXTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 180. 1917. any one case may be made to officers ordered to and from sea duty ` and to and from shore duty beyond the seas, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Navy may prescribe. c _ _ §§§§‘f,,§’,,,,"’§"‘},§,§;,,,,,- Hereafter, in addition to the appointment_of midshipmen to the ggg*;ut&§gmd°¤¤S*°d United States Naval Academy, as now};-rescmbed by law, the Secrev¤i.zs,p.4i¤Z tary of the Navy is allowed one hun ed aptpomtments annually, instead of twent —five as nowrprescribed by aw, to be appointed from the enlistedymen of the avy who are citizens of the United . States, and not more than twenty {ears of age on the date of entrance to the Naval Academy, and who s all have served not less than one §§§,T},‘;§’gmv,, ,,,,,,1- year as enlisted men on the date of entrance: Provided, That such ¤¤¤°¤=· a pointments shall be made in the order of merit from candidates wlho have, in competition with each other, passed the mental examination now or hereafter r uired by law for entrance to the Naval Acgdemy, and {who passedmfhe physical examination before entrance un er exist' laws.
The Presifllgnt, in his discretion, is authorized to reduce the course
V°*·3"·P-73- of instruction at the Naval Academi from four to three years for a riod of two years from the date of the approval of this Act, and may geuring said two years graduate classes which have completed a . . three—year course. ‘ giiigxugiiiudgig Hereafter all laws relating to the examination of officers of the j",,g°If‘§°,{{· Navy for promotion shall be construed to apply to the regular ad- ’ vancement of staff officers to higher ranks on the active list, the same P . as though such advancements in rank were promotions to higher mnmcerpsmas grades: rovided, That nothing in this paragraph shall be construed '°2%,p_ 573, .as in an way affecting the original appointment of officers to the Dental (gorps as rovided in the Act approved August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, making appropriations for the naval . service for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred Tum allowance for . ¤¤rvi¤¤ my- and seventeen, and for other purposes, and the time served b dental surgeons as acting or acting assistant dental surgeons shall he reckoned in computing the increased service pay an service for promo- 1,,m,shmm,m,m,g_ tion of such as are commissioned under said Act. r&¤,e¤¤.,¢1ii»u¤¤i:g¤m· _ Whoever shall forge, counterfeit, or falsely alter an certificate of °"°°‘ discharge from the military or naval service of the {Tnited States, or shall in any manner sid or assist in forging, counterfeiting, or falsely altering any such certificate, or shall use, unlawfully have in his possession, exhibit, or cause to be used or exhibited, any such forged, counterfeited, or falsely altered certificate, knowing the same to be forged, counterfeited, or falsely altered, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court. "'m°"‘ Pnovrsioxs, NAVY: For provisions and commuted rations for the seamen and marines, which commuted rations may be paid to caterers of messes, in case of death or desertion, upon orders of the commanding o&icers, commuted rations for officers on sea duty (other than commissioned officers of the line, Medical and Pay Corps, chaplains, chief boatswains, chief gU.11I161'S, chief c nters, chief machinists, chief pay clerks, and chief sailmakers) ana-dpfnidshi men, and_comm\ted rations stopped on account of sick in hospits and credited at the rate of 50 cents per ration to the naval hos ital fund; subsistence of oflicers and men unavoidabl detained or algsent from vessels to which attached under orders which subsistence rations to be stopped on board ship and no credit for commutation therefor to be given); subsistence of men on detached duty; subsistence of me=mbers of the Naval Reserve Force during eriod of active service; and for subsistence of female nurses and Nyavy and Manne _Corps general courts-martial prisoners undergoing imprisonment with sentences of dishonorable discharge from the service at the
