Page 51 - AL POST 390 OFFICER'S GUIDE AND MANUAL OF CEREMONIES - 2020

which areTitle 10, Subsection 270. This authority code gives the reserve component the authority to
activate the reserves for weekend drills and annual training.

Use Military Law Chapter 39 when determining eligibility for National Guardsmen and reservists.

ELIGIBLE NON-ELIGIBLE
National Guard "tle lo subsection 672 or 1 2301* Title 32

Reserves Title 1 0 Subsection 672 or 1 2301 * Title l o subsection 270
*This subsection was created to replace 672 following Operation Desert Storm.

Note: A DD 214 will be issued for the time on federal active duty, or a DA-1059 for completion of a school
will be issued with a character type of discharge. All reserve components send their members to basic
training using Title 10, Subsection 672/12301 orders.
Clemency discharges

ln response to a recommendation submitted by the National Conference of Department Commanders and
Adjutants in 1974, National Judge Advocate B.G. Davis issued the following opinion: "After having reviewed
the Proclamation of the President of the United States released on September 16,1974, it is my opinion that
a clemency discharge will not satisfy the eligibility criteria for membership in The American Legion. Article
lv, Section 1, of the National Constitution requires that the individual seeking membership in The American
Legion must, inter alia, have an honorable discharge or honorable separation from military service or his
service must have continued honorably after any of the delimiting periods set forth in the above cited
article and section. A clemency discharge does not meet this criteria."

Temporary duty

During the Vietnam War, it was the Air Force's practice to call members of the Air National Guard to duty
for temporary periods, frequently for no more than 10 days. The call was made with the consent of the
individual and of the state's governor.The duty usually involved flying Air Force cargo from the United
States to Southeast Asia. Correspondence with the chief of the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C.,
established that duty of the type outlined herein is included in the term "active duty," in the sense that it
was full-time duty in the active military service of the united States. upon the completion of such duty, as
evidenced by the issuance of a DD 214 or other evidence of honorable separation, the individual is eligible
for membership in The American Legion, provided, of course, that any part of the duty occurred between
February 28,1961, and May 7,1975.
U.S. military academies

National Judge Advocate B.G. Davis ruled on March 6,1978, that cadets who served at the U.S. Military,
Naval, Air Force or Coast Guard academies "during any of the delimiting periods set forth under Article lv,
Section 1 of the National Constitution and whose service has been honorably terminated . . . are eligible for
membership in The American Legion." Chapter 1, Section 101 (21 ), Title 38, U.S. Code provides that the term
''active duty" means service as a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy or U.S. Coast
Guard Academy, or as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Eligibility matters not covered

Post commanders should refer questions of eligibility not covered in this guide to the department adjutant
or department judge advocate. Should the department adjutant or department judge advocate be in
doubt, an opinion and ruling may be requested from the national judge advocate.

110 I |1: ,\Lv|i L()(`,\\ ||(, O\J OFFICER'SGulDE 2020