Executive Order 10240 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 10240—Regulations Governing the Separation from the Service of Certain Women Serving in the Regular Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force

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Friday, April 27, 1951

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2 min read (348 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Harry S Truman on 1951-04-27, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Regulations Governing the Separation from the Service of Certain Women Serving in the Regular Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ Formal executive instruction issued by the President establishing official administrative policy on Regulations Governing the Separation from the Service of Certain Women Serving in the Regular Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

348

2,074 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

37.9

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10240, Harry S Truman (Apr 27, 1951). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10240-regulations-governing-the-separation-from-the-service-certain-women.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Army-Navy Nurses Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 41) and the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 (62 Stat. 356), and as Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the separation from the service of certain women serving in the Regular Army, navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force: The commission of any woman serving in the Regular Army, the commission or warrant of any woman serving in the Regular Navy or the Regular Marine Corps, and the commission, warrant, or enlistment of any woman serving in the Regular Air Force under either of the above-mentioned acts may be terminated, regardless of rank, grade, or length of service, by or at the direction of the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of the Air Force, respectively, (1) under the same circumstances, procedures, and conditions and for the same reasons under which a male member of the same armed force and of the same grade, rating or rank, and length of service may be totally separated from the service by administrative action, whether by termination of commission, termination of appointment, revocation of commission, discharge, or otherwise, or (2) whenever it is established under appropriate regulations of the Secretary of the department concerned that the woman (a) is the parent, by birth or adoption, of a child under such minimum age as the Secretary concerned shall determine, (b) has personal custody of a child under such minimum age, (c) is the step-parent of a child under such minimum age and the child is within the household of the woman for a period of more than thirty days a year, (d) is pregnant, or (e) has, while serving under such commission, warrant, or enlistment, given birth to a living child; and such woman may be totally separated from the service by administrative action by termination of commission, termination of appointment, revocation of commission, discharge, or otherwise. HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, April 27, 1951