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Executive Order 12396 Constitutional Friction / Overreach (-0.19)

Executive Order 12396—Defense Officer Personnel Management

Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan
•
Thursday, December 9, 1982
•
4 min read (780 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 Ronald Reagan on 1982-12-09, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Defense Officer Personnel Management." 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

▪ 10621, as amended, is further amended by revoking subsections (g), (h), (j), (k), (1), (m), and (n) of Section 1 thereof.
▪ 11390, as amended, is further amended by revoking subsections 2, 3, 9, 12, and 15 of Section I thereof.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Total Words
780
4,577 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.4
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
-0.19
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 12396, Ronald Reagan (Dec 9, 1982). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12396-defense-officer-personnel-management.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
By the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America by Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and in order to delegate certain functions concerning the appointment, promotion, and retirement of commissioned officers of the Armed Forces, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. The Secretary of Defense is designated to perform, without approval, ratification, or other action by the President, the following functions vested in the President: (a) The authority vested in the President by Sections 618(b)(1) and 628(d)(1) of Title 10 of the United States Code, to approve, modify, or disapprove the report of a selection board. (b) The authority vested in the President by Section 629(a) of Title 10 of the United States Code, to remove the name of any officer from a promotion list to any grade below commodore or brigadier general. (c) The authority vested in the President by Section 624(c) of Title 10 of the United States Code, to appoint officers in the grades of first lieutenant and captain in the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps or in the grades of lieutenant (junior grade) and lieutenant in the Navy. (d) The authority vested in the President by Section 5721(c) of Title 10 of the United States Code, to make certain temporary appointments to the grade of lieutenant commander. (e) The authority vested in the President by Section 6323(a) of Title 10 of the United States Code, to approve the application of an officer of the Navy or the Marine Corps for retirement after the completion of more than 20 years of active service and to designate the month in which such retirements shall become effective. (f) The authority vested in the President by Sections 3918 and 8918 of Title 10 of the United States Code, to approve the request of a regular commissioned officer of the Army or the Air Force to retire after at least 30 years of service. (g) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to delegate the authority vested in the President by Section 618(c) of Title 10 to remove a name from a selection board report. Sec. 2. (a) The Secretary of Defense is designated to perform during a time of war or national emergency the following functions vested in the President, without the approval, ratification, or other action by the President. (1) The authority vested in the President by Section 526 of Title 10 of the United States Code, to suspend the operation of any provision of Sections 523, 524, or 525 of Title 10 of the United States Code, relating to the authorized strength of commissioned officers. (2) The authority vested in the President by subsections (a) and (b) of Section 603 of Title 10 of the United States Code, to make or vacate certain temporary commissioned appointments. (3) The authority vested in the President by Section 644 of Title 10 of the United States Code, to suspend the operation of any law relating to the promotion, involuntary retirement, or separation of commissioned officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps. (b) The authority delegated to the Secretary of Defense by this Section may not be exercised during the time of a national emergency declared by the President, unless the exercise of any such authority is specifically directed by the President in accordance with Section 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631). (c) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that actions taken pursuant to the authority delegated by this Section are accounted for as required by Section 401 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641). Sec. 3. The authority delegated to the Secretary of Defense by this Order may be redelegated to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, any of the Assistant Secretaries of Defense, and to any of the Secretaries of the military departments who may further subdelegate such authority to subordinates who are appointed to their office by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sec. 4. All actions taken by, for, or on behalf of the President with respect to the functions delegated by this Order, which actions would be valid if taken pursuant to this Order, are ratified. Sec. 5. (a) Executive Order No. 10621, as amended, is further amended by revoking subsections (g), (h), (j), (k), (1), (m), and (n) of Section 1 thereof. (b) Executive Order No. 11390, as amended, is further amended by revoking subsections 2, 3, 9, 12, and 15 of Section I thereof. (c) Executive Order No. 12239 is revoked. RONALD REAGAN The White House, December 9, 1982. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:42 p.m., December 10, 1982]