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Executive Order 10618 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 10618—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10152, Prescribing Regulations Relating to the Right of Members of the Uniformed Services to Incentive Pay for the Performance of Hazardous Duty Required by Competent Orders

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Tuesday, June 28, 1955

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2 min read (414 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (414 words) • ● In Effect

🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order No. 10152 of August 17, 1950, be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: 1.

View all 4 directives ↓

⚖️ Constitutional Footing

⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight

Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence

📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Framers' constitutional debate ↓

🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors

Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises

Inspect unabridged text ↓

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on June 28, 1955, this order concerns Amendment of Executive Order No. 10152, Prescribing Regulations Relating to the Right of Members of the Uniformed Services to Incentive Pay for the Performance of Hazardous Duty Required by Competent Orders. Executive Order No. 10152 of August 17, 1950, be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: 1. Subsection (b) of section 9 is amended to read: "(b) The term 'duty involving the demolition of explosives' shall be construed to mean duty performed by members who, pursuant to competent orders and as a primary duty assignment (1) demolish by the use of explosives underwater objects, obstacles, or explosives, or recover and…

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

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Executive Order No. 10152 of August 17, 1950, be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: 1.

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Subsection (b) of section 9 is amended to read: "(b) The term 'duty involving the demolition of explosives' shall be construed to mean duty performed by members who, pursuant to competent orders and as a primary duty assignment (1) demolish by the use of explosives underwater objects, obstacles, or explosives, or recover and render harmless, by disarming or demolition, explosives which have failed to function as intended or which have become a potential hazard; (2) participate as students or instructors in instructional training, including that in the field or fleet, for the duties described in clause (1) hereof, provided that live explosives are used in such training; (3) participate in proficiency training, including that in the field…

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The following new subsections are added to section 9 at the end thereof: "(e) The term 'duty as low-pressure chamber inside observer' shall be construed to mean duty performed within low-pressure chambers at aviation physiological training facilities by members assigned to that duty as instructor-observers." "(f) The term 'duty as human acceleration or deceleration experimental subject' shall be construed to mean duty performed by members exposed as human acceleration or deceleration experimental subjects utilizing experimental acceleration or deceleration devices." "(g) The term 'duty involving the use of helium-oxygen for a breathing mixture in the execution of deep-sea diving' shall be construed to mean the performance of helium-oxygen…

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Subsections (e), (f), and (g) of the said section 9, as added by this order, shall be effective as of April 1, 1955.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense

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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)

"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required

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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone

45 / 100 friction index

Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.

Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.

Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.

Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.

Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence

⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).

ℹ️

How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.

Total Words

414

2,572 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

20.7

Post-Graduate Legal

Language Tone Score

+0.02

Constitutional Neutral

How is this scored?

Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by sections 204 and 501 (d) of the Career Compensation Act of 1949 (63 Stat. 809, 826), as amended, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, it is ordered that Executive Order No. 10152 of August 17, 1950, be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: 1. Subsection (b) of section 9 is amended to read: "(b) The term 'duty involving the demolition of explosives' shall be construed to mean duty performed by members who, pursuant to competent orders and as a primary duty assignment (1) demolish by the use of explosives underwater objects, obstacles, or explosives, or recover and render harmless, by disarming or demolition, explosives which have failed to function as intended or which have become a potential hazard; (2) participate as students or instructors in instructional training, including that in the field or fleet, for the duties described in clause (1) hereof, provided that live explosives are used in such training; (3) participate in proficiency training, including that in the field or fleet, for the maintenance of skill in the duties described in clause (1) hereof, provided that live explosives are used in such training; or (4) experiment with or develop tools, equipment, or procedures for the demolition and rendering harmless of explosives, provided that live explosives are used." 2. The following new subsections are added to section 9 at the end thereof: "(e) The term 'duty as low-pressure chamber inside observer' shall be construed to mean duty performed within low-pressure chambers at aviation physiological training facilities by members assigned to that duty as instructor-observers." "(f) The term 'duty as human acceleration or deceleration experimental subject' shall be construed to mean duty performed by members exposed as human acceleration or deceleration experimental subjects utilizing experimental acceleration or deceleration devices." "(g) The term 'duty involving the use of helium-oxygen for a breathing mixture in the execution of deep-sea diving' shall be construed to mean the performance of helium-oxygen diving duty aboard helium-oxygen equipped vessels by members assigned to that duty." The amendment of subsection (b) of the said section 9 made by this order shall become effective on the first day of the month following the date of this order. Subsections (e), (f), and (g) of the said section 9, as added by this order, shall be effective as of April 1, 1955. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

June 28, 1955.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

References Executive Order 11157—Prescribing Regulations Relating to Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty, Special Pay for Sea Duty and Duty at Certain Places, Basic Allowances for Subsistence and Basic Allowances for Quarters

Lyndon B. Johnson • 1964-06-22

Amends Executive Order 10739—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10152, Prescribing Regulations Relating to Incentive Pay for the Performance of Hazardous Duty by Members of the Uniformed Services

Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1957-11-15

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10,618 (June 28, 1955), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10618-amendment-executive-order-no-10152-prescribing-regulations-relating.