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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 10821 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 10821—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10168 of October 11, 1950, Prescribing Regulations Relating to the Right of Enlisted Members of the Uniformed Services to Additional Pay for Sea and Foreign Duty

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower
•
Wednesday, May 20, 1959
•
2 min read (498 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (498 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Sections 2, 3, and 7 of Executive Order No. 10168 of October 11, 1950, be, and they are hereby, amended to read as follows: SEC. 2.

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 Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 May 20, 1959, this order concerns Amendment of Executive Order No. 10168 of October 11, 1950, Prescribing Regulations Relating to the Right of Enlisted Members of the Uniformed Services to Additional Pay for Sea and Foreign Duty. Sections 2, 3, and 7 of Executive Order No. 10168 of October 11, 1950, be, and they are hereby, amended to read as follows: SEC. 2. (a) For additional-pay purposes, and except as otherwise provided in section 3 hereof, the term "sea duty" shall mean duty performed by enlisted members: (1) While permanently assigned to a vessel, ship-based staff, or ship-based aviation unit pursuant to orders issued by competent…

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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Sections 2, 3, and 7 of Executive Order No. 10168 of October 11, 1950, be, and they are hereby, amended to read as follows: SEC. 2.

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For additional-pay purposes, and except as otherwise provided in section 3 hereof, the term "sea duty" shall mean duty performed by enlisted members: (1) While permanently assigned to a vessel, ship-based staff, or ship-based aviation unit pursuant to orders issued by competent authority, including (i) periods not in excess of fifteen consecutive days each while on temporary additional duty ashore or while temporarily based ashore.

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While permanently assigned, pursuant to orders issued by competent authority, to a commissioned landing-craft squadron or a commissioned motor-torpedo-boat squadron which is a tactical component of an operating fleet in an active status and the craft of which are equipped with berthing and messing facilities.

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For the purposes of this section, and except as provided in subsection (a) (3) hereof, the word "vessel" or "ship" shall mean a self-propelled vessel in an active status, in commission or in service, and equipped with berthing and messing facilities.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense 🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation
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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)
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"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
JM

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
AH

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
GM

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
48 / 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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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%).
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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
498
2,961 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.1
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 section 206 of the Career Compensation Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 811, as amended (37 U.S.C. 237), and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, it is ordered that sections 2, 3, and 7 of Executive Order No. 10168 of October 11, 1950, be, and they are hereby, amended to read as follows: SEC. 2. (a) For additional-pay purposes, and except as otherwise provided in section 3 hereof, the term "sea duty" shall mean duty performed by enlisted members: (1) While permanently assigned to a vessel, ship-based staff, or ship-based aviation unit pursuant to orders issued by competent authority, including (i) periods not in excess of fifteen consecutive days each while on temporary additional duty ashore or while temporarily based ashore. (The term "temporarily based ashore" refers to a ship-based staff or a ship-based aviation unit that has been landed ashore with intent to return to a ship.) (ii) periods during which messing or berthing facilities, or both, are temporarily out of operation to permit alterations or repairs. (2) While in a vessel pursuant to orders issued by competent authority although based or stationed ashore, but only when such duty is eight days or more in duration in each case. (3) While in a vessel in an inactive duty status, special status, or in a non-self-propelled vessel, but only on days when such vessel is operating at sea for a period of eight days or more in each case. (4) While permanently assigned, pursuant to orders issued by competent authority, to a commissioned landing-craft squadron or a commissioned motor-torpedo-boat squadron which is a tactical component of an operating fleet in an active status and the craft of which are equipped with berthing and messing facilities. (b) For the purposes of this section, and except as provided in subsection (a) (3) hereof, the word "vessel" or "ship" shall mean a self-propelled vessel in an active status, in commission or in service, and equipped with berthing and messing facilities. SEC. 3. Except as provided in subsections 2(a) (2) and (3) hereof, no enlisted member shall, for additional-pay purposes, be considered to be on sea duty: (a) While on duty in a receiving ship or station ship. (b) While on duty in a vessel which is in an inactive status. (c) While on duty with an administrative or maintenance organization that is permanently based ashore. SEC. 7. No enlisted member shall be entitled under this order to receive both sea-duty pay and foreign-duty pay for the same period of time; nor sea-duty pay and credit for basic allowance for subsistence for the same period of time except periods during which messing facilities are temporarily out of operation to permit alterations or repairs and periods during which the member is on leave beyond the continental limits of the United States or in Alaska. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

May 20, 1959.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,821 (May 20, 1959), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10821-amendment-executive-order-no-10168-october-11-1950-prescribing.