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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 11120 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11120—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10152, Relating to Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty, Executive Order No. 10168, Relating to Pay for Sea Duty and Duty at Certain Places, and Executive Order No. 10204, Relating to Basic Allowances for Quarters

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Wednesday, October 2, 1963
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6 min read (1,151 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 6 min read (1,151 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order No. 10152 of August 17, 1950, as amended, is further amended as follows: (a) Section 6 is amended to read as follows: SEC. 6.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Public Health & Medical Institutions Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President John F. Kennedy on October 2, 1963, this order concerns Amendment of Executive Order No. 10152, Relating to Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty, Executive Order No. 10168, Relating to Pay for Sea Duty and Duty at Certain Places, and Executive Order No. 10204, Relating to Basic Allowances for Quarters. Executive Order No. 10152 of August 17, 1950, as amended, is further amended as follows: (a) Section 6 is amended to read as follows: SEC. 6. As determined by the Secretary of the Navy, members who, pursuant to competent orders, are attached to a submarine which is in an active status and members qualified in submarines who, pursuant to competent orders, are assigned as prospective crew members of a submarine under…

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, as amended, is further amended as follows: (a) Section 6 is amended to read as follows: SEC. 6.

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As determined by the Secretary of the Navy, members who, pursuant to competent orders, are attached to a submarine which is in an active status and members qualified in submarines who, pursuant to competent orders, are assigned as prospective crew members of a submarine under construction or are receiving instruction to prepare for assignment to a submarine of advanced design or for a position of increased responsibility on a submarine shall be entitled to receive incentive pay for the performance of submarine duty.

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In the case of nuclear-powered submarines this entitlement shall include periods of training and rehabilitation after assignment thereto.

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A member who, pursuant to competent orders, performs duty as an operator or crew member of an operational, self-propelled submersible, including undersea exploration and research vehicles, shall likewise be entitled to receive incentive pay for the performance of submarine duty." (b) Section 8(a) is amended to read as follows: "(a) As used in section 301 (a) of title 37 of the United States Code, the term 'duty involving parachute jumping as an essential part of military duty' shall be construed to mean duty performed by members who, under such regulations as the Secretary concerned may prescribe, have received a rating as a parachutist or parachute rigger, or are undergoing training for such a rating, and who are required by competent…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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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
57 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

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
1,151
6,846 characters
Estimated Read Time
6 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
21
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 301 (a) and (f), 305, and 403 of title 37, United States Code, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Executive Order No. 10152 of August 17, 1950, as amended, is further amended as follows: (a) Section 6 is amended to read as follows: SEC. 6. As determined by the Secretary of the Navy, members who, pursuant to competent orders, are attached to a submarine which is in an active status and members qualified in submarines who, pursuant to competent orders, are assigned as prospective crew members of a submarine under construction or are receiving instruction to prepare for assignment to a submarine of advanced design or for a position of increased responsibility on a submarine shall be entitled to receive incentive pay for the performance of submarine duty. In the case of nuclear-powered submarines this entitlement shall include periods of training and rehabilitation after assignment thereto. A member who, pursuant to competent orders, performs duty as an operator or crew member of an operational, self-propelled submersible, including undersea exploration and research vehicles, shall likewise be entitled to receive incentive pay for the performance of submarine duty." (b) Section 8(a) is amended to read as follows: "(a) As used in section 301 (a) of title 37 of the United States Code, the term 'duty involving parachute jumping as an essential part of military duty' shall be construed to mean duty performed by members who, under such regulations as the Secretary concerned may prescribe, have received a rating as a parachutist or parachute rigger, or are undergoing training for such a rating, and who are required by competent orders to engage in parachute jumping from an aircraft in aerial flight." (c) Section 9 is amended by striking out subsections (c), (d), and (g) and amending subsection (e) to read as follows: "(e) The term 'duty inside a high or low-pressure chamber' shall be construed to mean duty performed within pressure chambers at physiological facilities by members assigned to that duty." (d) Section 10 is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 10. Any member who is required by competent orders to perform hazardous duty, or multiple hazardous duties, and who becomes injured or otherwise incapacitated as a result of the performance of any such hazardous duty, by aviation accident or otherwise, shall be deemed to have fulfilled all of the requirements for the performance of all hazardous duties which he is required by competent orders to perform, for a period not to exceed three months following the date as of which such incapacity is determined by the appropriate medical authority." (e) Sections 12 and 13 are redesignated as sections "13" and "14", respectively, and the following new section is added: " SEC. 12. Under such regulations as the Secretary concerned may prescribe, a member who performs multiple hazardous duties under competent orders may be paid not more than two payments of incentive pay for a period of time during which he qualifies for more than one such payment. Dual payments of incentive pay shall be limited to those members who are required by competent orders to perform specific multiple hazardous duties in order to carry out their assigned missions." SEC. 2. Executive Order No. 10168 of October 11, 1950, as amended, is further amended as follows: (a) The title is amended to read as follows: "REGULATIONS RELATING TO SPECIAL PAY FOR SEA DUTY AND DUTY AT CERTAIN PLACES". (b) Section 2 (a) (2) is amended to read as follows: "(2) While in a vessel pursuant to orders to temporary additional duty or temporary duty on that vessel issued by competent authority although based or stationed ashore, but only when such duty is eight days or more in duration in each case." (c) Sections 4, 5, 6, and 7 are amended to read as follows: "SEC. 4. Enlisted members entitled to receive basic pay shall be entitled to receive additionally, pay under the rates prescribed by section 305 (a) of title 37 of the United States Code, while on duty at places that are outside the contiguous 48 States and the District of Columbia and that are designated for this purpose by the Secretary of Defense or, in the case of enlisted members of the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, by the Secretary of the Treasury. Subject to the provisions of section 305 of title 37 of the United States Code, an enlisted member who is permanently assigned to duty at a place so designated is entitled to receive that pay during a period of authorized leave, temporary additional duty, temporary duty, or hospitalization, or while on an operational aircraft flight, but not for more than thirty days while he is away from that place. "SEC. 5. Unless otherwise entitled to special pay in accordance with the last sentence of section 4, during periods spent on temporary additional duty or temporary duty, or on operational aircraft flights, pay in accordance with section 4 shall accrue to enlisted members only for periods of eight continuous days or more in duration at places designated, including the dates of arrival at, and the dates of departure from, those places. "SEC. 6. Enlisted members shall not be entitled to additional pay under this order for duty which, under the provisions of supplementary regulations prescribed hereunder, does not constitute either sea duty or duty described in sections 4 and 5 hereof. "SEC. 7. No enlisted member shall be entitled under this order to receive both sea-duty pay and pay for duty described in sections 4 and 5 hereof 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 contiguous 48 States and the District of Columbia." SEC. 3. Executive Order No. 10204 of January 15, 1951, is amended by adding the following new section: "8. Unless the Secretary concerned, or his designee, determines that military operational conditions require otherwise, a commissioned officer without dependents who is in a pay grade above pay grade O-3 and who is assigned to quarters of the United States or a housing facility under the jurisdiction of a uniformed service, appropriate to his grade or rank and adequate for himself, may elect not to occupy those quarters and instead to receive the basic allowance for quarters prescribed for his pay grade by section 403 of title 37 of the United States Code." SEC. 4. The amendments made by this order shall be effective as of October 1, 1963. JOHN F. KENNEDY

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

October 2, 1963

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

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

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11,120 (Oct. 2, 1963), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11120-amendment-executive-order-no-10152-relating-incentive-pay-for.