By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 40 of the act of February 2, 1901, entitled "An Act to increase the efficiency of the permanent military establishment of the United States" (31 Stat. 748, 758), Executive Order No. 5952 of November 23, 1932, prescribing the Army Ration, is hereby amended as follows: 1. Subdivision (e) of Note 5 of Part 1 (Garrison Ration) is amended by adding thereto the following sentence: "This additional 10 per cent is not applicable to any additional allowance which may be authorized under Note 6, below." 2. Part 3 (Reserve Ration) is revoked in full. 3. Part 4 (Field Ration) is amended to read as follows: "The Field Ration is that prescribed for use only in time of war or national emergency when the garrison ration is not used. It will be issued in kind, and no ration savings will be allowed. Its components and substitutes will be prescribed by the Secretary of War or the commander of the field forces, and will consist of the following: (a) Field Ration "A." This ration will correspond as nearly as practicable with the components or substitutes therefor of the garrison ration. This type of field ration will be issued as often as circumstances permit. (b) Field Ration "B." This ration will correspond as nearly as practicable with the components of Field Ration "A" with the exception that non-perishable processed or canned products will replace items of a perishable nature. (c) Field Ration "C." This ration will consist of previously cooked or prepared food, packed in hermetically sealed cans, which food may be eaten either hot or cold, and will consist of six cans per ration as follows: 3 cans containing a meat and a vegetable component. 3 cans containing crackers, sugar, and soluble coffee. (d) Field Ration "D." This ration will consist of three 4-ounce bars of concentrated chocolate. (e) In time of war Field Rations "C" and "D" are to be issued only upon orders of the commander of the field forces. In time of peace, such of these types as are available may, for training purposes, be utilized when directed by proper authority. (f) When deemed advisable, a combination of Field Rations "C" and "D" may constitute the Field Ration. This will normally consist of two cans of the meat and vegetable component, two cans of the crackers, sugar, and soluble coffee, and two 4-ounce bars of concentrated chocolate." (g) In the theater of operations, when they cannot be obtained otherwise by the troops, the commander of the field forces may authorize the issue of any of the following items as a part of the field ration, not to exceed the allowances per ration as shown. 4. Parts 4 (Field Ration), 5 (Troops Traveling on Transports), and 6 (Ration and Savings Accounts) are re-numbered 3, 4, and 5, respectively. This order shall be effective immediately. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, January 25, 1940.
Executive Order 8333—Amending Executive Order No. 5952 of November 23, 1932, Prescribing the Army Ration
Executive Brief • At a Glance
Executive Order No. 5952 of November 23, 1932, prescribing the Army Ration, is hereby amended as follows: 1.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 25, 1940, this order concerns Amending Executive Order No. 5952 of November 23, 1932, Prescribing the Army Ration. Executive Order No. 5952 of November 23, 1932, prescribing the Army Ration, is hereby amended as follows: 1. Subdivision (e) of Note 5 of Part 1 (Garrison Ration) is amended by adding thereto the following sentence: "This additional 10 per cent is not applicable to any additional allowance which may be authorized under Note 6, below." 2. Part 3 (Reserve Ration) is revoked in full. 3.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
Executive Order No. 5952 of November 23, 1932, prescribing the Army Ration, is hereby amended as follows: 1.
Subdivision (e) of Note 5 of Part 1 (Garrison Ration) is amended by adding thereto the following sentence: "This additional 10 per cent is not applicable to any additional allowance which may be authorized under Note 6, below." 2.
Part 3 (Reserve Ration) is revoked in full. 3.
Part 4 (Field Ration) is amended to read as follows: "The Field Ration is that prescribed for use only in time of war or national emergency when the garrison ration is not used.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President takes measures incompatible with the expressed or implied will of Congress, his power is at its lowest ebb."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." — Federalist No. 47 (1788)
Madison would express grave alarm over this order. By asserting independent authority in tension with legislative limits or the Bill of Rights, the Executive risks collapsing the separation of powers into unilateral rule. Under the Madisonian model, no emergency justifies the Executive substituting its decree for a deliberative Act of Congress.
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.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)
George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order asserts independent Article II prerogative against statutory constraints, reallocates funds without explicit appropriation, or stretches executive power into realms constitutionally reserved to the legislature or judiciary.
This directive engages significant constitutional friction across statutory authorization, legislative prerogatives, or individual liberties.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8333 (Jan. 25, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8333-amending-executive-order-no-5952-november-23-1932-prescribing-the.