By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 18 of the Act entitled "An Act To readjust the pay and allowances of the commissioned and enlisted personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Public Health Service", approved June 10, 1922, 42 Stat. 632, it is hereby ordered that enlisted men of the Coast Guard who have established their special qualifications in the use of the arm or arms which they may be required to use according to standards of efficiency that may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of the Treasury, and who are so stationed by their commanding officers that they may be required to use such arm or arms, including periods while transferred for temporary duty away from the unit to which permanently attached (provided the commanding officer of the unit to which they are permanently attached has retained them in the stations where they normally use such arm or arms), shall receive additional compensation, for such periods of time as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, as follows: First Class-----------------$5.00 per month Second Class---------------4.00 per month Third Class-----------------3.00 per month Fourth Class---------------2.00 per month Fifth Class-----------------1.00 per month. Executive Order No. 3724, of August 17, 1922, prescribing regulations governing the payment of additional compensation to enlisted men of the Coast Guard specially qualified in the use of arms, is hereby superseded. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 22, 1940.
Executive Order 8523—Regulations Governing the Payment of Additional Compensation to Enlisted Men of the Coast Guard Specially Qualified in the Use of Arms
Executive Brief • At a Glance
Enlisted men of the Coast Guard who have established their special qualifications in the use of the arm or arms which they may be required to use according to standards of efficiency that may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of the Treasury, and who are so stationed by their commanding officers that they may be required to use such arm or arms, including periods while transferred for temporary duty away from the unit to which permanently attached (provided the commanding officer of the unit to which they are permanently attached has retained them in the stations where they normally use such arm or arms), shall receive additional compensation, for such periods of time as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury…
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 August 22, 1940, this order concerns Regulations Governing the Payment of Additional Compensation to Enlisted Men of the Coast Guard Specially Qualified in the Use of Arms. Enlisted men of the Coast Guard who have established their special qualifications in the use of the arm or arms which they may be required to use according to standards of efficiency that may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of the Treasury, and who are so stationed by their commanding officers that they may be required to use such arm or arms, including periods while transferred for temporary duty…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
Enlisted men of the Coast Guard who have established their special qualifications in the use of the arm or arms which they may be required to use according to standards of efficiency that may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of the Treasury, and who are so stationed by their commanding officers that they may be required to use such arm or arms, including periods while transferred for temporary duty away from the unit to which permanently attached (provided the commanding officer of the unit to which they are permanently attached has retained them in the stations where they normally use such arm or arms), shall receive additional compensation, for such periods of time as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury…
Executive Order No. 3724, of August 17, 1922, prescribing regulations governing the payment of additional compensation to enlisted men of the Coast Guard specially qualified in the use of arms, is hereby superseded.
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 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."
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.
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 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.
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
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8523 (Aug. 22, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8523-regulations-governing-the-payment-additional-compensation-enlisted.