United States v. Lenson

Background

A lieutenant of the Navy’s Staff Corps sued for fourth-period pay under the Act of June 10, 1922, claiming $1,935.89 from the law’s effective date to April 23, 1924. He had been in continuous service for over fifteen years: about eleven years as an enlisted man, six months as a warrant officer, and about three and a half years as a commissioned officer. The Court of Claims sided with him, and the case reached this Court on review.

Reasoning

The Court focused on whether the 1922 law required that the claimant’s commissioned service equal the commissioned service of lieutenant commanders who draw fourth-period pay. The statute gives fourth-period pay to several officers and, in some clauses, expressly refers to “commissioned service.” The Court concluded that when Congress specified commissioned service it meant commissioned service alone, not earlier enlisted time counted for other purposes. Because the claimant’s commissioned service did not equal that of lieutenant commanders receiving fourth-period pay, the Court held the Government correctly denied his claim and reversed the earlier judgment.

Real world impact

This ruling limits who can receive fourth-period pay under the 1922 law to officers whose commissioned service meets the statute’s requirement. Officers with long enlisted careers who have only a few years of commissioned service cannot rely on their enlisted time to qualify. The decision affects pay calculations for similar Navy officers and clarifies how service time is counted under this federal pay law. It resolves this specific dispute in favor of the Government.