WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 16, 2005) -- All new officers going on active duty will be commissioned "Regular Army" beginning May 1.

Beginning late this summer, the Army will start changing the U.S. Army Reserve commissions of officers currently in the active component to RA commissions, a G1 official said. He said the process of converting USAR commissions to RA should be completed by May 2006.

During the past decade, officers did not receive RA commissions until they reached the rank of major. Since 1996, even cadets graduating from the academy at West Point, N.Y., received USAR commissions.

The Defense Science Board last year recommended a change in policy and the Army is now adopting a "One Active Army, One Commission" theme, said Col. Mark Patterson, Officer Division chief in the Directorate of Military Personnel Management, G1.

Only officers going to reserve-component units will continue to receive USAR commissions, Patterson said.

A provision in the 2005 Defense Authorization Act directed the change. Until now, an RA commission required Senate approval. Since promoting an officer to the rank of major required Senate approval, the Army decided to wait until then to seek RA commissions, Patterson said, accomplishing two actions with one list to the Senate.

With the new legislation, however, now an RA commission simply requires approval by the president, and that may be delegated to the secretary of Defense, Patterson said.

A scroll with the names of all officers being commissioned into the active component will be produced for the purpose of presidential approval. An RA commission requires:

· Citizenship

· Security clearance

· Moral character

Years ago, officers with RA commissions may have had some advantage over USAR officers during a reduction in force, Patterson said. Since the 1990s, though, such personnel decisions are strictly performance-based, he said.

Changing the status of all officers to Regular Army illustrates that, regardless of commissioning source, all officers serve as equals and are all part of the total Army, G1 officials said in a released statement on the One Active Army, One Commission theme.

"We believe they're making a commitment to the military," said Lt. Col. Dennis Harrington, an action officer in the G1 Directorate of Military Personnel Management. "So we should make a commitment to them."