Members of Army or Air Force; contract surgeons

§ 701. Members of Army or Air Force; contract surgeons (a) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force, as the case may be, a commissioned officer of the Army or the Air Force may transfer or assign his pay account, when due and payable. (b) A contract surgeon, or contract dental surgeon, of the Army or the Air Force, on duty in Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippine Islands, or Puerto Rico, may transfer or assign his pay account, when due and payable, under the regulations prescribed under subsection (a) of this section. (c) An enlisted member of the Army or the Air Force may not assign his pay, and if he does so, the assignment is void. (d) The Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force, as the case may be, may allow a— (1) member of the Army or the Air Force; or (2) contract surgeon of the Army or the Air Force; to make allotments from his pay for the support of his relatives, or for any other purpose that the Secretary concerned considers proper. If an allotment made under this subsection is paid to the allottee before the disbursing officer receives a notice of discontinuance from the officer required by regulation to furnish the notice, the amount of the allotment shall be credited to the disbursing officer. If an allotment is erroneously paid because the officer required by regulation to so report failed to report the death of the allotter or any other fact that makes the allotment not payable, the amount of the payment not recovered from the allottee shall, if practicable, be collected by the Chief of Finance (in cases involving the Army) or by the Secretary of the Air Force, from the officer who failed to make the report.