Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§2644 Control of Transportation Systems in Time of War
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART IV — SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › CHAPTER 157 — TRANSPORTATION › § 2644
Summary
In war, the President through Secretary of Defense may seize any transport for military or other emergency use and bar other traffic.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §2644
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
In time of war, the President, through the Secretary of Defense, may take possession and assume control of all or part of any system of transportation to transport troops, war material, and equipment, or for other purposes related to the emergency. So far as necessary, he may use the system to the exclusion of other traffic.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 474210:1361.Aug. 29, 1916, ch. 418 (last par. under “Ordnance Department”), 39 Stat. 645. The words “as may be needful or desirable” are omitted as surplusage.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1996—Pub. L. 104–201 renumbered section 4742 of this title as this section and substituted “Secretary of Defense” for “Secretary of the Army”.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 2644
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102