§ 701. Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps; contract surgeons
(a)
Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned, a commissioned officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may transfer or assign his pay account, when due and payable.
(b)
A contract surgeon, or contract dental surgeon, of the Army, Navy, or 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).
(c)
An enlisted member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may not assign his pay, and if he does so, the assignment is void.
(d)
Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps and a contract surgeon of the Army, Navy, or Air Force may make allotments from the pay of the member or surgeon for the purpose of supporting relatives or for any other purpose that the Secretary considers proper. Such allotments may include a maximum of six allotments considered to be discretionary under such regulations. For a member or former member entitled to retired or retainer pay, a maximum of six discretionary allotments authorized during active military service may be continued into retired status, and new discretionary allotments may be authorized so long as the total number of discretionary allotments does not exceed six.
(e)
If an allotment made under subsection (d) 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 Secretary concerned from the officer who failed to make the report.