One of the officers' jobs was to decide who could leave the army. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]])
The officer is describing a situation that could possibly happen to a soldier. AT: "so that, if he dies in battle, another man will not dedicate his house instead of him" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-hypo]])