An Act to provide for the promotion, precedence, constructive credit, distribution, retention, and elimination of officers of the reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States, and for other purposes
PL 83-773 (H.R.6573), enacted 09/03/1954

68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 7 7 S - S E P T . 3, 1954 
1147 
P u b l i c L a w 7 7 3 
C H A P T E R 
1 2 5 7 
- ^ ^ A C T 
September 3, 1954 
To provide for the promotion, precedence, constructive credit, distribution, 
[H. R. 6573] 
retention, and elimination of officers of the reserve components of the Armed 
Forces of the United States, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ 
Reserve 
Officer 
Personnel A c t of 
1954. 
SHORT TITLE 
That this Act may be cited as the "Reserve Officer Personnel Act of 
1954". 
TITLE I—TABLE OF CONTENTS AND 
DEFINITIONS 
SEC. 101. This Act is divided into titles and sections according to the 
following table of contents: 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
' 
TITLE I—TABLE OF CONTENTS AND DEFINITIONS 
Sec 101. Table of contents. 
Sec. 102. Delinitions. 
TITLE I I — T H E RESERVE COMPONENTS GENERALLY 
Sec. 201. Constructive credit upon initial appointment. 
Sec. 202. Eligibility for promotion. 
Sec. 203. Boards. 
Sec. 204. Retention of officers with obligated periods of service. 
Sec. 205. Retention of officers with more than eighteen years of satisfactory 
Federal service. 
Sec. 206. Advancement in grade upon retirement or transfer to the Retired 
Reserve. 
, 
Sec. 207. Grade upon entry upon active duty. 
Sec. 208. Return to an active status. 
Sec. 209. Suspension of provisions. 
Sec. 210. Sea or foreign service. 
S 
Sec. 211. Grades of Reserve officers. 
Sec. 212. Retention of officers assigned to the Selective Service System. 
TITLE I I I — T H E RESERVE COMPONENTS OF THE ARMY 
SUBTITLE A—GENERAL 
Sec. 301. Applicability. 
Sec. 302. Definitions. 
Sec. 303. Promotion procedures generally. 
Sec. 304. Maximum grades for female officers. 
Sec. 305. Constructive credit—Appointments. 
Sec. 306. Minimum service in grade. 
Sec. 307. Authorized numbers and distribution in grade. 
SUBTITLE B—NONUNIT OFFICERS 
Sec. 308. Promotion to first lieutenant. 
Sec. 309. Grade structure vacancies—Promotion to captain, major, and lieuten-
ant colonel. 
Sec. 310. Mandatory consideration—Maximum service in grade—Promotion to 
captain, major, and lieutenant colonel. 
Sec. 311. Second consideration. 
See. 312. Grade structure vacancy—Promotion to colonel and female field grades. 
Sec. 313. Grade structure vacancy—Promotion to brigadier general and major 
general. 
Sec. 314. Method of selection and order of promotion. 
Sec. 315. Total years of service required for first nonunit promotion. 
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PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued 
TITLE III—THE RESERVE COMPONENTS OF THE ARMY—Continued 
SUBTITLE O—^UNIT OFFJCEKS, AEMT BESERVE 
Sec. 316. Promotion to first lieutenant. 
Sec. 317. Unit vacancy—Promotion to captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and 
colonel—Special promotion of second lieutenants and first lieutenants. 
Sec. 318. Unity vacancy—Promotion to brigadier general and major general. 
SUBTITLE D 
OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD OF THE UNITED STATES 
Sec. 319. Examination for Federal recognition upon unit vacancy promotion. 
Sec. 320. Automatic Federal recognition. 
Sec. 321. Promotion to higher grade in the National Guard of the United States. 
Sec. 322. Promotion upon transfer to Army Reserve. 
Sec. 323. Appointment of adjutant generals and assistant adjutant generals as 
Reserve officers. 
SUBTITLE E—ELIMINATION 
Sec. 324. Elimination of second lieutenants. 
Sec. 325. Elimination of first lieutenants, captains, and majors. 
Sec. 326. Maximum ages. 
Sec. 327. Elimination of officers for length of service. 
Sec. 328. Retention of officers with certain satisfactory Federal service. 
Sec. 329. Disposition of general officers upon ceasing to occupy position. 
Sec. 330. Excess numbers in grade. 
SUBTITLE F—RESERVE OFFICERS ON ACTIVE DUTY 
Sec. 331. Applicability of other subtitles. 
Sec. 332. Procedure for officers eligible for unit vacancy promotion entering on 
active duty. 
Sec. 333. Promotion to higher grade while on active duty. 
Sec. 334. Promotion under mandatory consideration of officers with higher tem-
porary grade. 
Sec. 335. Appointment in appropriate higher grade after temporary appointment. 
Sec. 336. Procedure for officers of the National Guard of the United States. 
Sec. 337. Withholding of certain promotions. 
Sec. 338. Promotion upon release from active duty. 
Sec. 339. Retention of certain officers for additional service. 
SUBTITLE G—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 340. Assimilation of corresponding regulations. 
TITLE IV—THE NAVAL RESERVE AND MARINE CORPS RESERVE 
Sec. 401. Definitions. 
Sec. 402. Authorized strengths and distribution in grades. 
Sec. 403. Promotion generally. 
Sec. 404. Running mates. 
.'^*t 
Sec. 405. Eligibility for promotion. 
Sec. 406. Date of rank upon promotion. 
Sec. 407. Applicability of title. 
Sec. 408. Qualifications of promotion. 
Sec. 409. Effect of removal by President or failure of consent by Senate. 
Sec. 410. Precedence. 
Sec. 411. Attrition. 
Sec. 412. Retirement for age. 
Sec. 413. Suspension of other laws and effect of temporary promotions. 
TITLE V—THE RESERVE COMPONENTS OF THE AIR FORCE 
Sec. 501. Definitions. 
Sec. 502. Promotion and promotion service. 
Sec. 503. Authorized strengths and distribution in grades. 
Sec. 504. Seniority for promotion purposes. 
Sec. 505. Constructive credit—Appointments. 
Sec. 506. Minimum service in grade. 
Sec. 507. Time limitation on consideration or examination. 
Sec. 508. Selection generally. 
Sec. 509. Promotion to first lieutenant in Air Force Reserve. 
Sec. 510. Consideration for promotion to captain, major, and lieutenant colonel. 
68 STAT.] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1149 
TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued 
TITLE V—THE RESERVE COMPONENTS OF THE AIR FORCE—Continued 
Sec. 511. Promotion to captain, major, and lieutenant colonel. 
Sec. 512. Method of selection for promotion to captain, major, or lieutenant 
colonel. 
Sec. 513. Promotion to fill unit vacancies in the Air Force Reserve or for special 
qualifications. 
Sec. 514. Promotion of officers serving in temporary grade higher than perma-
nent. 
Sec. 515. Promotion of certain female officers. 
Sec. 516. Promotion to colonel. 
Sec. 517. Promotion to brigadier general and major general. 
Sec. 518. Effect of removal by President or failure of consent by the Senate. 
Sec. 519. Promotion of officers in the Air National Guard of the United States, 
generally. 
Sec. 520. Promotion to first lieutenant in the Air National Guard of the United 
States. 
Sec. 521. Promotion to captain, major, and lieutenant colonel in the Air National 
Guard of the United States of officers on recommended lists. 
Sec. 522. Effect of failure of selection for promotion to grade of captain, major, 
or lieutenant colonel. 
Sec. 523. Maximum ages. 
Sec. 524. Elimination of officers for length of service. 
Sec. 525. Elimination of excess officers. 
Sec. 526. Elimination or transfer of adjutants general or assistant adjutants 
general. 
TITLE VI—THE COAST GUARD RESERVE 
Sec. 601. Definitions. 
Sec. 602. Applicability of title. 
Sec. 603. Strength and distribution. 
Sec. 604. Promotion generally. 
Sec. 605. Precedence. 
Sec. 606. Running mates. 
Sec. 607. Promotion zone. 
Sec. 608. Date of rank upon promotion. 
Sec. 609. Limitation on consideration for promotion. 
Sec. 610. Qualifications for promotion. 
Sec. 611. Failure of selection and elimination. 
Sec. 612. Effect of removal by the President or failure of consent of Senate. 
Sec. 613. Maximum ages for retention in active status. 
Sec. 614, Type of promotion; temporary; permanent. 
Sec. 615. Promotion of officers on active duty. 
Sec. 616. Appointment of former Navy and Coast Guard officers. 
Sec. 617. Grade upon relief of retired officers. 
Sec. 618. Regulations. 
TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 701. Effective date. 
Sec. 702. Repeals and amendments. 
Sec. 703. Savings provisions. 
Sec. 102. When used in this Act— 
Definitions. 
(1) "Reserve officer" means a commissioned officer of one of the 
reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States specified 
in section 202 of the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952, but does not 
|^ stat. 483. 
include commissioned warrant officers. 
(2) Unless otherwise specified or required by the context "promo-
tion" and "promoted" refer to appointment of a Reserve officer in the 
next higher grade as a Reserve officer of his Armed Force, 
(3) 'Grade" means, unless otherwise specified, the permanent grade 
of a Reserve officer. 
(4) "Points" mean points credited under section 302 of the Army 
and Air Fofce Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948, f2 stat. los?. 
as amended. 
1
0 use loaea. 
(5) Unless otherwise specifically provided, terms used in this Act 
have the same meaning as in the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952. souse901 note. 
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PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
48 Stat. 158. 
32 u s e 113. 
(6) "Active status" means the status of a Reserve officer who is not 
in the inactive National Guard or inactive Air National Guard, on an 
inactive status list, or in the Retired Reserve. 
(7) "Discharged" means discharged from an appointment as a 
Reserve officer. 
(8) "Federal recognition" and "federally recognized" refer to Fed-
eral recognition of officers of the National Guard and the Air National 
Guard of a State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, under the 
provisions of Section 75 of the National Defense Act, as amended. 
TITLE II—THE RESEHRVE COMPONENTS GENERALLY 
Credit upon ap-
pointment. 
Eligibility for 
promotion. 
Retention in ac-
tive status. 
Boards. 
SEC. 201. Upon appointment as a Reserve officer, a person who holds 
no appointment as a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces may 
for the purposes of this Act only be credited with an amount of 
service in an active status (or, if appointed an officer of the Naval 
Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, or the Coast Guard Reserve, be placed 
in a commensurate position on the appropriate lineal list), to reflect 
his combined years of experience, education, and such other qualifi-
cations as may be prescribed by regulations promulgated by the appro-
priate Secretary. 
Any such person who is appointed for the purpose 
of or with a view to assignment or designation as a medical officer, a 
dental officer, a veterinary officer, a judge advocate (law specialist of 
the Naval Reserve or Coast Guard Reserve), or a chaplain, shall, for 
the purpose of this Act only, be credited with a minimum amount of 
service in an active status of four years, three years, two years, three 
years, or three years, respectively, and a person holding a degree of 
Doctor of Philosophy, or comparable degree, in a science allied to 
medicine as may be determined by the appropriate Secretary, may be 
credited with a minimum amount of service in an active status of 
three years if appointed for assignment as an officer in the Medical 
Service Corps of the Army or in a comparable assignment in another 
Armed Force. 
SEC. 202. (a) To be eligible for consideration for promotion or for 
examination for Federal recognition and to be eligible for promotion 
under this Act, a Reserve officer must be in an active status. 
(b) To be retained in an active status, a Reserve officer (other than 
an adjutant general or assistant adjutant general of a State or Terri-
tory, or the District of Columbia) shall, in any applicable yearly 
period, attain the minimum number of points (not to exceed fifty) 
prescribed by the appropriate Secretary with the approval of the 
Secretary of Defense (or by the Secretary of the Treasury with 
respect to the Coast Guard, when the Coast Guard is operating as a 
service in the Treasury Department) and shall conform to such other 
standards and qualifications as the appropriate Secretary may pre-
scribe. Subject to section 204 of this Act, a Reserve officer who fails 
to attain the prescribed number of points or to conform to the pre-
scribed standards and qualifications, shall, upon his application, be 
transferred to the Retired Reserve if qualified, or if he is not qualified 
or does not apply for transfer to the Retired Reserve, shall be trans-
ferred to the inactive status list if qualified, or if not transferred to 
the Retired Reserve or the inactive status list, shall be discharged. 
SEC. 203. (a) Selection boards and other boards of officers appointed 
under this Act shall be appointed and convened by the appropriate 
Secretary or by such competent authority as the appropriate Secre-
tary may direct. 
(b) At least 50 per centum of the members of any selection board 
appointed under the provisions of this Act shall, to the extent practi-
cable, be Reserve officers. All members of any selection board shall 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1151 
be senior in permanent grade and temporary rank to any officer being 
considered by that board, 
(c) Selection boards shall serve for such length of time as the 
appropriate Secretary may prescribe, but no board shall serve longer 
than one year. 
No officer shall serve on two consecutive selection 
boards when the second of such boards considers any of the officers 
who were considered but not recommended for promotion to the same 
grade by the first selection board upon which he served. 
(d) Each selection board shall be composed of not less than five 
members which number shall constitute a quorum. 
Every officer 
who is appointed a member of a selection board will swear or affirm 
that he will without prejudice or partiality and, having in view both 
the special fitness of officers and the efficiency of his Armed Force, 
perform the duties imposed on him as a member of such board. 
Not 
less than a majority of the total membership of any selection board 
must concur in each recommendation made by the board. 
(e) Any officer eligible for consideration for promotion by any 
selection board shall have the right to forward through official chan-
nels a written communication inviting attention to any matter of 
record in the Armed Forces concerning himself which he deems 
important to his consideration which must arrive at a time not later 
than the convening of the selection board. The communication may 
not criticize or reflect upon the character, conduct, or motive of any 
officer. 
SEC. 204. Any Reserve officer who has not completed his period of 
required service as a member of a reserve component under section 4 
(d) or other provision of the Universal Military Training and Service 
Act, as amended, or under any other provision of law, shall not be 
discharged or transferred from an active status under this Act. 
Unless under regulations prescribed by the appropriate Secretary, he 
is subsequently promoted under the provisions of this Act, he shall 
be retained in grade for the remainder of his required period of service 
and shall be an additional number to the authorized numbers in that 
grade. 
SEC. 205. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
except as provided in sections 328 and 339, if on any date prescribed 
for the transfer from an active status or discharge of any Reserve 
officer, he has been credited with, or is entitled to be credited with 
eighteen or more, but less than nineteen, years of satisfactory Federal 
service for retired pay purposes under the provisions of title I I I 
of the Army and Air Force Vitalization and Bfetirement Equalization 
Act of 1948, as amended, such officer shall not, without his consent, 
be transferred from an active status or discharged pursuant to this 
Act prior to the date on which he is credited with twenty years of 
such satisfactory Federal service, or prior to the third anniversary 
of the date on which he would otherwise be transferred from an 
active status or discharged, whichever is earlier, unless transferred 
or discharged for physical disability, cause, or by reason of attaining 
the maximum age at which transfer from an active status or dis-
charge is required by this Act. 
(b) 
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, except as 
provided in sections 328 and 339, if on any date prescribed for the 
transfer from an active status or discharge of any Reserve officer, 
he has been credited with, or is entitled to be credited with nineteen or 
more, but less than twenty years of satisfactory Federal service for 
retired pay purposes under the provisions of title I I I of the Army 
and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948, 
as amended, such officer shall not, without his consent, be transferred 
from an active status or discharged pursuant to this Act prior to the 
Incomplete serv-
ice. 
62 Stat. 607. 
50 u s e app, 454 
(d). 
18 years or more 
of service. 
62 Stat. 1087. 
10 u s e 1036 et 
seq. 
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PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S 
TAT. 
Grade in Retired 
Reserve. 
66 Stat. 483. 
50 u s e 927. 
Active duty. 
Return to active 
status. 
Emergency sus-
pension of provi-
sions. 
Sea or f o r e i g n 
service. 
date on which he is credited with twenty years of such satisfactory 
Federal service, or prior to the second anniversary of the date on 
which he would otherwise be transferred from an active status or 
discharged, whichever is earlier, unless transferred or discharged 
for physical disability, cause, or by reason of attaining the maximum 
age at which transfer from an active status or discharge is required 
by this Act. 
SEC. 206. (a) A Reserve officer recommended for promotion to any 
grade under this Act or found qualified for Federal recognition in a 
higher grade, who, at any time prior to promotion, is found incapaci-
tated for service by reason of physical disability shall, if transferred 
to the Retired Reserve, be transferred in the grade for which recom-
mended or found qualified for Federal recognition, unless holding 
appointment in or entitled to higher grade under other provisions of 
law. No increase in pay or benefits shall accrue by reason of such 
promotion unless otherwise provided by law. 
(b) A Reserve officer shall, upon transfer to the Retired Reserve, 
be advanced on the reserve retired list established by section 207 of 
the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 to the highest grade, perma-
nent or temporary, satisfactorily held by him in the Armed Force of 
the United States in which holding appointment upon the date of his 
transfer to the Retired Reserve, as determined by the appropriate 
Secretary unless entitled to a higher grade under other provision of 
law. No increase in pay or benefits shall accrue by reason of such 
advancement unless otherwise provided by law. 
(c) An officer of the Retired Reserve who is ordered to active duty 
and who is promoted to a higher temporary grade while so serving, 
shall upon relief from active duty be advanced upon the reserve 
retired list to that grade. No increase in pay or benefits shall accrue 
by reason of such advancement unless otherwise provided by law. 
SEC. 207. Reserve officers who are hereafter ordered to active duty 
or active duty for training shall be so ordered in the grades held by 
them as Reserve officers except that the appropriate Secretary may, 
in his discretion, order such officers to active duty in any higher tem-
porary grade. 
SEC. 208. Any Reserve officer recommended for promotion by a selec-
tion board or found qualified for Federal recognition in the next 
higher grade who, at the time he otherwise would be promoted is not 
eligible therefor because he has been removed from an active status, 
shall not, if returned to an active status, be placed on a recommended 
list for promotion until subsequently recommended for promotion by 
a selection board or found qualified for Federal recognition in the next 
higher grade and shall not be deemed to have been considered for pro-
motion by the selection board or examined by the Federal recognition 
board which last considered or examined him prior to the time he is 
returned to an active status. 
SEC. 209. In time of war or national emergency declared by the 
Congress, the President is authorized, in his discretion, to suspend 
the operation of all or any part or parts of this Act with respect to 
any or all of the Armed Forces. If any or all of the provisions of 
this Act are suspended by the President under this section, the Sec-
retary of Defense, prior to the provisions of this Act being again 
placed in operation, shall recommend to Congress necessary legislation 
designed to adjust the grades of Reserve officers and such legislation 
shall be, insofar as practicable, comparable to any similar legislation 
recommended for adjustment of the grades of officers of the Regular 
component of the appropriate Armed Force. 
SEC. 210. There shall be no requirement for sea or foreign service 
for the promotion of Reserve officers under this Act. 
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PUBLIC LAW 77a-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1153 
SEC. 211. Except for the Coast Guard Keserve, the grades authorized 
for Reserve officers of an Armed Force, including those heretofore 
or hereafter transferred to the Retired Reserve, shall be the perma-
nent grades authorized for officers of the Regular component of that 
Armed Force pursuant to the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, as 
amended. 
The grades authorized for Reserve officers of the Coast 
Guard shall be as provided in title 14, United States Code, section 754. 
SEC. 212. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a Reserve 
officer while he is assigned to the Selective Service System may be 
retained in an active status in such assignment until he becomes sixty 
years of age. 
TITLE III—THE RESERVE COMPONENTS OF T H E ARMY 
G r a d e s of Re-
serve officers. 
61 Stat. 795. 
34 u s e 3a note. 
63 Stat. 551. 
Selective Serv-
ice System. 
SUBTITLE A—GENERAL 
APPLICABILITY 
SEC. 301. This title applies only to Reserve officers of the Army. 
DEFINITIONS 
SEC. 302. As used in this title— 
(a) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Army. 
(b) "Convening officer" means the person authorized to convene a 
selection board. 
(c) "Unit" means a unit of a reserve component of the Army or-
ganized for the purpose of serving as such. 
(d) "Unit officer" means an officer in an active status assigned to 
a unit. 
(e) "Nonunit officer" means an officer in an active status not assigned 
to a unit. 
(f) "Promotion service" means the aggregate of the following: 
(1) any period an officer has held a permanent appointment 
in his current grade in the Army while in an active status or on 
the active list of the Regular Army; 
(2) for the first promotion under this title of an officer in an 
active status on January 1, 1953, who has not been promoted in 
grade since September 2, 1945, any period served on active duty 
in the Army in a temporary grade equal to or higher than his 
current grade; and 
(3) any period credited under section 305 (b). 
No period may be counted twice as promotion service. For a person 
credited with service for initial appointment under sections 201 or 
305 (c), no period prior to'appointment may be counted under (1) or 
(2) as promotion service. 
(g) "Total years of service" means the greater of either— 
(1) the total periods for which the officer; (a) has held an 
appointment as a commissioned officer in any component of the 
Armed Forces of the United States or held a temporary appoint-
ment in the Army of the United States without component; (b) 
prior to June 15,1933, has held an appointment as a commissioned 
officer in the federally recognized National Guard or a federally 
recognized commissioned status in the National Guard; (c) has 
been credited under sections 201 or 305 (c) ; or 
(2) the period of time by which the age of the officer exceeds 
twenty-five years. 
No period may be counted twice in computing total years of service. 
For a person credited with service for initial appointment under 
39777 O—55~pt. 1-
-75 
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PUBLIC LAW 773-.SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
sections 201 or 305 (c), no period of service prior to appointment may 
be counted as total years of service. 
(h) "Special branch" means the Women's Army Corps and each 
special branch of the Army enumerated in the Army Organization Act 
10 use lb note, of 1950 (64 Stat. 263) and any other special branch of the Army here-
after established pursuant to law. 
(i) "Temporary appointment" means a temporary appointment 
in the Army of the United States without specification of component. 
(j) "Temporary grade" means the grade in which an officer holds a 
temporary appointment. 
PROMOTION PROCEDURES GENERALLY 
SEC. 303. (a) A Reserve officer may not be promoted unless author-
ized by this title. However, this shall not be deemed to be a limitation 
on the authority of the Secretary of the Army under section 207, 
65 Stat. 655. 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 837) as amended (5 
U. S. C. 191a). 
(b) To carry out the provisions of this title a promotion may be 
made effective before, on or after the date accomplished, and the officer 
shall be entitled to pay, allowances, and benefits authorized by law for 
the higher grade from such effective date. 
(c) Promotions in a special branch will be made from among offi-
cers assigned to that branch. Promotions in any other branch will 
be made from officers not assigned to a special branch. 
(d) A Reserve officer shall not be considered by a selection board 
more than two years prior to the anticipated date of his promotion. 
(e) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for the administration 
of this title, not inconsistent with the provisions hereof. 
MAXIMUM GRADES FOR FEMALE OFFICERS 
SEC. 304. A Women's Medical Specialist Corps Reserve officer may 
not be promoted to a grade above major. A Women's Army Corps 
or Army Nurse Corps Reserve officer may not be promoted to a grade 
above lieutenant colonel. 
CONSTRUCTIVE CREDIT—^APPOINTMENTS 
SEC. 305. (a) Upon initial appointment as a Reserve officer, the 
grade of a person credited with service under section 201 shall be as 
follows : 
Years of service credited 
Grade 
Less than three 
Second lieutenant. 
At least three, but less than seven 
First lieutenant. 
At least seven, but less than fourteen 
Captain. 
At least fourteen, but less than twenty-one 
Major. 
At least twenty-one 
Lieutenant colonel. 
At least twenty-three 
Colonel or lieutenant colonel, 
as the Secretary determines. 
(b) For a person appointed in a grade below colonel, any period 
of service credited under section 201 or under (c) which is in excess 
of the minimum years of service required under (a) for the grade 
in which appointed shall be credited as promotion service. 
(c) A person heretofore initially appointed as a Reserve officer 
in the lowest grade of a special branch, having held no prior appoint-
ment as a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces, may for the 
purposes of this title be credited with the amount of service in an 
active status prescribed in section 201 as a minimum amount of service 
for the appropriate branch. 
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PUBLIC LAW 773-8EPT. 3, 1954 
1155 
MINIMUM SERVICE IN GRADE 
SEC. 306. (a) Except as provided in sections 317 (b) and 319, a 
Reserve officer in the grade of second lieutenant may not be promoted, 
or federally recognized, in the next higher grade, until he has three 
years of promotion service. 
(b) A Reserve officer, other than an adjutant general or assistant 
adjutant general of a State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, 
in a grade above second lieutenant, may not be considered for promo-
tion by a selection board or examined for Federal recognition in the 
next higher grade until he has the following minimum years of pro-
motion service: 
Minimum years of 
Grade 
promotion service 
First lieutenant 
: 
2 
Captain 
4 
Major 
4 
Lieutenant colonel 
3 
Colonel 
2 
Brigadier general 
2 
AUTHORIZED NUMBER AND DISTRIBUTION I N GRADE 
SEC. 307. (a) The authorized number of Reserve officers of the 
Army in an active status is two hundred and seventy-five thousand. 
The Secretary of the Army may authorize a larger number to meet 
mobilization requirements or to permit increases required by or re-
sulting from the operation of other laws or the provisions of this Act. 
The authorized number of Reserve officers of the Army in an active 
status in each of the several grades, as prescribed by the Secretary 
of the Army, shall not exceed the following percentages of the total 
authorized number: 2 per centum in the grade of colonel; 6 per cen-
tum in the grade of lieutenant colonel; 13 per centum in the grade of 
major; 35 per centum in the grade of captain, and the remainder in 
the grade of first lieutenant and second lieutenant, except for the num-
ber authorized in general officer grades. The authorized number of 
reserve officers of the Army in general officer grades in an active status 
in the Army Reserve and the National Guard of the United States, 
exclusive of Reserve officers serving in general officer grades as adju-
tants general or assistant adjutants general of a State, Territory, or 
the District of Columbia, or in the National Guard Bureau, shall be 
207. The numbers authorized for any grade may be exceeded by the 
number of vacancies existing in any higher grade. 
(b) The Secretary shall distribute the total numbers of Reserve 
officers for each grade authorized pursuant to section 201 between— 
(1) officers in units of each reserve component, by prescribing 
appropriate Tables of Organization and Tables of Distribution; 
and 
(2) officers not assigned to units, further distributed among— 
(i) each special branch; and 
(ii) all other branches grouped together. 
(c) An officer retained in an active status under section 205 of this 
Act is an additional number to the number of officers otherwise 
authorized by law. 
SUBTITLE B—NONUNIT OFFICERS 
PROMOTION TO FIRST LIEUTENANT 
SEC. 308. Each nonunit officer of the Army Reserve in the grade of 
second lieutenant who is found by the Secretary or any officer he 
1156 
PUBLIC LAW 773~SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
designates to be qualified for promotion shall be promoted, effective 
on the date he has three years of promotion service, regardless of a 
vacancy in the grade of first lieutenant. 
GRADE STRUCTURE VACANCIES—^PROMOTION TO C A F I A I N , MAJOR, 
AND LIEUTENANT COLONEL 
SEC. 309. (a) When the Secretary determines that there are exist-
ing or anticipated vacancies within the numbers authorized pursuant 
to section 307 (b) (2) (i) or (ii) for the grades of captain, major, or 
lieutenant colonel, he may appoint and convene one or more selection 
boards to consider and recommend nonunit officers of the Army 
Keserve for promotion to fill the vacancies. The Secretary shall 
prescribe for each zone of consideration list established under section 
314 (a) the minimum promotion service an officer of the appropriate 
branch must have to be placed thereon, and shall require that the 
nonunit officers with the prescribed promotion service and the total 
years of service required by section 315 (b) be placed thereon. 
He 
shall also prescribe the number of officers to be recommended for 
promotion from each list. 
(b)Upon attaining the total years of service required by section 
315 (a), an officer recommended for promotion under this section may 
be promoted at any time to fill a vacancy, but it is not mandatory 
that the authorized number in these grades be maintained. 
(c) Women's Medical Specialist Corps or Army Nurse Corps Reserve 
officers in the grade of captain or higher and Women's Army Corps 
Reserve officers in the grade of major may not be considered for promo-
tion under this section. 
MANDATORY CONSIDERATION 
MAXIMUM SERVICE I N 
GRADE—^PROMOTION 
TO CAPTAIN, MAJOR, AND LIEUTENANT COLONEL 
SEC. 310. (a) Regardless of a vacancy in the next higher grade, each 
nonunit officer of the Army Reserve in the grade of first lieutenant, 
captain, or major who has not previously been considered by a selec-
tion board under this section or section 309 shall be considered by a 
selection board sufficiently in advance of the date he will have, respec-
tively, four, seven, or seven years of promotion service and the total 
years of service required by section 315 (a) so that, if recommended 
by the board, he may be promoted, effective on the date he has that 
service. 
(b) Women's Medical Specialist Corps or Army Nurse Corps Re-
serve officers in the grade of captain or higher and Women's Army 
Corps Reserve officers in the grade of major may not be considered 
for promotion under this section. 
(c) When he has the total years of service required by section 315 
(a), an officer recommended for promotion under this section may be 
promoted at any time to fill a vacancy. 
If not sooner promoted, he 
shall be promoted, effective on the date he has four, seven or seven 
years of promotion service, respectively, and the total years of service 
required by section 315 (a), regardless of a vacancy in the grade for 
which recommended. 
(d) An officer in the grade of first lieutenant, captain, or major who 
becomes a nonunit officer upon transfer from an inactive status or from 
the National Guard of the United States or upon release from a unit in 
the Army Reserve, after he has promotion service equal to or greater 
than that required for consideration under subsection (a) and the 
total years of service required by section 315 (b), shall be considered 
by the next appropriate selection board, and, if recommended for 
promotion, shall be promoted on the date the board reports its recom-
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1157 
mendations, or the date he has the years of promotion service pre-
scribed in subsection (a), or the date he attains the total years of 
service required under section 315 (a), whichever is later. 
(e) The authorized numbers of Eeserve officers in each grade shall 
be temporarily increased, if necessary, to permit promotion under this 
section. 
SECOND CONSIDERATION 
SEC. 311. A nonunit officer in the grade of first lieutenant, captain, 
or major who is considered by a selection board under section 309 
or 310 and not recommended for promotion shall, if he remains in 
an active status, be placed on the next zone of consideration list estab-
lished for consideration of officers of his branch and grade under 
section 309 or 310. If he is considered for promotion a second time 
and not recommended, he may not thereafter be considered for pro-
motion or examined for Federal recognition. 
If the second con-
sideration is under section 310, and he is recommended for promotion, 
he will be promoted one year after the date he would have been pro-
moted had he been recommended by the board which first considered 
him. 
GRADE STRUCTURE VACANCY—^PROMOTION TO COLONEL AND FEMALE FIELD 
GRADES 
SEC. 312. When the Secretary determines that there are existing 
or anticipated vacancies within the numbers authorized pursuant to 
section 307 (b) (2) (i) or (ii) for the grades of major in the Army 
Nurse Corps or Women's Medical Specialist Corps, lieutenant colonel 
in the Army Nurse Corps or Women's Army Corps, or colonel in 
any other branch, he may appoint and convene one or more selection 
boards to consider and recommend nonunit officers to fill the vacancies. 
The Secretary shall prescribe for each zone of consideration list estab-
lished pursuant to section 314 (a) the minimum promotion service 
an officer of the appropriate branch shall have to be placed thereon, 
and shall require that each nonunit officer with the prescribed pro-
motion service and the total years of service required by section 315 
(b) be placed thereon. The Secretary shall also prescribe the number 
of officers to be recommended for promotion from each list. 
The 
selection board shall recommend the prescribed number of officers 
deemed best qualified among those on the zone of consideration list. 
Upon attaining the total years of service required by section 315 (a), 
an officer recommended for promotion under this section may be pro-
moted at any time to fill a vacancy, but it is not mandatory that the 
authorized number in these grades be maintained. 
GRADE 
STRUCTURE 
VACANCY—^PROMOTION 
TO BRIGADIER 
GENERAL 
AND 
MAJOR 
GENERAL 
SEC. 313. When vacancies are authorized or are anticipated among 
nonunit officers of the Army Reserve in the grades of major general 
or brigadier general, the Secretary may appoint and convene a selec-
tion board to consider for promotion officers of the Army Reserve 
in the grade of brigadier general and colonel, respectively, who fulfill 
the requirements of section 306 and who meet minimum standards to 
be prescribed by the Secretary, and prescribe the number of officers to 
be recommended for promotion. 
The selection board shall recom-
mend the prescribed number of officers deemed best qualified of those 
considered. 
Upon attaining the total years of service required by 
section 315 (a), an officer recommended for promotion under this sec-
1158 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
tion may be promoted at any time to fill a vacancy, but it is not man-
datory that the authorized number in these grades be maintained. 
METHOD OF SELECTION AND ORDER OF PROMOTION 
SEC. 314. (a) When nonunit officers are considered for promotion 
under sections 309, 310, 312, or 313, the names of officers assigned to 
each special branch will be placed on a separate zone of considera-
tion list for, or considered for promotion for service in, that branch, 
and the names of all other officers will be placed on a zone of consid-
eration list or considered for promotion without regard to the branch 
to which they are assigned. 
The convening officer will refer each 
zone of consideration list to a selection board for consideration. 
(b) A selection board will employ one of the following means of 
selection, as directed by the Secretary— 
(1) When officers are being considered under section 310, he 
may require the board to recommend those referred to it whom it 
considers fully qualified for promotion, and to report those whom 
it considers not fully qualified for promotion; 
(2) When officers are being considered under section 309, he 
may require the board to consider the officers referred to it in 
the order of length of promotion service, to recommend those 
considered fully qualified for promotion, and to pass over and 
report those whom it considers not fully qualified for promotion, 
and to continue such procedure until the number of officers speci-
fied by him is recommended; and 
(3) In lieu of the means prescribed in (1) or (2), he may re-
quire the board to recommend a specified number of officers whom 
the board considers the best qualified of those referred to it for 
consideration. 
When officers are considered for promotion to the grade of captain, 
major, or lieutenant colonel under the means prescribed in subsection 
(b) (3) the selection board shall recommend for promotion a mini-
mum of 80 per centum of those officers referred to it for consideration. 
(c) Except as provided in subsection (d), when a nonunit officer is 
recommended for promotion under sections 309,310, or 312— 
(1) if assigned to a special branch, he may not be promoted 
before a nonunit officer of the same grade and branch who has 
more promotion service and has been recommended for promo-
tion; or 
(2) if not assigned to a special branch, he may not be pro-
moted before a nonunit officer of the same grade not assigned to 
a special branch who has more promotion service and has been 
recommended for promotion. 
(d) For the purpose of administering subsection (c) — 
(1) the Secretary shall prescribe by regulations the order in 
which officers having the same promotion service shall be pro-
moted ; 
(2) the promotion of an officer, otherwise eligible for promo-
tion, will not be withheld because of the delay under section 311 
of the promotion of an officer with more promotion service; and 
(3) an officer who has completed the total years of service 
required for his grade by section 315 (a) may be promoted before 
an officer Avho has not completed the required total years of service. 
TOTAL YEARS OF SERVICE REQUIRED FOR FIRST NONUNIT PROMOTION 
SEC. 315. (a) A Reserve officer in a grade indicated below on the 
effective date of this Act may not be promoted for the first time under 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1159 
sections 309, 310, 312, or 313 until he has completed the following total 
years of service: 
Total years 
Grade 
of service 
First lieutenant 
6 
Captain 
12 
Major 
17 
Lieutenant colonel or higher 
19 
(b) Such officer may not be considered by a selection board for such 
promotion until he is within one year of completing the foregoing total 
years of service. 
(c) A Reserve officer who becomes a nonunit officer upon transfer 
from the National Guard of the United States or upon release from 
a unit in the Army Reserve may not be promoted thereafter for tin". 
first time until he has completed the total years of service prescribed 
in subsection (a). 
SUBTITLE C—UNFT OFFICERS, ARMY RESERVE 
PROMOTION TO FIRST LIEUTENANT 
SEC. 316. Each unit officer of the Army Reserve in the grade of 
second lieutenant found by the Secretary or any officer acting under 
his discretion to be qualified for promotion shall be promoted to the 
grade of first lieutenant effective on the date he has three years of pro-
motion service, irrespective of the existence of a vacancy in such grade. 
UNIT VACANCY—PROMOTION TO CAPTAIN, MAJOR, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, 
AND COLONEL 
SPECIAL PROMOTION OF SECOND LIEUTENANTS AND FIRST 
LIEUTENANTS 
SEC. 317. (a) The Secretary may appoint and convene a selection 
board to consider and recommend officers of a unit of the Army Reserve 
for promotion to fill a vacancy in that unit within the numbers author-
ized for that unit pursuant to section 307 (a) in the grade of captain, 
major, lieutenant colonel, or colonel. 
(b) The convening officer under subsection (a) shall place the name 
of each officer assigned to the unit who is eligible under sections 303 
(c) and 306 (b) and by reason of geographical availability for con-
sideration for promotion to fill the vacancy, on a zone of consideration 
list and refer it to the selection board for consideration. 
The conven-
ing officer may also place on such list for consideration for promotion 
to the next higher grade the name of any officer in the grade of 
second lieutenant or first lieutenant who has served creditably in a 
unit vacancy prescribed for a captain for twelve months or more, with-
out regard to the requirements of section 306, provided the officer has 
not previously been promoted under this provision. 
The selection 
board shall recommend the officer deemed best qualified to fill the 
vacancy. 
An officer recommended by the board may be immediately 
promoted to fill the unit vacancy for which considered. 
UNIT VACANCY—PROMOTION TO BRIGADIER GENERAL AND MAJOR GENERAL 
SEC. 318. (a) Officers in the Army Reserve may be promoted to gen-
eral officer grades of brigadier general and major general to fill vacan-
cies in these grades in Army Reserve units which have attained 
strengths prescribed by the Secretary. 
(b) At any time within one year after an officer has been assigned 
the duties of a general officer of the next higher ^rade in an Army 
Reserve unit he shall be evaluated by his superior officer. 
If he 
determines that the officer has demonstrated his fitness for that position 
1160 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
he shall submit the officer's name to the Secretary of the Army for 
consideration by a selection board for promotion to the next higher 
grade. 
(c) In order to be eligible for consideration by a selection board for 
promotion to general officer grade in the Army Reserve the officer, 
in addition to meeting the other requirements of this Act, shall have 
fulfilled such minimum standards as shall be prescribed by the 
Secretary. 
(d) The names of the officers who fulfill the requirements of this 
section and section 306 shall be submitted for consideration for pro-
motion to a selection board appointed and convened at least once 
annually by the Secretary. 
This selection board shall recommend 
the officer deemed best qualified to fill each vacancy. 
An officer rec-
ommended by the board may be immediately promoted to fill the unit 
vacancy for which considered. 
SUBTITLE D—OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD OF THE 
UNITED STATES 
EXAMINATION FOR FEDERAL RECOGNITION UPON UNIT VACANCY PROMOTION 
SEC. 319. Each officer of the National Guard of a State, Territory, 
or the District of Columbia who is promoted to fill a vacancy in a 
federally recognized unit thereof authorized under section 307 (a) 
and who is eligible under section 306 (b) shall be examined for Fed-
eral recognition in the higher grade. 
Any officer in the grade of sec-
ond lieutenant or first lieutenant who has served creditably in a unit 
vacancy prescribed for a captain for twelve months or more may be 
examined for Federal recognition in the next higher grade without 
regard to the requirements of section 306, provided the officer has 
not previously been federally recognized under this provision. 
AUTOMATIC F E D E R A L RECOGNITION 
SEC. 320. Notwithstanding section 319 of this Act and section 75 
32 u*sc nt 
^^ *^^^ National Defense Act, as amended— 
(1) an officer of the National Guard of a State, Territory, or 
the District of Columbia in the grade of second lieutenant who 
is promoted to first lieutenant to fill an authorized vacancy in 
a unit thereof shall be automatically extended Federal recogni-
tion in the higher grade effective on the date he completes three 
years of promotion service or the date of the promotion, which-
ever is later; and 
(2) an officer of the Army Reserve in a grade above second 
lieutenant who is appointed in the next higher grade in the 
National Guard of a State, Territory, or the District of Colum-
bia to fill an authorized unit vacancy shall be automatically 
extended Federal recognition in the higher grade effective on 
the date of appointment if he has been recommended for promo-
tion to the higher grade under the provisions of sections 309, 
310, 312, or 317, and has remained in an active status since being 
recommended. 
PROMOTION TO HIGHER GRADE I N THE NATIONAL GUARD 
OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEC. 321. An officer in the National Guard of the United States 
extended Federal recognition to a higher grade under sections 319 or 
320 may be promoted to the higher grade effective on the date of 
extension of Federal recognition. 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 7 7 3 - S E P T . 3, 1954 
1161 
PROMOTION UPON TRANSFER TO ARMY RESERVE 
SEC. 322. Except when the Secretary determines that it is not in the 
best interest of the service a Keserve oflEicer transferred from the 
National Guard of the United States to the Army Reserve vs^ill be 
advanced as a Reserve officer to the highest permanent grade prev-
iously held in the Army, notwithstanding any other provision of this 
Act, without regard to the requirement of confirmation by the Senate 
under section 218, Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 (66 Stat. 487). 
so use 942. 
APPOINTMENT OF ADJUTANTS GENERAL AND ASSISTANT 
ADJUTANTS GENERAL AS RESERVE OFFICERS 
SEC. 323. An adjutant general or assistant adjutant general of a 
State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, upon being extended 
Federal recognition in his grade, may be appointed as a Reserve 
officer of the Army effective upon the date of extension of Federal 
recognition, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act. 
SUBTITLE E—ELIMINATION 
ELIMINATION OF SECOND LIEUTENANTS 
SEC. 324. Except as provided by sections 204 and 205, a Reserve 
officer in the grade of second lieutenant whose promotion to the next 
higher grade is not accomplished by or on the date he completes three 
years of promotion service shall be discharged and, if an officer of the 
National Guard of the United States, his Federal recognition shall be 
concurrently withdrawn, notwithstanding section 76 of the National 
^| ^*|^-1^^; 
Defense Act, as amended. 
ELIMINATION OF FIRST LIEUTENANTS, CAPTAINS, AND MAJORS 
SEC. 325. Except as provided by sections 204 and 205, a Reserve 
officer in the grade of first lieutenant, captain, or major who is consid-
ered for promotion while serving in his grade by two selection boards 
convened under section 309 or 310 and not recommended for promo-
tion by either board shall be discharged or, if he makes application 
therefor and is qualified, transferred to the Retired Reserve within 
ninety days after the second selection board submits its report to the 
convening authority. 
MAXIMUM W A G E S 
SEC. 326. (a) Except as provided hereafter in this section, a Reserve 
officer in the grade or position indicated below who is not removed 
from an active status at an earlier date under other provisions of 
law, shall, on the last day of the month in which he attains the fol-
lowing age, be discharged or, if qualified and he makes application 
thereior, transferred to the Retired Reserve: 
Grade or position 
Age 
Chief, National Guard Bureau; adjutant general or commanding general of 
troops of a State, Territory, or the District of Columbia 
64 
JIajor general, other than the above 
62 
Brigadier general and below 
60 
Effective only for five years following the effective date of this Act, 
the following ages shall apply instead: 
Grade or position 
Age 
Chief, National Guard Bureau; adjutant general or commanding general of 
troops of a State, Territory, or the District of Columbia 
64 
Major general, other than the above 
62 
' 
Brigadier general 
60 
Colonel 
58 
Lieutenant colonel and below 
55 
1162 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
(b) A Reserve officer who has been recommended for promotion 
and has remained in an active status since the recommendation shall 
be governed by the maximum age prescribed in (a) for the grade to 
which recommended for promotion. 
(c) A Reserve officer who, on the effective date of this Act, has 
attained an age in excess of the maximum prescribed for his grade 
under (a) shall, on the last day of the month in which this Act be-
comes effective, be discharged or, if qualified and he makes applica-
tion therefor, be transferred to the Retired Reserve. 
(d) The Secretary may authorize the retention in an active status 
of a Reserve officer in the National Guard of the United States in the 
grade of colonel or below who would otherwise be removed from an 
active status under this section or section 327, who is assigned to a 
headquarters or headquarters detachment of a State, Territory, or 
the District of Columbia, until he attains sixty~years of age. 
(e) For the purpose of section 206, the maximum age at which 
transfer from an active status or discharge is required shall be sixty-
four in case of the Chief, National Guard Bureau, or an adjutant 
general or commanding general of troops of a State, Territory, or the 
District of Columbia, sixty-two in case of a major general other than 
the foregoing, and sixty in case of an officer below major general. 
(f) Effective after that date which is five years after the effective 
date of this Act each Reserve officer assigned in the Army Nurse 
Corps or the Women's Specialist Corps shall be discharged or, if she 
makes application therefor and is qualified, be transferred to the 
Retired Reserve, on the last day of the month in which such an officer 
in a grade of major or higher attains the age of fifty-five or in which 
such an officer in a grade below major attains the age of fifty. Such 
an officer in the grade of captain who has been recommended for pro-
motion and has remained in an active status since the recommendation 
shall be governed by the provision of this subsection applicable to 
major or above. 
ELIMINATION OF OFFICERS FOR LENGTH OF SERVICE 
SEC. 327. (a) Unless otherwise provided by law, each Reserve 
officer in the grade of major general, brigadier general, or colonel in 
an active status who is not removed from an active status at an earlier 
date under other provisions of law, shall be discharged or, if he makes 
application therefor and is qualified, transferred to the Retired 
. Reserve, on that date which is thirty days after the date upon which 
he completes thirty-five, thirty, or thirty total years of service, respec-
tively, or on the fifth anniversary of the date of his appointment 
in that grade, whichever is later. 
(b) Unless otherwise provided by law, each Reserve officer in the 
grade of first lieutenant, captain, major, or lieutenant colonel in an 
active status who is not removed from an active status at an earlier 
date under other provisions of law, shall be discharged or, if he 
makes application therefor and is qualified, transferred to the Retired 
Reserve, on that date which is thirty days after the date upon which 
he completes twenty-eight total years of service. 
(c) Each Reserve officer in the grade of brigadier general, colonel, 
or lieutenant colonel who has been recommended for promotion before 
the time he otherwise would be removed from an active status under 
(a) or (b) shall be retained in an active status until appointed or 
refused appointment in the next higher grade and if so appointed 
his removal from an active status shall be governed by the provisions 
of (a) for the grade of major general, brigadier general, or colonel, 
respectively. 
68 S T A T . ] 
P U B U C LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1163 
(d) (1) Each Reserve officer in grade of lieutenant colonel 
assigned in the Women's Army Corps who is not removed from an 
active status at an earlier date under other provisions of law, shall 
be discharged or, if she makes application therefor and is qualified, 
be transferred to the Retired Reserve, on that date which is thirty 
days after the date upon which she completes twenty-eight total years 
of service. However, any such officer may, in the discretion of the 
Secretary, be retained in an active status but not later than that 
date which is thirty days after the date upon which she completes 
thirty total years of service. 
(2) Each Reserve officer in grade of major assigned in Women's 
Army Corps who is not removed from an active status at an earlier 
date under other provisions of law, shall be discharged or, if she 
makes application therefor and is qualified, be transferred to the 
Retired Reserve, on that date which is thirty days after the date 
upon which she completes twenty-five total years of service. How-
ever, any such officer who at that time has been recommended for 
promotion to the next higher grade and has remained in an active 
status since the recommendation shall be governed by the provisions 
of paragraph (1) of this subsection. 
(e) The foregoing subsections shall be effective after that date which 
is five years after the effective date of this Act. 
RETENTION OF OmCERS WITH CERTAIN SATISFACTORY FEDERAL SERVICE 
SEC. 328. Any person who is a Reserve officer on the effective date of 
this Act who upon reaching the ages prescribed in section 326 for the 
five years following the effective date of this Act has not been earlier 
removed from an active status at an earlier date and has not completed 
twenty years of satisfactory Federal service under title III, Army 
and Air Force Vitalization and Equalization Act of 1948 (62 Stat. ^JJ^ "sc lose et 
1087), but who could complete twenty years of such satisfactory Fed-
eral service prior to reaching age sixty may be retained in an active 
status until he completes twenty years of satisfactory Federal service 
or fails to perform a year of satisfactory Federal service, whichever 
occurs earlier. 
DISPOSITION OF GENERAL OFFICERS UPON CEASING TO OCCUPY POSITION 
SEC. 329. When a Reserve officer in a grade above colonel ceases to 
occupy a position commensurate with his grade or a higher grade, the 
Secretary shall require that one of the following actions, at the option 
of the officer, be taken within thirty days: 
(1) transfer of the officer in grade to the inactive status list 
of the Standby Reserve, if qualified, or, if qualified and he makes 
application therefor, to the Retired Reserve; or 
(2) discharge of the officer and, if qualified and he applies 
therefor, appointment of him as a Reserve officer in the grade 
held as a Reserve officer prior to appointment in a general officer 
grade; or 
(3) discharge of the officer if not transferred under (1) or 
discharged and appointed under (2). 
EXCESS N U M B E R S IN GRADE 
SEC. 330. Whenever the Secretary determines that there is an 
excessive number of Reserve officers in an active status in any grade 
who have completed thirty years of service or twenty* or more years 
of satisfactory Federal service for retirement purposes under title 
I I I of the Army and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equaliza-
seq. 
1164 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
10 use 1036 et 
aeq. 
tion Act of 1948 (62 Stat. 1087), he will convene a board to consider 
all nonunit officers of that grade who have completed such service 
and recommend for removal from an active status and transfer to the 
Retired Reserve or discharge a specified number thereof, and the 
Secretary, in his discretion, is authorized to transfer an officer so 
recommended to the Retired Reserve or, if the officer does not make 
application therefor or is not qualified, to discharge him. 
SUBTITLE F—RESERVE OmcERs ON ACTH'E DUTY 
APPLICABILITT OF OTHER SUBTITI*ES 
SEC. 331. The provisions of subtitles A, B, and E, including pro-
visions by their terms applicable only to officers of the Army Reserve 
shall be applicable to all Reserve officers serving on active duty except 
as prescribed in this subtitle. Officers of the National Guard of the 
United States on active duty shall be considered by selection boards 
for promotion along with other Reserve officers on active duty in lieu 
of examination for Federal recognition, but promotion of officers of 
the National Guard of the United States on active duty shall be sub-
ject to the procedures of section 336. 
PROCEDURE FOR OFFICERS ELIGIBLE FOR UNIT VACANCY PROMOTION 
ENTERING ON ACTIVE DUTY 
SEC. 332. A Reserve officer who at the time he enters on active duty 
is on a zone of consideration list established for consideration of 
officers under subtitle C, has had his name submitted to a selection 
board for consideration under that subtitle, or has been recommended 
for promotion under that subtitle but not promoted, shall be removed 
from such list or withdrawn from those recommended for promotion, 
and he shall be deemed not to have been considered for promotion 
thereby. 
PROMOTION TO HIGHER GRADE WHILE ON ACTTIVE DUTY 
SEC. 333. A Reserve officer serving on active duty who is recom-
mended for promotion to a grade higher than that in which serving 
shall prior to promotion elect either to serve on active duty in the 
temporary grade which he holds or to which he may be appointed 
equal to or higher than the grade held at the time of such election, or 
to be relieved from active duty. 
PROMOTION UNDER MANDATORY CONSIDERATION OF OFFICERS WITH 
HIGHER TEMPORARY GRADE 
SEC. 334. Reserve officers on a zone of consideration list for consid-
eration for promotion under section 310 who are serving in or have 
been recommended for promotion to a temporary grade equal to or 
higher than the grade for which they are to be considered for promotion 
shall not be considered by a selection board but shall be deemed to 
be recommended for promotion and shall be promoted upon comple-
tion of the required years of promotion service and the total years of 
service required by section 315 (a). 
68 STAT.] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1165 
APPOINTMENT IN APPROPRIATE HIGHER GRADE AFTER TEMPORARY 
APPOINTMENT 
SEC. 335. A Eeserve officer on active duty who holds an appointment 
in a temporary grade higher than his current grade shall be appointed, 
or if he is an officer in the National Guard of the United States shall 
be eligible to be appointed, to an appropriate higher grade but not 
above colonel equal to or lower than his temporary grade when he has 
completed the years of service for the appropriate higher grade to be 
prescribed by the Secretary annually which shall conform as nearly 
as possible to the corresponding periods of total service upon which 
Regular officers are then being promoted. 
PROCEDURE FOR OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEC. 336. When an officer in the National Guard of the United States 
on active duty is recommended for promotion or becomes eligible for 
appointment under section 335 the appropriate State authority will 
be afforded the opportunity to promote him to fill a unit vacancy in 
the National Guard of the State, Territory, or the District of Colum-
bia, specially created for that purpose, if necessary. If promoted in 
the National Guard of the State, Territory, or the District of Colum-
bia, he will be automatically extended Federal recognition effective on 
the date he would have been promoted if he were an officer in the 
Army Reserve. He may be promoted as a Reserve officer effective on 
the date of extension of Federal recognition. 
If not promoted in the 
National Guard of the State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, 
Federal recognition in his current grade shall be withdrawn and he 
shall be transferred to the Army Reserve. 
WITHHOLDING OF CERTAIN PROMOTIONS 
SEC. 337. A Reserve officer on active duty recommended for promo-
tion who prior to promotion is released from active duty as a result of 
action by a court-martial or a board of officers or request for release 
in lieu thereof shall not be promoted on the basis of that recommenda-
tion. 
The promotion of a Reserve officer under investigation or 
against whom proceedings of a court-martial or board of officers are 
pending may be delayed until such, investigation or proceedings are 
completed. 
, 
PROMOTION UPON RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY 
SEC. 338. Upon release from active duty, a Reserve officer shall be 
appointed in a grade equal to the highest temporary grade in which 
he served satisfactorily as determined by the Secretary. 
An officer 
may not thereafter be promoted as a nonunit officer for the first time 
until he is qualified under section 315 (a). 
RETENTION OF CERTAIN OFFICERS FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICE 
SEC. 339. (a) A Reserve officer who otherwise would be removed 
from an active status under section 326 before the expiration of the 
period for which he has agreed to serve on active duty in which serv-
ing on the effective date of this Act, may, in the discretion of the Secre-
tary, be retained on active duty until the expiration of such period 
and shall not be removed from an active status so long as he remains 
on active duty. 
(b) A Reserve officer serving on active duty in the temporary grade 
of colonel or higher who otherwise would be removed from an active 
1166 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
1 0 u s e 594, 
943a,971b, 1001et 
aeq. 
1 0 u s e 594, 
943a, 971b, 1001e< 
seg., 1036 et aeq. 
status under section 326 may in the discretion of the Secretary be 
retained on active duty but not beyond the sixtieth anniversary of his 
birth and shall not be removed from an active status so long as he 
remains on active duty. 
(c) A Reserve officer serving on active duty on the effective date of 
this Act who on the date he otherwise would be removed from an 
active status under section 325 has completed at least eighteen but 
less than twenty years of active Federal service under title II, Army 
and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948 
(62 Stat. 1084) may, in the discretion of the Secretary, be retained 
on active duty until he completes twenty years of active Federal serv-
ice provided he will then be entitled for the benefits under that title 
and will not earlier attain age sixty. He shall not be removed from 
an active status so long as he remains on active duty. 
(d) A Reserve officer serving on active duty on the effective date 
of this Act who on the date he otherwise would be removed from 
an active status under section 326— 
(1) does not qualify for the benefits under title II, Army and 
Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948 
(62 Stat. 1084), 
(2) but could become entitled on or before attaining age sixty 
for the benefits under title I I or title I I I of that Act, 
may, in the discretion of the Secretary, be retained on active duty 
until he becomes entitled to receive the benefits under title I I or under 
title I I I of that Act, whichever occurs earlier. He shall not be removed 
from an active status so long as he remains on active duty. 
SUBTITLE Gr—^MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
50 u s e 936. 
Authorized num-
ber of officers. 
ASSIMILATION OF CORRESPONDING REGULATIONS 
SEC. 340. Actions taken, selection boards convened, and promotions 
effected under appropriate Army Regulations promulgated pursuant 
to subsection 216 (a). Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 (66 Stat. 
486), shall be considered as actions taken, selection boards convened, 
and promotions effected under the comparable provisions of this title. 
TITLE 
IV—THE 
NAVAL 
RESERVE 
AND 
MARINE 
CORPS 
RESERVE 
SEC. 401. (a) This title is applicable only to the Naval Reserve 
and the Marine Corps Reserve, 
(b) When used in this title— 
(1) "Corresponding Regular component" means the Regular com-
ponent of the Navy with respect to officers of the Naval Reserve, or the 
Regular component of the Marine Corps with respect to officers of 
the Marine Corps Reserve. 
(2) "Secretary" means Secretary of the Navy. 
SEC. 402. (a) The authorized number of officers in the Naval Reserve 
in an active status shall be one hundred and fifty thousand and the 
authorized number of officers in an active status in the Marine Corps 
Reserve shall be twenty-nine thousand five hundred. The actual num-
ber of Reserve officers in an active status at any time shall not exceed 
these authorized numbers unless the Secretary shall determine that a 
greater number is necessary for planned mobilization requirements, 
or unless such excess shall result directly from the operation of man-
datory provisions of this or other laws. 
(b) The authorized number of officers of the line of the Naval Re-
serve in active status in each of the grades below the grade of rear 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1167 
admiral shall be a percentage of the total number of such officers in 
active status below the grade of rear admiral, and shall be 1.5 per 
centum in the grade of captain, 7 per centum in the grade of com-
mander, 22 per centum in the grade of lieutenant commander, 37 per 
centum in the grade of lieutenant, and 32.5 per centum in the com-
bined grades of lieutenant (junior grade) and ensign, except that when 
the actual number of Naval Reserve line officers in active status in any 
grade is less than the number which is so authorized, the difference 
may be applied to increase the authorized number in any lower grade 
or grades. 
No Reserve officer shall be reduced in rank or grade solely 
because of a reduction in an authorized number provided in this sub-
section. 
The authorized number of Naval Reserve officers in active 
status in the grade of rear admiral shall be forty-eight, distributed 
among the line and staff corps of the Naval Reserve in the following 
numbers: twenty-eight in the line, seven in the Medical Corps, eight 
in the Supply Corps, one in the Chaplain Corps, two in the Civil 
Engineer Corps, and two in the Dental Corps. 
(c) The authorized number of officers of the Marine Coips Reserve 
in active status in each of the grades below the grade of brigadier 
general shall be a percentage of the total number of such officers in 
active status below the grade of brigadier general, and shall be 2 
per centum in the grade of colonel, 6 per centum in the grade of lieu-
tenant colonel, 12 per centum in the grade of major, 35 per centum 
in the grade of captain, and 45 per centum in the combined grades 
of first and second lieutenant, except that when the actual number of 
Marine Corps Reserve officers in active status in any grade is less 
than the number which is so authorized, the difference may be applied 
to increase the authorized number in any lower grade or grades. 
No Reserve officer shall be reduced in rank or grade solely because of 
a reduction in an authorized number provided in this subsection. 
The total authorized number of Marine Corps Reserve officers in 
active status in general officer grades shall be five. 
(d) The Secretary shall prescribe the number of Reserve officers 
in each grade who may be promoted annually under the provisions of 
this title. The number which shall be so prescribed for each grade 
shall be the number determined to be necessary to provide equitable 
opportunity for promotion among succeeding groups of Reserve 
officers and an adequate continuing strength of Reserve officers in 
an active status, and shall not cause the number of Reserve officers in 
active status in any grade to exceed the number authorized in this 
section for that grade. 
SEC. 403. The law now existing or hereafter enacted relating to 
Promotion, 
the selection for promotion of an officer of the corresponding regular 
component shall apply to an officer of the reserve component, except 
as otherwise provided in this Act or except as may be necessary, in 
the discretion of the Secretary, to adapt such provisions to the reserve 
component. The relationship between officers of the line and staff 
corps of the Naval Reserve shall conform to that prescribed for line 
and staff officers of the Regular Navy in respect to a determination of 
the number of staff officers which may be recommended for promotion. 
SEC. 404. (a) "While in the grade of lieutenant (junior grade) or in 
Running mates, 
a higher grade to which initially appointed, each Naval Reserve 
officer shall have a running mate of the same grade who shall be 
the line officer on active duty on the lineal list of the Navy next 
junior to him. 
(b) While in the grade of first lieutenant, or a higher grade to 
which initially appointed, each Marine Corps Reserve officer shall 
have a running mate of the same grade who shall be the line officer of 
the regular Marine Corps next junior to him. 
1168 
PUBLIC LAW 77a-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 ST A T . 
E l i g i b i l i t y for 
promotion. 
Date of rank upon 
promotion. 
(c) A Reserve officer assigned a running mate at any time subse-
quent to the initial assignment provided in subsection (a), (b) or 
(f) of this section, shall be assigned such running mate in accordance 
with the principle prescribed by law for the assignment of running 
mates of the staff corps of the regular Navy, except that whenever 
possible such running mate shall be the line officer on active duty on 
the lineal list of the Navy next junior to him or the line officer of the 
regular Marine Corps next junior to him, in accordance with the 
principle expressed in subsections (a) or (b) of this section. 
(d) In the application of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this sec-
tion, running mates shall be officers who by law are not restricted in 
the performance of duty. 
(e) A woman Reserve officer shall have as her running mate a 
woman officer of the corresponding regular component. 
(f) A Reserve officer who has been assigned a running mate under 
laws in effect on the effective date of this Act, shall continue to be 
considered for the purposes of this Act with that running mate, un-
less assigned a new running mate under the provision of subsection 
(c) of this section. 
SEC. 405, (a) A male Naval Reserve officer of any grade higher 
than ensign shall be in a promotion zone when his running mate is in 
or above a promotion zone and shall then become eligible for con-
sideration by a selection board for promotion to the next higher grade. 
A woman Naval Reserve officer of any grade higher than ensign 
shall become eligible for consideration for promotion when her run-
ning mate becomes eligible for consideration for promotion, and shall 
remain eligible for consideration for promotion until transferred to 
the Retired Reserve or the inactive-status list or discharged under 
any law. An officer of the Nurse Corps Reserve of any grade higher 
than ensign shall be eligible for consideration for promotion when 
she is senior to the junior officer in the same grade on active duty on 
the lineal list who has been selected for promotion. 
(b) A male Marine Corps Reserve officer of any grade higher than 
second lieutenant shall be in a promotion zone when his running 
mate or any male Reserve officer junior to that Reserve officer is in 
or above a promotion zone and shall then become eligible for con-
sideration by a selection board for promotion to the next higher grade. 
A woman Marine Corps Reserve officer of any grade higher than sec-
ond lieutenant shall be eligible for consideration for promotion when 
her running mate, or any woman Reserve officer junior to that woman 
Reserve officer, becomes ineligible for consideration by a selection board 
for promotion to the next higher grade. 
(c) A Reserve officer in the grade of ensign or second lieutenant shall 
be eligible for promotion to the grade of lieutenant (junior grade) or 
first lieutenant, respectively, upon the completion of three years' service 
in grade in an active status computed from date of rank of ensign or 
second lieutenant. 
(d) The name of any officer who is otherwise eligible for considera-
tion for selection for promotion under subsections (a) or (b) of this 
section, or for promotion under subsection (c) of this section, but who 
has failed to meet requirements for eligibility prescribed by the Secre-
tary of the Navy, may be withheld from consideration. 
SEC. 406. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the laws relat-
ing to the eligibility for promotion and the promotion of an officer 
of the regular component on a promotion list shall apply to an officer 
of the reserve component on a promotion list, except that— 
(1) a line officer of the Naval Reserve shall have, on promo-
tion, the same date of rank which has been, or in due course will 
be, given the officer who is to be his running mate in the grade 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1169 
to which promoted and shall be allowed the pay and allowances 
of the higher grade for duty performed from the date of the 
vacancy that such running mate was promoted to fill; and 
(2) an officer of the Marine Corps Reserve shall have, on 
promotion, the same date of rank which has been, or in due course 
will be, given the officer who is to be his running mate in the 
grade to which promoted, or, if considered for promotion by 
reason of being senior to a Reserve officer on active duty in the 
promotion zone, the same date of rank as that Reserve officer; 
and shall be allowed the pay and allowances of the higher grade 
for duty performed from the date he became eligible for promo-
tion. 
SEC. 407. (a) This title shall apply only to a Reserve officer in an 
active status. However, the provisions of this title relating to eligi-
bility for consideration by a selection board for promotion shall not 
apply to any such officer whose name was furnished by the Secretary 
of the Navy to the immediately preceding selection board appointed 
to recommend officers on active duty in the Navy or Marine Corps for 
promotion to the grade next higher than that of the officer concerned, 
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), any Reserve officer who has 
been selected for promotion under any law, and whose status with 
respect to active duty has been changed prior to his promotion, shall 
be eligible for promotion under the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 408. (a) No Reserve officer shall be promoted to a higher grade 
until he has qualified therefor by such moral, professional, and phys-
ical examinations as the Secretary may prescribe, and until he has 
attained the minimum number of points prescribed by the Secretary 
with the approval of the Secretary of Defense. The physical stand-
ards for promotion shall be the same as those which may be prescribed 
for retention in the Naval Reserve or Marine Corps Reserve. 
(b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not exclude from the pro-
motion to which he would otherwise be regularly entitled any Reserve 
officer in whose case a medical board may report that his physical dis-
qualification for duty at sea or in the field was occasioned by wounds 
received in the line of duty, and that such wounds do not incapacitate 
him for other duties in the grade to which he shall be promoted. 
SEC. 409. The President may remove the name of any Reserve officer 
from the promotion list. 
An officer whose name is so removed from 
the promotion list, or one whose appointment is rejected by the Sen-
ate, shall continue to be eligible for consideration for recommendation 
for promotion. The next ensuing selection board may recommend the 
officer concerned for promotion, and thereupon, with the approval 
of the President, the name of such officer shall be replaced on the pro-
motion list without prejudice by reason of its having been temporarily 
removed therefrom, and when promoted such officer shall take the 
same lineal rank and date of rank that he would have had had his name 
not been so removed. 
If such officer is not so recommended by such 
next ensuing selection board or if the President shall again remove 
his name from the promotion list or if the Senate shall again reject 
his appointment, he shall be held for all purposes to have twice failed 
of selection for promotion. 
SEC. 410. Reserve officers in each grade shall take precedence among 
themselves and with officers of the same grades of the corresponding 
regular component in accordance with the dates of rank stated in 
their commissions. When Reserve and Regular officers of the same 
grade have the same date of rank they shall take precedence among 
themselves as determined by the Secretary. 
SEC. 411. (a) A Reserve officer who is eliminated from an active 
status under this section— 
Applicability of 
title. 
Qu a 1 if icationis 
for promotion. 
R e m o v a l 
by 
President or 
r e -
jection by Senate. 
Precedence. 
Attrition. 
.39777 O—55—pt. 1-
-76 
1170 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
(1) shall be afforded opportunity to request transfer to the 
Retired Reserve if qualified; and 
(2) if qualified and he elects transfer to the Retired Reserve, 
shall be so transferred; or 
(3) if not transferred to the Retired Reserve under (1) and (2) 
above, shall be transferred to the inactive status list or discharged 
in the discretion of the Secretary. 
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, whenever the 
Secretary shall determine it to be necessary to provide a steady flow 
of promotion, an appropriate number of Reserve officers may be elimi-
nated from an active status. 
(c) A Reserve officer not above the grade of lieutenant in the Naval 
Reserve or captain in the Marine Corps Reserve after failing of selec-
tion for promotion to the next higher grade a second time may be 
retained in or eliminated from an active status in the discretion of the 
Secretary. 
Other Reserve officers who are not on a promotion list 
after failing of selection for promotion to the next higher grade a 
second time shall be given opportunity to apply for transfer to the 
Retired Reserve if qualified, but unless so transferred shall be dis-
charged if they have completed the following periods of total com-
missioned service for the grades specified: 
Grade 
Total commissioned service 
Captain-colonel 
30 years 
Commander-lieutenant colonel 
26 years 
Lieutenant commander-major 
20 years 
For the purposes of this subsection, the total commissioned service of 
an officer who shall have served continuously in the Naval Reserve or 
Marine Corps Reserve following appointment therein in the grade or 
rank of ensign or second lieutenant shall be computed from June 30 
of the fiscal year in which he accepted appointment. 
Each other 
officer shall be deemed to have for these purposes as much total com-
missioned service as any officer of the line of the Regular Navy not 
restricted in performance of duty, or officer of the Regular Marine 
Corps, as appropriate, who has served continuously since original 
appointment as ensign in the Regular Navy or as second lieutenant 
in the Regular Marine Corps and has not lost numbers or precedence 
and who is or subsequent to September 6, 1947, shall have been junior 
to such other officer, except that the total commissioned service such 
other officer shall be deemed to have shall not be less than the actual 
number of years he has served in commissioned officer status above the 
grade of commissioned warrant officer. 
(d) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a woman Reserve 
officer may be retained in or eliminated from an active status in the 
discretion of the Secretary at the times prescribed by law for the 
retirement or separation from the active list of the woman line officer 
of the Regular Navy or the Regular Marine Corps next junior to her 
or at any time thereafter. 
For the purposes of this subsection only, 
all commissioned service shall be considered as active commissioned 
service. 
(e) An officer of any grade of the Nurse Corps of the Naval Reserve 
may be eliminated from an active status under the conditions pre-
scribed by law for the separation from the active list of an officer of 
the same grade in the Nurse Corps of the Regular Navy by reason 
of age or failure of selection for promotion. 
(f) No Reserve officer shall be involuntarily eliminated from an 
active status pursuant to subsections (b), (d), and (e) of this section 
except upon the recommendation of a Board which shall be appointed 
by the Secretary and convened at such times as he may direct. 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1171 
SEC. 412. (a) A Keserve officer not previously transferred to the 
Retired Reserve shall be so transferred on the date on which he 
becomes sixty-two years of age. However, a Reserve officer initially 
appointed prior to January 1,1953, who cannot complete twenty years 
of satisfactory Federal service for retirement purposes by age sixty-
two, but can complete such service by age sixty-four, may be retained 
in an active status not later than the date on which he becomes sixty-
four years of age. 
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the Secre-
tary may authorize and designate a flag or general officer to be retained 
in an active status until he becomes sixty-four years of age. 
How-
ever, not more than such ten officers of the Naval Reserve and Marine 
Corps Reserve may be so retained in an active status at any one time, 
distributed between the Naval Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve 
as the Secretary may determine. 
SEC. 413. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a 
Reserve officer above the grade of ensign or second lieutenant to whom 
this title applies may be promoted under regulations prescribed by 
the Secretary whenever any part or parts of the law governing the 
promotion of his running mate are suspended by the President. 
A 
Reserve officer of the grade of ensign or second lieutenant may be 
promoted under regulations prescribed by the Secretary whenever 
officers of the corresponding Regular component of the same grade are 
being promoted with less than three years' service. 
Such regulations 
shall provide for equality of opportunity for consideration for pro-
motion among the officers of the Naval Reserve and among the officers 
of the Marine Corps Reserve, respectively. 
(b) Reserve officers may be promoted under this section in such 
numbers as the Secretary may prescribe. 
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the promotion 
of the running mate of a Reserve officer is on a temporary basis, the 
promotion of the Reserve officer shall be on a temporary basis. 
If 
subsequently the running mate is reverted to a lower grade (for reasons 
other than disciplinary), the Reserve officer shall likewise revert to the 
same lower grade in the same manner as his running mate and take 
corresponding precedence. 
If the running mate is permanently 
appointed in the grade in which he is serving on a temporary basis, 
the Reserve officer likewise may be permanently appointed to the grade 
in which he is serving on a temporary basis. 
TITLE V—THE RESERVE COMPONENTS OF T H E AIR 
FORCE 
SEC. 501. (a) This title applies only to the Air Force, 
(b) As used in this title— 
(1) "Promotion service" means service in an active status in current 
grade. 
(2) "Federal recognition board" means a board of officers appointed 
under section 75 of the National Defense Act, as amended. 
(3) "Deferred officer" means— 
(A) any Reserve officer in the grade of first lieutenant; 
(B) any Reserve officer in the ^rade of captain, except those 
designated as nurses or women medical specialists; and 
(C) any Reserve officer in the grade of major, except those des-
ignated as nurses or women medical specialists and female Reserve 
officers appointed under section 310 of the Women's Armed Serv-
ices Integration Act of 1948 (5 U. S. C. 627i); 
who is considered for promotion by a selection board under this title 
for the first time and is not recommended for promotion, or who for 
Retirement 
for 
S u s p e n s i o n of 
other laws. 
Te 
rap 
orary p r o -
48 Stat. 158. 
32 u s e 113. 
62 Stat. 
Stat. 506. 374; 66 
1172 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
Promotion 
a n d 
promotion service. 
Authorized num-
ber of officers. 
the first time is examined and found not qualified for Federal recog-
nition in the next higher grade. 
(4) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Air Force. 
(5) "Total years of service" means all periods of time that a Reserve 
officer— 
(A) has held an appointment as a commissioned officer in any 
of the Armed Forces of the United States, without component or 
in any component thereof; 
(B) has held an appointment as a commissioned officer in the 
federally recognized National Guard before June 15, 1933, or 
held a federally recognized commissioned status therein; and 
(C) has been credited with under section 201 of this Act. 
No period of time may be credited more than once in the computa-
tion of total years of service. 
SEC. 502. (a) A Reserve officer may be promoted only as provided 
in this title. 
(b) To be in an active status, a Reserve officer, other than an 
adjutant general or an assistant adjutant general of a State, a Terri-
tory, or the District of Columbia, must attain, in the course of any 
period of twelve consecutive months applicable to him, the minimum 
number of points prescribed by the Secretary pursuant to section 202 
of this Act. However, the minimum number of points shall be pre-
scribed before the beginning of the period for which applicable. 
(c) (1) For a Reserve officer who, on July 1, 1949, was a member 
of a reserve component of the Air Force and has not been removed 
from an active status since that date, computation of points shall be 
made for periods of twelve consecutive months beginning on July 1 
of each year and ending on June 30 of the next year until he is 
removed from an active status. 
(2) For a Reserve officer who is initially appointed as a Reserve 
officer of the Air Force, or who is returned to an active status, after 
July 1, 1949, computation of points shall be made for periods of 
twelve consecutive months beginning on the date of his appointment 
or his most recent return to an active status and on each anniversary 
of such appointment or most recent return to an active status there-
after. 
SEC. 503. (a) The authorized number of Reserve officers of the Air 
Force in active status is two hundred thousand. 
This authorized 
strength may be exceeded to meet mobilization requirements, or to 
permit increases required by or resulting from the operation of any 
other law or this Act. 
The authorized number of Reserve officers of 
the Air Force in an active status in each of the several grades, as pre-
scribed by the Secretary, may not be more than the following per-
centages of the total authorized commissioned officer strength: 1.8 per 
centum in the grade of colonel; 4.6 per centum in the grade of lieuten-
ant colonel; 14 per centum in the grade of major; 32 per centum in 
the grade of captain, and the remainder in the grades of first lieuten-
ant and second lieutenant, except for the number authorized in gen-
eral officer grades. 
The authorized number of Reserve officers of the 
Air Force in an active status in general officer grades, exclusive of 
Reserve officers serving in general officer grades (1) as adjutants gen-
eral or assistant adjutants general of a State, a Territory, or the Dis-
trict of Columbia, or (2) in the National Guard Bureau, is one 
hundred and fifty-seven. The numbers authorized for any grade may 
be exceeded by the number of vacancies existing in any higher grade. 
It is not mandatory that the numbers authorized for the several grades 
be maintained. 
(b) The authorized number of Reserve officers in any grade below 
colonel may be temporarily increased to give effect to the promotion 
system prescribed in this title. 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1173 
(c) An officer retained in an active status under section 205 of this 
Act is an additional number to officers otherwise authorized by law. 
SEC. 504. (a) For promotion purposes, seniority among Keserve 
officers is determined as follows: 
(1) Officers in any grade shall be senior to all officers in any lower 
grade; 
(2) Among officers of the same grade— 
(A) the officer with the longest period of promotion service in 
grade is the senior; 
(B) when seniority determined under clause (2) (A) is the 
same, the officer with the longest service as a commissioned officer 
(including service in the federally recognized National Guard 
or in a federally recognized status therein prior to 1933) is the 
senior; and 
(C) in all other cases the Secretary shall establish seniority, 
(b) A Reserve officer who is returned to an active status shall, for 
the purpose of promotion, if necessary, suffer loss of precedence, and 
a reduction in his years of promotion service in grade, so that one year 
after the date on which he is returned to an active status, the years of 
promotion service with which he is entitled to be credited for promo-
tion purposes shall not be more than four, seven, or seven years of 
promotion service in grade if he is in the grade of first lieutenant, 
captain, or major, respectively. 
SEC. 505. (a) A person credited with service under section 201 of this 
Act shall be appointed as a Reserve officer in the grade indicated as 
follows: 
(1) A person with less than three years—second lieutenant. 
(2) A person with at least three, but less than seven years—^first 
lieutenant. 
(3) A person with at least seven, but less than fourteen years— 
captain. 
(4) A person with at least fourteen, but less than twenty-one years— 
major. 
(5) A person with at least twenty-one years—lieutenant colonel, 
except that a person with at least twenty-three years may, itnder 
regulations prescribed by the Secretary, be appointed in the grade of 
colonel. 
(b) In determining seniority in grade and eligibility for promo-
tion, a person appointed as a Reserve officer in a grade below colonel 
under this section shall be credited with the number of years of pro-
motion service in the grade in which appointed equal to the difference 
between the number of years of service credited under section 201 of 
this Act and the minimum number of years of service required under 
subsection (a) of this section for the grade in which he was appointed. 
SEC, 506. (a) A Reserve officer in the grade of second lieutenant 
may not be promoted to, or federally recognized in, the next higher 
grade until he has completed three years of promotion service in the 
grade of second lieutenant. 
(b) A Reserve officer in a grade above second lieutenant, other than 
an adjutant general or assistant adjutant general of a State, a Terri-
tory, or the District of Columbia who holds his grade as a Reserve 
officer solely because of his position as an adjutant general or an assist-
ant adjutant general, may not be considered by a selection board for 
promotion, or examined by a Federal recognition board for Federal 
Seniority for pro-
motion purposes. 
C o n s t r u c t i v e 
credit. 
Appointment s. 
Minimum service 
in grade. 
1174 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
T i m e 
limit 
consideration. 
Selection. 
for 
P r o m o t i o n 
to 
first lieutenant. 
Captain, 
major, 
and 
l i e u t e n a n t 
colonel. 
Consideration. 
recognition in the next higher grade, until he has completed the fol-
lowing minimum number of years of promotion service in grade: 
Minimum number of years 
of promotion service in 
Grade 
tliat grade 
First lieutenant 
2 
Captain 
4 
Major 
4 
Lieutenant colonel 
3 
Colonel 
1 
Brigadier general 
1 
SEC. 507. A Reserve officer may not be considered by a selection 
board for promotion under this title more than two years, if in a 
grade below colonel, or more than one year, if in a grade above 
lieutenant colonel, before the date on which it is contemplated that 
he will be promoted if recommended by the selection board. 
SEC. 508. (a) Selection boards to consider officers for promotion 
shall be convened from time to time in such number, and under such 
regulations, as the Secretary may prescribe, 
(b) Except when it is considering officers under section 513 of this 
title and except for officers covered by section 522 of this title who 
may not be considered at that time, whenever a Reserve officer is 
being considered by a selection board for promotion, the board shall 
consider all Reserve officers in that officer's grade who are senior to 
him and whose names are not carried on a recommended list. 
(c) The name of each Reserve officer who is recommended for 
promotion by a selection board shall be placed on a recommended list 
for promotion, and carried thereon until the officer is promoted to 
the grade for which recommended or until his name is removed there-
from under another provision of this Act. 
The names of Reserve 
officers recommended by such a selection board shall be placed on the 
appropriate recommended list below the names of Reserve officers 
recommended by any prior selection board but in the same order as 
existed among themselves at the time of their consideration by the 
selection board. 
Except as provided in sections 513, 519, and 521 
(1) of this title, no Reserve officer whose name is on a recommended 
list may be promoted ahead of any other officer whose name precedes 
his on the same recommended list. 
SEC. 509. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, 
each officer of the Air Force Reserve in an active status in the grade 
of second lieutenant who is found to be qualified for promotion shall 
be promoted to the grade of first lieutenant effective on that date 
upon which he completes three years of promotion service in grade. 
(b) A Reserve officer in the grade of second lieutenant who com-
pletes three years of promotion service in grade and who is found 
not qualified for promotion, shall, notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law except section 204 or 205 of this Act, be discharged. 
SEC. 510. (a) Irrespective of the existence of a vacancy in the next 
higher grade, each Reserve officer in the grade of first lieutenant, cap-
tain, or major shall be considered for promotion sufficiently in advance 
of the date on which he completes four, seven, or seven years of promo-
tion service in grade, respectively, and seven, fourteen, or twenty-one 
total years of service, respectively, so that, if recommended for promo-
tion by the selection board, he may be promoted effective on the date 
upon which he completes that service. 
(b) Based upon the number of existing and anticipated vacancies 
in the Air Force Reserve in the grade of captain, major, or lieutenant 
colonel, the Secretary may direct a selection board to consider and 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1175 
recommend Reserve officers for promotion to those grades. 
The 
names of the officers to be considered shall include— 
(1) the name of the senior officer in the grade of first lieu-
tenant, captain, or major, as the case may be, and whose name is 
not on a recommended list; and 
(2) the name of such additional officers in those grades, in 
order of seniority, as the Secretary may prescribe. 
(c) This section does not apply to the promotion of female Eeserve 
officers designated as nurses or women medical specialists to a grade 
above captain, or to the promotion of any female Reserve officer 
appointed under section 310 of the Women's Armed Services Inte-
gration Act of 1948 (5 U. S. C. 627i), to a grade above major. 
SEC. 511. (a) A Reserve officer whose name is on a recommended 
list may be promoted to fill a vacancy at any time, but shall be pro-
moted, irrespective of the existence of a vacancy, on the date upon 
which he completes four years of promotion service in grade and 
seven total years of service, if he is in the grade of first lieutenant; 
seven years of promotion service in grade and fourteen total years 
of service, if he is in the grade of captain; or seven years of promotion 
service in grade and twenty-one total years of service, if he is in the 
grade of major. 
(b) A Reserve officer on active duty who is recommended for pro-
motion to a grade higher than that in which he is serving, shall, 
before being promoted, elect to serve on active duty in the grade in 
which he is then serving or be released. 
SEO. 512. (a) Wlien a Reserve officer in the grade of first lieutenant, 
captain, or major must be considered by a selection board for pro-
motion because he will complete the prescribed number of years of 
promotion service in grade and total years of service, the Secretary 
may furnish to the selection board the names of such officers to be 
considered for promotion to the grade concerned and direct the board 
to recommend those whom it considers fully qualified for promotion. 
(b) Whenever Reserve officers are to be considered by a selection 
board for promotion to fill existing or anticipated vacancies, the 
Secretary may direct the board to— 
(1) consider the officers whose names are referred to it in the 
order of their seniority; 
(2) recommend those considered who are fully qualified for 
promotion; 
(3) pass over those who are not fully qualified for promotion; 
and 
(4) continue such procedure until the number of officers spec-
ified by him to be recommended is obtained. 
(c) In lieu of the procedure prescribed in subsection (a) or (b), 
the Secretary may furnish to a selection board the names of Reserve 
officers to be considered by it and direct the board to recommend for 
promotion a specific number of officers whom the board considers 
to be the best qualified of those named for consideration. 
When 
officers are considered for promotion to the grade of captain, major, 
or lieutenant colonel, under this subsection, the selection board shall 
recommend for promotion at least 80 percent of the officers named 
for consideration. 
(d) This section does not apply to the promotion of female Reserve 
officers designated as nurses or women medical specialists to a grade 
above captain, or to the promotion of any female Reserve officer 
appointed under section 310 of the Women's Armed Services Inte-
gration Act of 1948 (5 U. S. C. 627i), to a grade above major. 
62 Stat. 374; 66 
Stat. 506. 
Promotion. 
Method of selec-
tion. 
1176 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T 
Vacancies. 
Special 
qualifi-
cations. 
Temporary grade 
higher than perma-
nent. 
48 Stat. 158. 
32 u s e 113. 
SEC. 513. (a) Whenever there are vacancies in the Air Force 
Reserve in grade of captain, major, lieutenant colonel, or colonel, and 
the Secretary considers that there are or will be an inadequate num-
ber of officers in any of those grades with special qualifications, he 
may direct a selection board to recommend for promotion to that 
grade a prescribed number of officers of the Air Force Reserve with 
those qualifications. 
In selecting officers for promotion under this 
subsection to a grade below colonel, the procedures prescribed in 
subsection 512 (b), or in the first sentence of subsection 512 (c), of 
this title shall be followed. In selecting officers for promotion under 
this subsection to the grade of colonel, the procedures prescribed 
in the first sentence of subsection 512 (c) of this title shall be followed. 
(b) Whenever in the opinion of the Secretary the number of 
officers in the grade of captain, major, lieutenant colonel, or colonel 
in— 
(1) any unit of the Air Force Reserve organized to serve 
as a unit and which is not on active duty; or 
(2) the Air Force Reserve in positions which are to be filled 
by officers with mobilization assignments or desi^ations; 
is, or may become, unbalanced and vacancies exist m any of those 
grades, he may direct that, of the officers to be considered and selected 
for those grades by a selection board, specified numbers be selected 
from among officers of the Air Force Reserve who are not on active 
duty and who are specially qualified for, and geographically avail-
able to fill, such vacancies. 
In selecting officers for promotion under 
this subsection, the procedure prescribed in the first sentence of sub-
section 512 (c) of this title shall be followed. 
(c) An officer recommended for promotion under this section may 
be promoted only to fill a vacancy for which recommended. 
(d) Officers whose names are on a recommended list and who meet 
the requirements of subsection (b) of this section may be promoted 
as prescribed in this section, in the order in which their names appear 
on that recommended list. 
(e) If an officer enters upon active duty before being promoted 
to fill a vacancy for which he was recommended under subsection 
(b) of this section, his name shall be removed from the recommended 
list and he shall be treated as if he had not been considered for promo-
tion under this section. 
(f) An officer considered for promotion under this section, but 
not recommended by a selection board, is not a deferred officer. 
SEC. 514. (a) A Reserve officer serving on active duty in a temporary 
grade higher than his permanent grade and who was promoted to that 
temporary grade under a general selection board procedure shall, upon 
application, be promoted to the next higher permanent grade upon 
completing the promotion service prescribed by section 506 (b) of 
this title without further selection board action. 
If he is an officer of 
the Air National Guard of the United States and applies for perma-
nent promotion under this section, the Governor or other appropriate 
authority of the State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, which-
ever is concerned, may promote the officer to fill a vacancy specially 
created, if necessary, in the State or Territory, or in the District of 
Columbia, whichever is concerned. 
If the officer is promoted he shall 
be extended Federal recognition in the higher grade, without the 
examination prescribed in section 75 of the National Defense Act, 
as amended, effective on the date of that promotion. 
If he is not pro-
moted in the Air National Guard of the State, Territory, or the Dis-
trict of Columbia, whichever is concerned, within ninety days after 
his application therefor. Federal recognition in his permanent grade 
shall be terminated and he shall be transferred to the Air Force Re-
serve and promoted. 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
iirr 
(b) A Reserve officer serving on active duty in a temporary grade 
higher than his permanent grade, who was promoted to that tem-
porary grade under any procedure, and who is released from active 
duty before completing the promotion service in grade prescribed in 
section 506 (b) of this title, shall retain that temporary grade. 
After 
completing that prescribed promotion service in grade, an officer of 
the Air Force Reserve shall, upon application, be promoted to the 
next higher permanent grade without regard to vacancies in that 
grade. 
(c) An officer of the Air National Guard of the United States who 
is appointed to a temporary grade under subsection (b) shall, if 
promoted to the same grade in the Air National Guard of the State, 
Territory, or the District of Columbia, whichever is concerned, be 
extended Federal recognition in that grade, without the examination 
prescribed by section 75 of the National Defense Act, as amended, and 
if necessary be carried as an additional number therein until a vacancy 
occurs, but not to exceed two years. If such a vacancy does not occur 
within two years, his Federal recognition shall be terminated, and 
he shall be transferred to the Air Force Reserve. 
(d) This section applies only to officers who have performed active 
duty in a higher temporary grade since June 26, 1950. 
SEC. 515. (a) A female Reserve officer appointed under section 310 
of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 (5 U. S. C. 
627i) may not be promoted to a grade above lieutenant colonel. 
(b) A female Reserve officer designated as a nurse or woman 
medical specialist in the grade of captain or higher may be promoted 
only to fill an authorized vacancy in her category. 
(c) A female Reserve officer who is in the grade of major, and who 
was appointed under section 310 of the Women's Armed Services 
Integration Act of 1948 (5 U. S- C. 627i), may be promoted only to 
fill an authorized vacancy in her category. 
(d) The Secretary shall furnish to selection boards the names of 
female Reserve officers to be considered under this section for promo-
tion to grades above captain, and shall direct the board to recommend 
a number prescribed by him for promotion to the appropriate grade. 
The board shall recommend the prescribed number of those officers 
whom it considers to be the best qualified of those named for considera-
tion. 
SEC. 516. Based upon the number of actual and anticipated vacan-
cies in the Air Force Reserve in the grade of colonel, the Secretary 
shall furnish to a selection board the names of officers of the Air Force 
Reserve to be considered for promotion and shall direct the board 
to recommend a number prescribed by him for promotion to that 
grade. 
Each list furnished shall include— 
(1) the name of the senior officer in the grade of lieutenant 
colonel whose name is not on a recommended list for promotion; 
and 
(2) the names of such additional officers as the Secretary may 
prescribe, in order of their seniority. 
The board shall recommend the prescribed number of those officers 
which it considers to be the best qualified of those named for con-
sideration. A Reserve officer recommended for promotion under this 
section may be promoted only to fill a vacancy. 
SEC. 517. (a) Based upon the number of actual and anticipated 
vacancies in the grades of major general or brigadier general, as the 
case may be, in the Air Force Reserve the Secretary shall furnish to 
a selection board names of officers of the Air Force Reserve in the 
grade of brigadier general or colonel, respectively, to be considered 
for promotion under this title and shall direct the board to recom-
48 Stat. 158. 
32 u s e 113. 
Female officers. 
62 Stat. 374; 66 
Stat. 506. 
Colonel. 
Brigadier general 
and major genera:!. 
1178 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
mend a number prescribed by him for promotion to the grade con-
cerned. Each list furnished shall include— 
(1) the name of the senior officer in the grade of brigadier 
general or colonel whose name is not on a recommended list for 
promotion; and • 
(2) the names of such additional officers as the Secretary may 
prescribe, in the order of their seniority. 
To insure that the Air Force Eeserve will have an adequate number 
of general officers with experience qualifying them for active service, 
the Secretary may direct that a specified number of the officers to be 
recommended for promotion to that grade have experience qualifying 
them for active service in specified positions, specialties or categories. 
The selection board shall recommend for promotion to the grade con-
cerned the prescribed number, including any prescribed number with 
special qualifying experience. 
The officei-s recommended shall be 
those who in the opinion of the board are the best qualified of the 
officers named for consideration. 
(b) An officer recommended for promotion under this section may 
be promoted onlv to fill a vacancy in the next higher grade. 
(c) When a Reserve officer who is appointed to the grade of major 
general or brigadier general to fill a vacancy under this section, or 
any other provision of law, ceases to occupy that position, he shall, 
within thirty days thereafter, unless assigned to fill a comparable 
position of the same or higher grade, as may be determined by the 
Secretary— 
(1) be transferred in grade to the inactive status list if quali-
fied, or if qualified and if he applies therefor, to the Retired 
Reserve; 
(2) be discharged and, if qualified and upon his application, be 
appointed a Reserve officer in the grade held by him as a Reserve 
officer before his appointment in a general officer grade, and be 
credited with the amount of promotion service in the grade in 
which appointed equal to the amount of promotion service with 
which he has been credited in that grade and in any higher 
grade; or 
(3) be discharged, if not transferred under clause (1) of this 
subsection, or appointed under clause (2) of this subsection. 
i<tenr°OT^iejectiln 
^'^^' ^^^- i^) ^ Rescrvc officer who is recommended for promotion 
by Senate. 
Under tliis title and is not promoted because the President declines to 
appoint him in the next higher grade, or because the Senate refuses to 
consent to his appointment after he has been nominated by the Presi-
dent for appointment in a general officer grade— 
(1) shall continue to be eligible for consideration for promo-
tion as if he had not been considered for that grade by the selec-
tion board which recommended him; 
(2) shall be again considered for promotion by the next appro-
priate selection board; 
(3) shall, if recommended for promotion by such selection 
board, have his name placed on the appropriate recommended 
list; and 
(4) shall, if promoted, be credited with the same amount of pro-
motion service in the higher grade as he would have had if pro-
moted as the result of the earlier selection. 
(b) A Reserve officer in the grade of first lieutenant, captain, or 
major, who is not promoted because the President declines to appoint 
him in the next higher grade, and who is not promoted thereafter 
because— 
(1) he is considered by a selection board but is not recommended 
for promotion; or 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
11T9 
(2) the President again declines to appoint him in the next 
higher grade; 
shall, subject to sections 204 and 205 of this Act, if qualified and he 
applies therefor, be transferred to the Eetired Reserve or discharged. 
SEC. 519. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 
appointment and promotion of officers in the Air National Guard of 
a State, a Territory, or the District of Columbia is a function of the 
Governor or other appropriate authority thereof. 
(b) Except as provided by this section and sections 520 and 521 of 
this title, each person appointed in or promoted to a commissioned 
grade in the Air National Guard of a State, a Territory, or the Dis-
trict of Columbia to fill an authorized vacancy shall be examined for 
Federal recognition in that grade by a Federal recognition board. 
An 
officer of the Air Force Reserve who is appointed in the Air National 
Guard of a State, a Territory, or the District of Columbia in a com-
missioned grade to fill an authorized vacancy shall, effective on the 
date of his appointment in the Air National Guard of that State or 
Territory, or of the District of Columbia, be extended Federal recog-
nition, without the examination prescribed in section 75 of the National 
Defense Act, as amended, if at the time of his appointment he holds 
the same grade as a Reserve officer or his name is on a recommended 
list for promotion to that grade. 
No member of the Air Force Reserve 
may be federally recognized in the Air National Guard in a grade 
which is higher or lower than his permanent grade or grade for which 
he has been recommended for promotion by a selection board under 
this title. 
(c) A Reserve officer shall be promoted effective on the date upon 
which he is extended Federal recognition in the next higher grade in 
the Air National Guard of a State, a Territory, or the District of 
Columbia. 
(d) An adjutant general or assistant adjutant general of a State, 
a Territory, or the District of Columbia, may be appointed a Reserve 
officer in any grade if he is extended Federal recognition in that grade 
in the Air National Guard of a State, a Territory, or the District of 
Columbia. 
SEC. 520. (a) An officer of the Air National Guard of the United 
States in the grade of second lieutenant who is appointed in or pro-
moted to the grade of first lieutenant by the Governor or other appro-
priate authority to fill an authorized vacancy in the Air National 
Guard of a State, a Territory, or the District of Columbia, shall be 
extended Federal recognition, without the examination prescribed 
in section 75 of the National Defense Act, as amended, in the grade 
of first lieutenant and promoted effective on the date upon which 
he completes three years of promotion service in grade. 
(b) Subject to section 204 of this Act, and notwithstanding any 
other law, an officer of the Air National Guard of the United States 
in the grade of second lieutenant who is not appointed in or promoted 
to the grade of first lieutenant by the Governor or other appropriate 
authority of a State, a Territory, or the District of Columbia, shall, 
within ninety days after he completes three years of promotion service 
in the grade of second lieutenant, be discharged. 
SEC. 521. Each officer of the Air National Guard of the United 
States recommended for promotion to the grade of captain, major, or 
lieutenant colonel, by a selection board under this title, who— 
(1) is, before the date on which he would be promoted under 
section 511 of this title, appointed in, or promoted to, the next 
higher grade to fill an authorized vacancy in the Air National 
Guard of a State, a Territory or the District of Columbia, shall 
be extended Federal recognition, without the examination pre-
A i r 
Guard. N a t i o n a l 
48 Stat. 158. 
32 u s e 113. 
First lieutenant. 
Captain, 
majcir, 
and 
l i e u t e n a n t 
colonel. 
tion. 
1180 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
32 vie m." 
scribed in section 75 of the National Defense Act, as amended, 
in the higher grade and promoted effective on the date upon which 
he is appointed in or promoted to the higher grade in the Air 
National Guard of the State, the Territory, or the District of 
Columbia; or 
(2) is not sooner appointed in or promoted to the next higher 
grade in the Air National Guard of a State, a Territory, or the 
District of Columbia, shall, effective on the date he must be pro-
moted under section 511 of this title, have his Federal recognition 
terminated, be transferred to the Air Force Reserve, and be 
promoted. 
F^aiiureof seiec- 
SEC. 522. (a) (1) A deferred officer— 
(A) shall lose precedence for promotion purposes to officers 
who were recommended by the selection board that considered 
but failed to recommend him; and 
(B) shall, if necessary, have his years or promotion service 
in grade and his total years of service reduced so that one year 
after the date on which he would have been appointed in the next 
higher grade as a Reserve officer, had he been recommended by 
or considered and recommended by the selection board, he will 
not be credited with more than four, seven, or seven years of 
promotion service in grade if he is in the grade of first lieutenant, 
captain, or major, respectively. 
(2) For the purpose of clause (1) (B) of this subsection, the 
date on which a deferred officer would have been appointed in the 
next higher grade is the earlier of the following dates: 
(A) The earliest date of appointment in the next higher grade 
of any officer who, before the loss of seniority by the deferred 
officer, was junior to him. 
(B) The date on which the deferred officer, had he not suffered 
a reduction in years of promotion service in grade would have 
completed four, seven, or seven years of promotion list service 
and seven, fourteen, or twenty-one total years of service, if in the 
grade of first lieutenant, captain, or major, respectively. 
(b) An officer who is deferred because he was not recommended 
for promotion by a selection board shall, unless sooner recomm»?nded 
for promotion under section 513 of this title or examined for Federal 
recognition in the next higher grade, again be considered for promo-
tion by the next appropriate selection board convened to consider 
ReserA'e officers of his grade and category under section 510 of this title. 
(c) An officer who is deferred because he was found not qualified for 
Federal recognition shall, unless sooner recommended for promotion 
under section 513 of this title, or again examined for Federal recog-
nition in the next higher grade, be considered for promotion by the 
next appropriate selection board convened under section 510 of this 
title, when the officer next junior to him is also considered, but not 
earlier than one year after the date on which he was found not quali-
fied for Federal recognition. 
(d) (1) An officer who is deferred because he was not recommended 
for promotion by a selection board may, if appointed in, or promoted 
to, the next higher grade in the Air National Guard of a State, a 
Territory, or the District of Columbia, whichever is concerned, be 
examined for Federal recognition in the higher grade at any time 
before the date on which he must be considered for promotion by a 
selection board under subsection (b) of this section. 
(2) An officer who is deferred because he was found not qualified 
for Federal recognition in the next higher grade may be again 
examined for Federal recognition in the higher grade at any time 
before the date on which he must be considered for promotion under 
68 STAT.] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1181 
subsection (c) of this section, but not earlier than one year after 
the date on which he was previously found not qualified for Federal 
recognition in the higher grade. 
(e) (1) A deferred officer who is considered for promotion by a 
selection board as provided by subsection (b) of this section, and 
who is not recommended for promotion by that selection board, may not 
thereafter be considered for promotion or examined for Federal recog-
nition, and, except as prescribed by sections 204 and 205 of this Act, 
shall have his Federal recognition terminated if appropriate, and 
shall, if qualified and if he makes application therefor, be transferred 
to the Retired Reserve, or if not qualified or if he does not apply, be 
discharged, one year and ninety days after the date on which he 
would have beeii promoted if he had been recommended for promo-
tion by the first selection board which considered him. 
(2) A deferred officer who is considered for promotion by a'selec-
tion board or examined for Federal recognition in the next higher 
grade, as provided by subsection (c) or (d) of this section and who 
is not recommended for promotion by the selection board or who is 
found not qualified for Federal recognition, may not thereafter be 
considered lor promotion or examined for Federal recognition, and, 
except as prescribed by sections 204 and 205 of this Act, shall— 
(A) have his Federal recognition terminated, if appropriate; 
and 
(B) if qualified, be transferred upon his application to the 
Retired Reserve, or if not so qualified or he does not apply, be 
discharged, within ninety days after the date upon which the 
report of the selection board or Federal recognition board is 
approved by the Secretary. 
SEC. 523. (a) Each Reserve officer in a grade below major general 
M
a
x
i
m
u
m ages, 
who is not retired, transferred to the Retired Reserve, or discharged 
at an earlier date shall, upon his application, be transferred to the 
Retired Reserve if qualified, or if he is not qualified or does not apply 
for transfer to the Retired Reserve, be discharged, on the date upon 
which he becomes sixty years of age. 
(b) A Reserve officer in the grade of major general who is not 
retired, transferred to the Retired Reserve, or discharged at an 
earlier date shall, upon his application, be transferred to the Retired 
Reserve if qualified, or if he is not qualified or does not apply for 
transfer to the Retired Reserve, be discharged on the date upon which 
he becomes sixty-two years of age. 
(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, an 
officer while holding an appointment as Chief of the National Guard 
Bureau may not, without his consent, be transferred to the Retired 
Reserve or be discharged under this section before the date upon 
which be becomes sixty-four years of age. 
Such an officer shall, 
upon his application, be transferred to the Retired Reserve if quali-
fied, or if he is not qualified or does not apply for transfer to the 
Retired Reserve, be discharged, on the date upon which he becomes 
sixty-four years of age, unless he is retired, transferred to the Retired 
Reserve, or discharged, at an earlier date under another provision of 
law. 
(d) Each female Reserve officer designated as a nurse or woman 
medical specialist shall, upon her application, be transferred to the 
Retired Reserve if qualified, or if she is not qualified or does not 
apply for transfer to the Retired Reserve, be discharged, if in a 
grade above captain, thirty days after the date upon which she 
becomes fifty-five years of age, and, if in a grade below major, thirty 
days after the date upon which she becomes fifty years of age. For 
the purpose of this subsection, such an officer in the grade of captain 
1182 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
whose name is on a recommended list shall be treated as if she were 
in a grade above captain, 
length'o/sCTvice/ 
^^^- ^^^^ (^) Eflfective two years after the effective date of this 
Act, each Reserve officer in an active status in the grade of major 
general, brigadier general, or colonel, who is not removed from an 
active status at an earlier date and whose name is not on a recom-
mended list for promotion shall, upon his application, be transferred 
to the Retired Reserve, if qualified, or if he is not qualified or does 
not apply for transfer to the Retired Reserve, be discharged, thirty 
days after the date upon which he completes thirty-five, thirty, or 
thirty total years of service, respectively, or on the fifth anniversary 
of the date of his appointment in the grade in which serving, which-
ever is later. However, a Reserve officer in the grade of major general 
* 
or brigadier general who would otherwise be removed from an active 
status under this subsection, may, in the discretion of the Secretary, 
be retained in an active status but not later than the date upon which 
he becomes sixty-two years of age if in the grade of major general, or 
sixty years of age if in the grade of brigadier general. Not more than 
ten officers in each such grade may be retained under this subsection 
at any one time. 
(b) Each Reserve officer in an active status in the grade of first 
lieutenant, captain, major, and each lieutenant colonel whose name is 
not on a recommended list for promotion to the grade of colonel, and 
who is not removed from an active status at an earlier date shall, upon 
his application, be transferred to the Retired Reserve if qualified^ or, 
if he IS not qualified or does not apply for transfer to the Retired 
Reserve, be discharged, thirty days after the date upon which he com-
pletes twenty-eight total years of service. A Reserve officer in grade 
of lieutenant colonel whose name is on a recommended list for pro-
motion to the grade of colonel may not be transferred to the Retired 
Reserve or discharged under this subsection. 
(c) Each Reserve officer whose name is on a recommended list for 
promotion to grade of major general, brigadier general, or colonel, 
shall, unless removed from an active status at an earlier date, upon his 
application, be transferred to the Retired Reserve if qualified, or if he 
is not qualified or does not apply for transfer to the Retired Reserve, 
shall be discharged, under the procedure prescribed in subsection (a) 
of this section. 
(d) (1) Each female Reserve officer who is in the grade of lieutenant 
colonel, who was appointed under section 310 of the Women's Armed 
^62stau 374; 66 Services Integration Act of 1948 (5 U. S. C. 627i), and who is not 
removed from an active status at an earlier date shall, upon her appli-
cation, be transferred to the Retired Reserve if qualified, or if she is 
not qualified or does not apply for transfer to the Retired Reserve, 
shall be discharged, thirty days after the date upon which she com-
pletes twenty-eight total years of service. However, such an officer 
may, in the discretion of the Secretary, be retained in an active status 
but not later than thirty days after the date upon which she com-
pletes thirty total years of service. 
(2) Each female Reserve officer who is in a grade below lieutenant 
colonel, who was appointed under section 310 of the Women's Armed' 
Services Integration Act of 1948 (5 U. S. C. 627i), and who is not 
removed from an active status at an earlier date shall, upon her appli-
cation, be transferred to the Retired Reserve if qualified, or if she is 
not qualified or does not apply for transfer to the Retired Reserve, 
shall be discharged, thirty days after the date upon which she com-
pletes twenty-five total years of service. However, such an officer 
in the grade of major whose name is on a recommended list for pro-
motion may not be transferred to the Retired Reserve or discharged 
Stat. 506. 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1183 
under this clause but shall be transferred to the Retired Reserve or 
discharged under the procedure prescribed in clause (1) of this sub-
section. 
SEC. 525. (a) Whenever the Secretary considers that there is an 
excessive number of Reserve officers in an active status, in any grade, 
who have at least thirty total years of service or at least twenty years 
of satisfactory Federal service under title I I I of the Army and Air 
Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948, as 
amended, he may convene a board which shall consider all Reserve 
officers of that grade in an active status who have that service. The 
Secretary shall direct the board to select and recommend by name a 
specified number of such officers for removal from an active status. 
(b) The Secretary may, in the case of an officer recommended for 
removal from an active status under subsection (a) of this section— 
(1) transfer the officer to the Retired Reserve, if he is qualified 
and applies for transfer; 
(2) transfer the officer to the inactive status list, if qualified; 
or 
(3) discharge the officer. 
SEC. 526. Within thirty days after a Reserve officer who is federally 
recognized in the Air National Guard of a State or Territory or the 
District of Columbia solely by reason of his appointment as adjutant 
general or assistant adjutant general, ceases to occupy that position— 
(1) his Federal recognition shall be terminated; and 
(2) he shall— 
(A) be transferred in grade to the Retired Reserve, if he 
is qualified and applies therefor; 
(B) be discharged, and if qualified and he applies, ap-
pointed a Reserve officer in the grade held by him as a Re-
serve officer in the Air Force immediately before his appoint-
ment as adjutant general or assistant adjutant general, and 
be credited with the amount of promotion service in the grade 
in which appointed equal to the amount of promotion service 
with which he has been credited in that grade and in any 
higher grade; or 
(C) be discharged, if not transferred under clause (2) 
(A) of this section, or appointed tinder clause (2) (B) of 
this subsection. 
E l i mi nation of 
excess officers. 
62 Stat. 1087. 
10 u s e 1036 et 
Adjutants 
g e n -
e r a l or assistant 
adjutants general, 
E 1 i m i n ation or 
transfer. 
TITLE VI—THE COAST GUARD RESERVE 
SEC. 601. As used in this title— 
(a) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the respective department 
in which the Coast Guard is operating. 
(b) "Reserve" means the Coast Guard Reserve. 
(c) "Reserve officer" means an officer in the Coast Guard Reserve 
except those officers specifically excluded by subsection 602 (b) of this 
title. 
SEC. 602. (a) This title is applicable only to the Coast Guard 
Reserve. 
(b) This Act is not applicable to those officers of the Reserve whose 
names appear in the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant 
Officers and Cadets of the United States Coast Guard. 
Such officers 
shall be considered for promotion under the regulations governing 
promotion of officers of the Regular Coast Guard as though such 
officers were officers of the Regular Coast Guard. 
(c) This title shall apply equally to women members of the Reserve 
except where the context indicates otherwise. 
Applicability of 
title. 
1184 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 
S T A T . 
Authorized num-
ber of officers. 
Promotion. 
(d) Temporary members of the Coast Guard Reserve are excluded 
from the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 603. (a) The authorized number of officers in the Coast Guard 
Reserve in active status shall be six thousand. 
The actual number 
of Reserve officers in active status at any time shall not exceed these 
authorized numbers unless the Secretary shall determine that a greater 
number is necessary for planned mobilization requirements, or unless 
such excess shall result directly from the operation of mandatory 
provisions of this or other laws. 
(b) The authorized number of officers of the Coast Guard Reserve 
in active status in each of the grades below the grade of rear admiral 
shall be a percentage of the total number of such officers in active 
status below the grade of rear admiral, and shall be 0,6 per centum 
in the grade of captain, 3.5 per centum in the grade of commander, 
25 per centum in the grade of lieutenant commander, 37 per centum 
in the grade of lieutenant, and 33.9 per centum in the combined grades 
of lieutenant (junior grade) and ensign, except that when the actual 
number of Coast Guard Reserve officers in active status in any grade 
is less than the number which is so authorized, the difference may be 
applied to increase the authorized number in any lower grade or 
grades. 
No Reserve officer shall be reduced in rank or grade solely 
because of a reduction in an authorized number provided in this sub-
section. 
The authorized number of Coast Guard Reserve officers in 
active status in the grade of rear admiral shall be two. 
(c) The Secretary may determine the number of Reserve officers 
in each grade who may be promoted annually under the provisions 
of this title. 
The number which shall be so determined for each grade 
shall be the number deemed to be necessary to provide equitable 
opportunity for promotion among succeeding groups of Reserve of-
ficers and an adequate continuing strength of Reserve officers in an 
active status, and shall not cause the number of Reserve officers in 
active status in any grade to exceed the number authorized in this 
section for that grade. 
SEC. 604. (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, all promotions 
of Reserve officers shall be effected pursuant only to the recommenda-
tion of a selection board. 
(b) Selection boards shall be convened from time to time so that 
Reserve officers in the promotion zone for a particular grade will 
receive consideration for promotion concurrently with, or as soon as 
practicable after, their running mates. 
Separate boards may be con-
vened to consider officers in one or more grades; or one board may be 
convened to consider officers in all grades, whichever is most prac-
ticable, provided that all members of such boards shall be senior to 
all officers to be considered by the board. 
(c) Each selection board, from among those officers whose names 
are submitted to it as determined by section 607 of this title, and with-
out regard to existing precedence or seniority, shall recommend for 
promotion those officers whom it considers to be qualified to assume 
the duties of the next higher grade. 
Such officers shall receive con-
sideration in the order of their relative seniority and when the num-
ber of officers found to be qualified equals the number of vacancies 
to be filled, the board need not consider any officers junior to the last 
officer found to be qualified and recommended for promotion. 
(d) Any such junior officers not considered pursuant to subsection 
(c) of this section shall not be considered to have failed of selection, 
and the names of such officers shall be again submitted to the next 
ensuing selection board. 
(e) The law and regulations now or hereafter existing relating 
to the selection for promotion of commissioned officers of the Coast 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1185 
Guard to the grade of rear admiral shall apply to officers of the 
Reserve except that no officer in the grade of captain shall be eligible 
for consideration who has not completed a minimum of twenty years 
of total commissioned Coast Guard or Coast Guard Reserve service. 
Until January 1, 1963, for purposes of this subsection, in addition to 
actual commissioned service, a Reserve officer initially appointed in 
a grade above that of ensign shall be allowed a period of constructive 
service equal to that of the regular officer next senior to him in preced-
ence who has served continuously on active duty and who has not lost 
numbers or precedence, computed from the date of such regular offi-
cer's first appointment as ensign up to the date of original appoint-
ment of such Reserve officer. 
(f) The report of each promotion board shall be submitted to the 
Commandant for review and transmission to the President for 
approval. 
In case any officer or officers recommended by a board for 
promotion are not acceptable to the President, the final action by 
the President will disapprove their selection for promotion. 
(g) The recommendations of promotion boards, as approved by 
the President, will constitute promotion lists from which promotion 
of officers of the Reserve will be made, subject to establishment of 
physical qualification and verification that service subsequent to the 
convening of the promotion board has remained of satisfactory char-
acter. 
Officers on a promotion list will remain thereon until pro-
moted unless removed by the President for due cause. If an exist-
ing promotion list has not been exhausted by the time a later list 
has been approved, all remaining officers on the older list shall be 
tendered appointments before use of the later list is commenced. 
(h) The procedure of selection boards and the procedures for effect-
ing the promotion of those officers selected shall be as determined 
by the Secretary. 
SEC. 605. Officers of the Reserve shall have rank and take prece-
dence in their respective grades among themselves and with officers 
of the same grades of the Regular Coast Guard respectively in accord-
ance with the dates of rank as stated in their commissions. 
When 
Reserve and Regular officers have the same date of rank in a grade, 
such officers shall take precedence as determined by the Secretary. 
SEC. 606. (a) Each officer of the Reserve in an active status shall 
Running mates, 
have a running mate who shall be the officer of the Regular Coast 
Guard of the same grade, exclusive of extra numbers, who is next 
senior to him in precedence as determined in the manner prescribed 
in section 605 of this title. 
(b) When necessary, new running mates shall be determined at the 
times and in the manner set forth below: 
(1) If a running mate is retired, dies, or otherwise is separated 
from the service, suffers loss of numbers, or fails to qualify for pro-
motion, the new running mate shall be the officer of the Regular Coast 
Guard of the same grade who was next senior to the old running mate, 
exclusive of extra numbers, or if there be no such Regular officer then 
the most senior Regular officer in the grade. 
(2) If an officer of the Reserve suffers loss of numbers, the new 
running mate shall be the officer of the Regular Coast Guard, exclusive 
of extra numbers, who is the running mate of the Reserve officer next 
senior to the officer concerned after the loss of numbers has been 
effected. 
(3) If an officer of the Reserve fails of selection or fails to qualify 
for promotion and his running mate is promoted, the new running 
mate shall be the senior officer of the Regular Coast Guard remaining 
in that grade, exclusive of extra numbers, whose name is not on a pro-
motion list. 
Precedence. 
39777 O—55—i)t. 1-
-77 
1186 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 
S T A T . 
Promotion zone. 
D a t e 
of 
r a n k 
upon promotion. 
Minimum points. 
Qualifications. 
Failure of selec-
tion a n d elimina-
tion. 
SEC. 607. Subject to the provisions of section 202 of title I I of this 
Act— 
(a) an officer of the Reserve shall be deemed to be in the pro-
motion zone when his running mate is in the promotion zone and 
shall then become eligible for consideration by a selection board 
for promotion to the next higher grade at approximately the same 
time as his running mate is considered for promotion; and 
(b) an officer whose name is on a promotion list, shall, unless 
his promotion is withheld pursuant to applicable laws or regula-
tions, be tendered an appointment in the next higher grade at 
the same time, or as soon thereafter as practicable, as a similar 
appointment is tendered to his running mate. 
SEC. 608. When an officer of the Reserve is promoted to the next 
higher grade under the provisions of this Act either for temporary 
service or for service in permanent grade, he shall be assigned the 
same date of rank as that assigned to his running mate for either 
and/or both types of service and shall be allowed the pay and allow-
ances of the higher grade for duty performed from the date his 
running mate became entitled to such pay and allowances. 
SEC. 609. No officer of the Reserve shall receive consideration for 
promotion or be promoted under any provision of law unless he has 
attained the minimum number of points prescribed by the Secretary. 
Such number of points shall not exceed fifty points per anniversary 
year. 
SEC. 610. (a) No officer of the Coast Guard Reserve shall be pro-
moted to a higher grade until he has been found to be mentally, moral-
ly, professionally, and physically qualified therefor. 
(b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not exclude from the promo-
tion to which he would otherwise be regularly entitled any Reserve 
officer in whose case a medical board may report that his physical 
disqualification for duty at sea or in the field was occasioned by 
wounds received in the line of duty, and that such wounds do not 
incapacitate him for other duties in the grade to which he shall be 
promoted. 
SEC. 611. (a) A Reserve officer not above the grade of lieutenant 
after failing of selection for promotion to the next higher grade for 
a second time may be retained in or eliminated from an active status 
in the discretion of the Secretary. Other Reserve officers whose names 
are not on a promotion list after failing of selection for promotion 
to the next higher grade a second time shall be given an opportunity 
to apply for transfer to the Retired Reserve if qualified, but unless 
so transferred shall be discharged on June 30 of the fiscal year in 
which they have completed the following periods of total commis-
sioned service for the grades specified: 
Total 
Commissioned 
Grade 
service 
Captain 
30 years 
Commander 
26 years 
Lieutenant Commander 
20 years 
For the purposes of this subsection, the total commissioned service 
of an officer who shall have served continuously in the Coast Guard 
Reserve following appointment therein in the grade or rank of ensign 
shall be computed from June 30 of the fiscal year in which he accepted 
appointment. 
Each Reserve officer initially appointed in a grade 
above that of ensign shall be deemed to have for these purposes, as 
much total commissioned service as any officer of the Regular Coast 
Guard who has served continuously since original appointment as 
ensign, has not lost numbers or precedence and who is, or shall have 
been, junior to such Reserve officer, except that the total commissioned 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
1187 
service that such Keserve officer shall be deemed to have shall not be 
less than the actual number of years he has served in commissioned 
officer status above the grade of commissioned warrant officer. 
(b) A Keserve officer who is eliminated from an active status 
under this section— 
(1) shall be afforded an opportunity to request transfer to 
the Retired Reserve, if qualified; and 
(2) if qualified, and he elects transfer to the Retired Reserve, 
shall be so transferred; or 
(3) if not transferred to the Retired Reserve under (1) and 
(2) above, he shall be transferred to the Inactive Status List or 
discharged in the discretion of the Secretary. 
SEC. 612. The President may remove the name of any officer from 
the promotion list. An officer whose name is so removed from the 
promotion list, or one whose appointment to flag rank is rejected 
by the Senate, shall continue to be eligible for consideration for 
recommendation for promotion. 
The next ensuing selection board 
may recommend the officer concerned for promotion, and thereupon, 
with the approval of the President, the name of such officer shall be 
replaced on the promotion list, without prejudice by reason of its hav-
ing been temporarily removed therefrom, and when promoted such 
officer shall take the same rank and date of rank that he would have 
had had his name not been so removed. 
If such officer is not so 
recommended by such next ensuing selection board or if the President 
shall again remove his name from the promotion list or if the Senate 
shall again reject his appointment, he shall be held for all purposes 
to have twice failed of selection for promotion. 
SEC. 613. (a) A Reserve officer, if otherwise qualified, shall be 
transferred to the Retired Reserve on the date upon which he becomes 
sixty-two years of age, except that a Reserve officer initial!}^ appointed 
prior to January 1, 1953, at such age that completion of twenty years 
of satisfactory Federal service for retirement purposes cannot be 
accomplished by age sixty-two may be retained in an active status not 
later than the date upon which he becomes sixty-four years of age. 
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary may authorize 
such classes or categories of Reserve flag officers as he may designate 
to be retained in an active status not later than the date on which 
the officer concerned becomes sixty-four years of age. 
(c) Except as provided in subsections (a) and (b) of this sec-
tion, a Reserve officer shall, unless transferred to the Retired Reserve, 
be discharged effective upon the date he reaches sixty-two years of 
age. 
SEC. 614. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, if a Reserve officer is 
promoted when his or her running mate in the Regular Coast Guard 
is promoted and such promotion of the Regular running mate is on 
a temporary basis, the promotion of the Reserve officer concerned shall 
be on a temporary basis, and if subsequently the Regular running 
mate is reverted to a lower grade (for reasons other than disciplinary 
or for incompetence or at his own request), the Reserve officer shall 
likewise revert to the same lower grade in the same manner as his 
running mate in the Regular service and take corresponding prece-
dence. 
(b) An officer of the Reserve shall be promoted for temporary 
service or promoted permanently dependent upon the character of the 
promotion extended to his running mate. 
Subject to satisfactory 
service, under such appointment for temporary service, the appoint-
ment of the officer of the Reserve will be made permanent when that 
of his running mate is made permanent or would have been made 
permanent if his temporary service in the higher grade was found to 
have been satisfactory. 
Removal by Pres-
ident or rejection 
by Senate. 
Maximum 
a g e s 
for active status. 
T y p e of promo-
1188 
PUBLIC LAW 773-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 ST A T . 
Officers on ac -
tive duty. 
Former Navy and 
Coast Guard offi-
cers. 
Recall of retired 
officers. 
G r a d e upon re-
lief. 
Regulations. 
SEC. 615. While serving on extended active duty, an officer of the 
Keserve may be promoted for temporary service in the same manner 
as an officer of the Eegular Coast Guard. 
If so promoted by reason of 
being on active duty, the officer concerned will be considered an extra 
number in the higher grade of the Reserve and when released from 
such active duty, unless permanently promoted while on extended 
active duty, shall resume his permanent rank and status in the Reserve. 
Such officers shall also be considered by promotion boards for officers 
of the Reserve if they otherwise meet the requirements of this Act 
and the regulations of the Secretary and may be promoted in the 
normal manner for Reserve officers if qualified under the provisions of 
this Act. 
SEC. 616. Former officers of the Navy or Coast Guard who are 
appointed in the Reserve in the same grades or ranks held in the Regu-
lar Navy or Coast Guard as a result of application therefor, made 
within one year from date of resignation from the Navy or Coast 
Guard, shall be given the same date of rank as that held by them in 
the Navy or Coast Guard. 
SEC. 617. (a) Reserve officers of the Retired Reserve or officers on 
a Reserve retired list, when recalled to active duty, shall be recalled in 
the grades authorized or which may hereafter be authorized for the 
recall of Regular retired officers. 
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, any officer 
recalled to active duty pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and 
who is advanced to a higher grade under a temporary appointment 
shall, upon relief from active duty, if his performance of duty under 
such temporary appointment was satisfactory, be advanced on the 
retired list to the highest grade held while on active duty. 
SEC. 618. The Secretary may prescribe such regulations, not incon-
sistent with this Act, as he may deem necessary and appropriate in 
the premises. 
TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Effective date. 
R e p e a l s 
amendments. 
41 Stat. 785. 
10 u s e 511. 
64 Stat. 145. 
10 u s e 507. 
10 u s e 1036a. 
SEC. 701. Except as otherwise provided, this Act shall become effec-
tive July 1,1955. 
SEC. 702. (a) Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, all laws 
limiting the number of officers in flag or general officer grades in the 
Naval Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve, who may serve on active 
duty, are repealed. 
(b) The eighth paragraph of section 127a of the National Defense 
Act, as amended, is further amended to read as follows: 
"Unless special assignment is made by the President under the pro-
visions of the Act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 811), as amended by the 
Act of August 7, 1947 (61 Stat. 913), and by the Act of May 5, 1950 
(10 U. S. C. 1591), all officers of the Army and Air Force serving in 
the active military service of the United States in any grade shall take 
rank according to the date which, in the case of an officer of the Regu-
lar Army or the Regular Air Force is that stated in his commission 
or letter of appointment, and, in the case of a Reserve officer, shall 
precede that on which he enters the active military service of the United 
States by a period equal to the total of— 
(1) one year for each year of satisfactory Federal service as 
defined in section 302 (b) of the Army and Air Force Vitalization 
and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948 (62 Stat. 1087) which 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 7 7 3 - S E P T . 3, 1954 
1189 
is earned by the officer concerned while holding that grade or any 
higher grade subsequent to the effective date of the Reserve 
Officer Personnel Act of 1954; 
(2) the total length of active Federal service, or active duty 
or active duty for training as defined by section 101 of the Armed 
Forces Eeserve Act of 1952 (66 Stat. 481), which he may have 
souse 901. 
performed in that grade or any higher grade, including the total 
length of duty performed by him in that grade or any higher 
grade under the provisions of sections 92, 94, 97, and 99 of this 
Act, at any time except during a year of satisfactory Federal 
service counted under clause (1) of this paragraph; and 
(3) one day for each point credited under section 302 (b) (2) 
of the Army and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equali-
zation Act of 1948 (62 Stat. 1087) while holding that grade or any 
^° "^*= ^°^^^-
higher grade at any time subsequent to the effective date of the 
Reserve Officer Personnel Act of 1954 except during a year of 
satisfactory Federal service counted under clause (1) of this 
paragraph. 
When dates of rank as established herein are the 
same, precedence shall be determined by length of active Federal 
commissioned service in the Army or in the Air Force, as appro-
priate, which shall include all time served on active duty or active 
duty for training as defined by Section 101 of the Armed Forces 
Reserve Act of 1952 as a commissioned officer in the Federal 
service, service performed under the provisions of Sections 92, 
94, 97, and 99 of this Act together with the total number of days 
credited such officer in any commissioned grade for points earned 
in the manner prescribed above. When length of such service 
is the same, officers of the Regular Army or Regular Air Force, 
as appropriate, shall take rank among themselves according to 
their places on the promotion list, preceding Reserve officers of 
the same date of rank and length of service who shall rank among 
themselves according to age." 
(c) Subsection 257 (e) of the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 
(66 Stat. 497-8) is amended by inserting before the period at the end 
so use ioo8(e). 
thereof the words "including a review of the effectiveness of the 
Reserve Officer Personnel Act of 1954." 
(d) Section 216 of the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 (66 
so use 936. 
Stat. 486), is hereby repealed. 
(e) Section 708 of the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 is amended 
|6 ^^ soa^ 
by adding at the end thereof the following: "Warrant officers and 
enlisted members of the National Guard of the United States and 
the Air National Guard of the United States holding appointments 
as Reserve commissioned officers pursuant to this section shall not be 
deemed to be in an active status as commissioned officers unless ordered 
to active duty or active duty for training by competent authority in 
their commissioned officer status and until so ordered by competent 
authority, unless discharged from their enlisted or warrant officer 
status, shall be deemed for all purposes to be serving in such warrant 
officer or enlisted status." 
(f) The President is authorized to appoint to the grade of Rear 
Admiral in the Retired Reserve any Reserve officer holding an 
appointment in the Retired Reserve in the grade of Commodore. 
SEC. 703. (a) Except as provided in subsection 617 (b), nothing sions!"^^ provi-
in this Act authorizes the retirement of Reserve officers or the pay-
ment of retired, retirement or severance pay to such officers, or to 
affect in any manner provisions of law relating to the retirement of, 
or the granting of retired or retirement pay or other benefits to, 
Reserve officers. 
1190 
PUBLIC LAW 774-SEPT. 3, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
48 Stat. 15 9. 
32 u s e 66, 171-
176. 
61 Stat. 840. 
34 u s e 211a(o). 
(b) This Act does not modify in any manner any provision of sec-
tion 81 of the National Defense Act, as amended. 
(c) This Act does not modify in any manner any provision of sub-
section 304 (o) of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, as amended. 
Approved September 3, 1954. 
Septembers, 1954 
[H. R. 2235] 
Public Law 774 
CHAPTER 1258 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct the Santa Maria project, 
Southern Pacific Basin, California. 
S a n t a M a r i a 
project, ealif. 
43 u s e 423e. 
Repayment con-
tract. 
Appropriation. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of ^Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the Secretary 
of the Interior is hereby authorized to construct the project for irriga-
tion and the conservation of water, flood control, and for other pur-
poses, on Santa Maria River, California, pursuant to the laws of 
California relating to water and water rights, and, otherwise sub-
stantially in accordance with the recommendations of the Secretary 
of the Interior dated January 16, 1953, entitled "Santa Maria 
project, Southern Pacific Basin, California", in i-elation to the 
Vaquero Dam and Reservoir and any other conservation feature of 
the project: Provided^ That in view of the special circumstances of the 
Santa Maria project, neither the provisions of the third sentence of 
section 46 of the Act of May 25, 1926 (44 Stat. 636, 649) nor any other 
similar provision of the Federal reclamation law^s shall be applicable 
thereto so long as the water utilized on project lands is acquired by 
pumping from the underground reservoir: Provided further^ That a 
repayment contract not exceeding a period of fifty years be executed 
prior to commencement of construction of the works herein authorized. 
SEC. 2. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any 
moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may 
be required for the purposes of this Act not to exceed $16,982,000. 
Approved September 3, 1954. 
Public Law 775 
CHAPTER 1259 
September 3, 1954 
^^ 
A C T 
[H. R. 5420] 
To amend section 161, title 35, United States Code, relating to the patenting 
of plants. 
P a t e n t s 
plants. 
66 Stat. 804. 
f o r 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That section 161, 
title 35, United States Code, is hereby amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 161. PATENTS FOR PLANTS.—Whoever invents or discovers and 
asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant, including 
cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and new^ly found seedlings, other 
than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated 
state, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and 
requirements of this title. 
"The provisions of this title relating to patents for inventions shall 
apply to patents for plants, except as otherwise provided." 
Approved September 3, 1954.