10 U.S.C. § 525 : US Code - Section 525: Distribution of commissioned officers on active duty in general officer and flag officer grades

Search 10 U.S.C. § 525 : US Code - Section 525: Distribution of commissioned officers on active duty in general officer and flag officer grades

(a) No appointment may be made in a grade above brigadier general
in the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps if that appointment would
result in more than 50 percent of the general officers of that
armed force on active duty being in grades above brigadier general.
No appointment may be made in a grade above rear admiral (lower
half) in the Navy if that appointment would result in more than 50
percent of the flag officers of the Navy on active duty being in
grades above rear admiral (lower half).
(b)(1) No appointment may be made in a grade above major general
in the Army or Air Force if that appointment would result in more
than 15.7 percent of the general officers of that armed force on
active duty being in grades above major general. Of the 15.7
percent of general officers of the Army or Air Force on active duty
who may be serving in grades above major general, not more than 25
percent may be serving in the grade of general.
(2)(A) No appointment may be made in a grade above rear admiral
in the Navy if that appointment would result in more than 15.7
percent of the flag officers of the Navy on active duty being in
grades above rear admiral. Of the 15.7 percent of flag officers on
active duty who may be serving in grades above rear admiral, not
more than 25 percent may be serving in the grade of admiral.
(B) No appointment may be made in a grade above major general in
the Marine Corps if that appointment would result in more than 17.5
percent of the general officers of the Marine Corps on active duty
being in grades above major general.
(3) An officer while serving as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff or as Chief of Staff to the President, if
serving in the grade of general or admiral, is in addition to the
number that would otherwise be permitted for his armed force for
that grade under paragraph (1) or (2).
(4)(A) An officer while serving in a position designated under
subparagraph (B), if serving in the grade of lieutenant general or
vice admiral, is in addition to the number that would otherwise be
permitted for that officer's armed force for that grade under
paragraph (1) or (2).
(B) The President, with the advice and assistance of the
Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
may designate not more than seven positions within the Joint Staff
(provided for under section 155 of this title) as positions
referred to in subparagraph (A). The authority of the President
under the preceding sentence may not be delegated.
(5)(A) An officer while serving in a position specified in
section 604(b) of this title, if serving in the grade of general or
admiral, is in addition to the number that would otherwise be
permitted for that officer's armed force for officers serving on
active duty in grades above major general or rear admiral, as the
case may be, under the first sentence of paragraph (1) or (2), as
applicable. Any increase by reason of the preceding sentence in the
number of officers of an armed force serving on active duty in
grades above major general or rear admiral may only be realized by
an increase in the number of lieutenant generals or vice admirals,
as the case may be, serving on active duty, and any such increase
may not be construed as authorizing an increase in the limitation
on the total number of general or flag officers for that armed
force under section 526(a) of this title or in the number of
general and flag officers that may be designated under section
526(b) of this title.
(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply in the case of an officer
serving in such a position if the Secretary of Defense, when
considering officers for recommendation to the President for
appointment to fill the vacancy in that position which was filled
by that officer, did not have a recommendation for that appointment
from each Secretary of a military department who (pursuant to
section 604(a) of this title) was required to make such a
recommendation.
(6) An officer while serving as Chief of the National Guard
Bureau is in addition to the number that would otherwise be
permitted for that officer's armed force for officers serving on
active duty in grades above major general under paragraph (1).
(7) An officer of the Army while serving as Superintendent of the
United States Military Academy, if serving in the grade of
lieutenant general, is in addition to the number that would
otherwise be permitted for the Army for officers serving on active
duty in grades above major general under paragraph (1). An officer
of the Navy or Marine Corps while serving as Superintendent of the
United States Naval Academy, if serving in the grade of vice
admiral or lieutenant general, is in addition to the number that
would otherwise be permitted for the Navy or Marine Corps,
respectively, for officers serving on active duty in grades above
major general or rear admiral under paragraph (1) or (2). An
officer while serving as Superintendent of the United States Air
Force Academy, if serving in the grade of lieutenant general, is in
addition to the number that would otherwise be permitted for the
Air Force for officers serving on active duty in grades above major
general under paragraph (1).
(8) An officer while serving in a position designated by the
Secretary of Defense as Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary
of Defense, if serving in the grade of lieutenant general or vice
admiral, is in addition to the number that otherwise would be
permitted for that officer's armed force for that grade under
paragraph (1) or (2). Only one officer may be designated as Senior
Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for purposes of this
paragraph.
(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the President -
(A) may make appointments in the Army, Air Force, and Marine
Corps in the grade of lieutenant general and in the Army and Air
Force in the grade of general in excess of the applicable numbers
determined under subsection (b)(1), and may make appointments in
the Marine Corps in the grade of general in addition to the
Commandant and Assistant Commandant, if each such appointment is
made in conjunction with an offsetting reduction under paragraph
(2); and
(B) may make appointments in the Navy in the grades of vice
admiral and admiral in excess of the applicable numbers
determined under subsection (b)(2) if each such appointment is
made in conjunction with an offsetting reduction under paragraph
(2).
(2) For each appointment made under the authority of paragraph
(1) in the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps in the grade of
lieutenant general or general or in the Navy in the grade of vice
admiral or admiral, the number of appointments that may be made in
the equivalent grade in one of the other armed forces (other than
the Coast Guard) shall be reduced by one. When such an appointment
is made, the President shall specify the armed force in which the
reduction required by this paragraph is to be made.
(3)(A) The number of officers that may be serving on active duty
in the grades of lieutenant general and vice admiral by reason of
appointments made under the authority of paragraph (1) may not
exceed the number equal to 10 percent of the total number of
officers that may be serving on active duty in those grades in the
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps under subsection (b).
(B) The number of officers that may be serving on active duty in
the grades of general and admiral by reason of appointments made
under the authority of paragraph (1) may not exceed the number
equal to 15 percent of the total number of general officers and
flag officers that may be serving on active duty in those grades in
the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
(4) Upon the termination of the appointment of an officer in the
grade of lieutenant general or vice admiral or general or admiral
that was made in connection with an increase under paragraph (1) in
the number of officers that may be serving on active duty in that
armed force in that grade, the reduction made under paragraph (2)
in the number of appointments permitted in such grade in another
armed force by reason of that increase shall no longer be in
effect.
(d) An officer continuing to hold the grade of general or admiral
under section 601(b)(4) of this title after relief from the
position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chief of Staff
of the Army, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Air
Force, or Commandant of the Marine Corps shall not be counted for
purposes of this section.
(e) In determining the total number of general officers or flag
officers of an armed force on active duty for purposes of this
section, the following officers shall not be counted:
(1) An officer of that armed force in the grade of brigadier
general or above or, in the case of the Navy, in the grade of
rear admiral (lower half) or above, who is on leave pending the
retirement, separation, or release of that officer from active
duty, but only during the 60-day period beginning on the date of
the commencement of such leave of such officer.
(2) An officer of that armed force who has been relieved from a
position designated under section 601(a) of this title and is
under orders to assume another such position, but only during the
60-day period beginning on the date on which those orders are
published.
(f) An officer while serving as Attending Physician to the
Congress is in addition to the number that would otherwise be
permitted for that officer's armed force for officers serving on
active duty in grades above brigadier general or rear admiral
(lower half) under subsection (a).