14 U.S.C. § 729 : US Code - Section 729: Promotion; recommendations of selection boards

Search 14 U.S.C. § 729 : US Code - Section 729: Promotion; recommendations of selection boards

(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, a Reserve officer shall
only be promoted pursuant to the recommendation of a selection
board.
(b) The Secretary shall convene selection boards from time to
time to recommend Reserve officers for promotion to the next higher
grade. A board may be convened to consider officers in one or more
grades.
(c) A selection board shall, from among the names of those
eligible Reserve officers submitted to it, recommend for promotion
to the next higher grade:
(1) those officers serving in the grade of lieutenant (junior
grade) or above whom it considers to be best qualified; and
(2) those officers serving in the grade of ensign whom it
considers to be fully qualified.
(d)(1) Before convening a selection board to recommend Reserve
officers for promotion, the Secretary shall establish a promotion
zone for officers serving in each grade to be considered by the
board. The Secretary shall determine the number of officers in the
promotion zone for officers serving in any grade from among
officers who are eligible for promotion in that grade.
(2)(A) Before convening a selection board to recommend Reserve
officers for promotion to a grade (other than the grade of
lieutenant (junior grade)), the Secretary shall determine the
maximum number of officers in that grade that the board may
recommend for promotion.
(B) The Secretary shall make the determination under subparagraph
(A) of the maximum number that may be recommended with a view to
having in an active status a sufficient number of Reserve officers
in each grade to meet the needs of the Coast Guard for Reserve
officers in an active status.
(C) In order to make the determination under subparagraph (B),
the Secretary shall determine the following:
(i) The number of positions needed to accomplish mission
objectives that require officers in the grade to which the board
will recommend officers for promotion.
(ii) The estimated number of officers needed to fill vacancies
in such positions during the period in which it is anticipated
that officers selected for promotion will be promoted.
(iii) The number of officers authorized by the Secretary to
serve in an active status in the grade under consideration.
(iv) Any statutory limitation on the number of officers in any
grade authorized to be in an active status.
(3)(A) The Secretary may, when the needs of the Coast Guard
require, authorize the consideration of officers in a grade above
lieutenant (junior grade) for promotion to the next higher grade
from below the promotion zone.
(B) When selection from below the promotion zone is authorized,
the Secretary shall establish the number of officers that may be
recommended for promotion from below the promotion zone. That
number may not exceed the number equal to 10 percent of the maximum
number of officers that the board is authorized to recommend for
promotion, except that the Secretary may authorize a greater
number, not to exceed 15 percent of the total number of officers
that the board is authorized to recommend for promotion, if the
Secretary determines that the needs of the Coast Guard so require.
If the maximum number determined under this subparagraph is less
than one, the board may recommend one officer for promotion from
below the promotion zone.
(C) The number of officers recommended for promotion from below
the promotion zone does not increase the maximum number of officers
that the board is authorized to recommend for promotion under
paragraph (2).
(e) The law and regulations relating to the selection for
promotion of a commissioned officer of the Regular Coast Guard to
the grades of rear admiral (lower half) and rear admiral apply to a
Reserve officer, except that to be eligible for consideration for
promotion to the grade of rear admiral (lower half) an officer
shall have completed at least ten years commissioned service, of
which the last five years shall have been served in the Coast Guard
Reserve.
(f) The provisions of section 260 of this title apply to boards
convened under this section. The Secretary shall determine the
procedure to be used by a selection board.
(g) The report of a selection board shall be submitted to the
Secretary for review and transmission to the President for
approval. When an officer recommended by a board for promotion is
not acceptable to the President, the President may remove the name
of that officer from the report of the board.
(h) The recommendations of a selection board, as approved by the
President, constitute a list of selectees from which the promotions
of Reserve officers shall be made. An officer on a list of
selectees remains thereon until promoted unless removed by the
President under section 738 of this title. If an existing list of
selectees has not been exhausted by the time a later list has been
approved, all officers remaining on the older list shall be
tendered appointments prior to those on the later list.
(i) A Reserve officer whose name is on a list of selectees for
promotion shall, unless that officer's promotion is lawfully
withheld, be tendered an appointment in the next higher grade on
the date a vacancy occurs, or as soon thereafter as practicable in
the grade to which the officer was selected for promotion or, if
promotion was determined in accordance with a running mate system,
at the same time, or as soon thereafter as practicable, as that
officer's running mate is tendered a similar appointment.