§1251 Age 62: regular commissioned officers in grades below general and flag officer grades; exceptions

The date of the enactment of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, referred to in subsec. (e)(2), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–283, which was approved Jan. 1, 2021.

2021—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283, § 924(b)(3)(T), substituted “Marine Corps, or Space Force” for “or Marine Corps”. Pub. L. 116–283, § 507(a)(2), inserted “or separated, as specified in subsection (e),” after “shall be retired”. Pub. L. 116–283, § 507(a)(1), which directed substitution of “Marine Corps, or Space Force” for “or Marine Corps,”, could not be executed because “or Marine Corps,” did not appear in text. Similar amendment was made by Pub. L. 116–283, § 924(b)(3)(T), see above. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–283, § 507(b)(1), inserted “or Separation” after “Retirement” in heading. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 116–283, § 507(b)(2), inserted “or separation” after “retirement” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–283, § 507(c), in heading, substituted “or Separation of Other Officers” for “of Chaplains” and, in text, inserted “or separation” after “retirement” and substituted “any officer other than a health professions officer described in subsection (b)(2)” for “an officer who is appointed or designated as a chaplain”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–283, § 507(d), added subsec. (e). 2011—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 111–383, § 501(b)(2), substituted “the officer—” for “the officer will be performing duties consisting primarily of providing patient care or performing other clinical duties.” and added subpars. (A) and (B). Subsec. (b)(2)(D). Pub. L. 111–383, § 501(b)(1), added subpar. (D). 2006—Pub. L. 109–364 amended section catchline and text generally, substituting provisions relating to retirement at age 62 of regular commissioned officers in grades below general and flag officer grades for provisions relating to retirement at age 62 of all regular commissioned officers. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–163 inserted “, a permanent professor at the United States Naval Academy,” after “Air Force Academy” in first sentence and struck out last sentence which read as follows: “An officer who is a permanent professor at the United States Military Academy or United States Air Force Academy, the director of admissions at the United States Military Academy, or the registrar of the United States Air Force Academy shall be retired on the first day of the month following the month in which he becomes 64 years of age.” 1997—Subsec. (c)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 105–85, § 504(a), added par. (2) and redesignated former pars. (2) and (3) as (3) and (4), respectively. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 105–85, § 504(b), added subsec. (d). 1989—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 101–189 designated existing provisions as subpar. (A), substituted “Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a deferment” for “A deferment” and “68 years of age” for “67 years of age”, and added subpar. (B). 1987—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100–180 added subsec. (c).

Section effective Sept. 15, 1981, but the authority to prescribe

under this section effective on Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701 of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as an

of 1980 Amendment note under section 101 of this title. Deferral of Retirement Date for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title VII, § 704, Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 1996, provided that the President could defer until Oct. 1, 1989, the retirement of the officer serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the term which began on October 1, 1987, notwithstanding the limitation contained in former section 1251(b) of this title. Transition Provisions Under Defense Officer Personnel Management ActFor provision that this section not apply to any officer who on the

of this Act [Sept. 15, 1981] was on active duty in a grade above general, see section 632 of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 611 of this title.