Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73
§14308 Promotions: how made
Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle E— - Reserve Components › Part PART III— - PROMOTION AND RETENTION OF OFFICERS ON THE RESERVE ACTIVE-STATUS LIST › Chapter CHAPTER 1405— - PROMOTIONS › § 14308
Summary
When the President approves a promotion board’s report, the Secretary of the military department must put all officers chosen for promotion in a competitive group on one promotion list. The list is ordered by seniority or by particular merit as the board decided. The list takes effect on the day the President approves the report. Officers on a promotion list are promoted under the usual promotion rules and normally in the order their names appear, after earlier selects are promoted. First lieutenants (and Navy lieutenant junior grade) are promoted under department rules. There is also an “all-fully-qualified” list that the Secretary can recommend to the President when every officer in a grade is judged ready and needed in the next grade; once approved, it is treated like a promotion list. If officers were left off that list by mistake, the Secretary can make a supplemental list. An officer’s date of rank is set by existing rules and can be adjusted in the same ways those rules allow. The Secretary may make other limited date-of-rank adjustments where law allows. If an officer is part of a running-mate pairing, that officer’s promotion becomes effective when the running mate becomes eligible, and they share the same effective date. Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve officers chosen by certain boards may be promoted at any time to fill vacancies in their assigned positions, and some below-colonel selections may be promoted at any time to the vacancy for which they were chosen. For Guard officers, Federal recognition of a higher grade makes the promotion effective that day. If Federal recognition is delayed more than 100 days (and the officer is not at fault), special rules apply: for State promotions before January 1, 2024 the Secretary may set an adjusted effective date not earlier than the State date; for State promotions on or after January 1, 2024 the effective date is the later of the date the National Guard Bureau deems the application complete and the date the officer fills a billet in the higher grade. Generals chosen by a vacancy board may only be promoted to fill a vacancy in their Reserve.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §14308
Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)When the report of a selection board convened under section 14101(a) or 14502 of this title is approved by the President, the Secretary of the military department concerned shall place the names of all officers selected for promotion within a competitive category on a single list for that competitive category, to be known as a promotion list, in the order of seniority of those officers on the reserve active-status list or based on particular merit, as determined by the promotion board. A promotion list is considered to be established under this section as of the date of the approval of the report of the selection board under the preceding sentence.
(b)(1)Officers on a promotion list for a competitive category shall be promoted in the manner specified in section 12203 of this title.
(2)Officers on a promotion list for a competitive category shall be promoted to the next higher grade in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned. Except as provided in section 14311, 14312, or 14502(e) of this title or in subsection (d) or (e), promotions shall be made in the order in which the names of officers appear on the promotion list and after officers previously selected for promotion in that competitive category have been promoted.
(3)Officers to be promoted to the grade of first lieutenant or lieutenant (junior grade) shall be promoted in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned.
(4)(A)Officers in the permanent grade of first lieutenant or, in the case of the Navy, lieutenant (junior grade) who are on an approved all-fully-qualified-officers list shall be promoted to the next higher grade in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned. Such promotions shall be in the manner specified in section 12203 of this title.
(B)An all-fully-qualified-officers list shall be considered to be approved for purposes of subparagraph (A) when the list is approved by the President. When so approved, such a list shall be treated in the same manner as a promotion list under this chapter and chapter 1403 of this title.
(C)The Secretary of a military department may make a recommendation to the President for approval of an all-fully-qualified-officers list only when the Secretary determines that all officers on the list are needed in the next higher grade to accomplish mission objectives.
(D)For purposes of this paragraph, an all-fully-qualified-officers list is a list of all officers on the reserve active-status list in a grade who the Secretary of the military department concerned determines—
(i)are fully qualified for promotion to the next higher grade; and
(ii)would be eligible for consideration for promotion to the next higher grade by a selection board convened under section 14101(a) of this title upon the convening of such a board.
(E)If the Secretary of the military department concerned determines that one or more officers or former officers were not placed on an all-fully-qualified-list under this paragraph because of administrative error, the Secretary may prepare a supplemental all-fully-qualified-officers list containing the names of any such officers for approval in accordance with this paragraph.
(c)(1)The date of rank of an officer appointed to a higher grade under this section is determined under section 741(d)(2) of this title.
(2)The date of rank of an officer appointed to a higher grade under this section may be adjusted in the same manner as an adjustment may be made under section 741(d)(4) of this title in the date of rank of an officer appointed to a higher grade under section 624(a) of this title. In any use of the authority under the preceding sentence, subparagraph (C)(ii) of such section shall be applied by substituting “reserve active-status list” for “active-duty list”.
(3)The Secretary concerned may adjust the date of rank of an officer whose name is placed on a reserve active-status promotion list pursuant to subsection (e) or (f) of section 624 of this title.
(4)Except as provided in paragraph (2) or as otherwise specifically authorized by law, a reserve officer is not entitled to additional pay or allowances if the effective date of the officer’s promotion is adjusted to reflect a date earlier than the actual date of the officer’s promotion.
(d)An officer to whom a running mate system applies under section 14306 of this title and who is selected for promotion is eligible for promotion to the grade for which selected when the officer who is that officer’s running mate becomes eligible for promotion under chapter 36 of this title. The effective date of the promotion of that officer shall be the same as that of the officer’s running mate in the grade to which the running mate is promoted.
(e)Subject to this section and to section 14311(e) of this title, and under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned—
(1)an officer in the Army Reserve or the Air Force Reserve who is on a promotion list as a result of selection for promotion by a mandatory promotion board convened under section 14101(a) of this title or a board convened under section 14502 or chapter 36 of this title may be promoted at any time to fill a vacancy in a position to which the officer is assigned; and
(2)an officer in a grade below colonel in the Army Reserve or the Air Force Reserve who is on a promotion list as a result of selection for promotion by a vacancy promotion board convened under section 14101(a) of this title may be promoted at any time to fill the vacancy for which the officer was selected.
(f)(1)The effective date of a promotion of a reserve commissioned officer of the Army or the Air Force who is extended Federal recognition in the next higher grade in the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard under section 307 or 310 of title 32 shall be the date on which such Federal recognition in that grade is so extended.
(2)If there is a delay in extending Federal recognition in the next higher grade in the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard to a reserve commissioned officer of the Army or the Air Force that exceeds 100 days from the date the National Guard Bureau deems such officer’s application for Federal recognition to be completely submitted by the State and ready for review at the National Guard Bureau, and the delay was not attributable to the action or inaction of such officer—
(A)in the event of State promotion with an effective date before January 1, 2024, the effective date of the promotion concerned under paragraph (1) may be adjusted to a date determined by the Secretary concerned, but not earlier than the effective date of the State promotion; and
(B)in the event of State promotion with an effective date on or after January 1, 2024, the effective date of the promotion concerned under paragraph (1) shall be adjusted by the Secretary concerned to the later of—
(i)the date the National Guard Bureau deems such officer’s application for Federal recognition to be completely submitted by the State and ready for review at the National Guard Bureau; and
(ii)the date on which the officer occupies a billet in the next higher grade.
(g)A reserve officer of the Army or the Air Force who is on a promotion list for promotion to the grade of brigadier general or major general as a result of selection by a vacancy promotion board may be promoted to that grade only to fill a vacancy in the Army Reserve or the Air Force Reserve, as the case may be, in that grade.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those in subsecs. (a), (d), and (f) of this section were contained in section 3385, 5902(a) to (c), and 8374 of this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103–337, § 1629(a)(1), (b)(2), (c)(1).
Amendments
2023—Subsec. (c)(3), (4). Pub. L. 118–31 added par. (3) and redesignated former par. (3) as (4). 2022—Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 117–263 amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: “If the Secretary concerned determines that there was an undue delay in extending Federal recognition in the next higher grade in the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard to a reserve commissioned officer of the Army or the Air Force, and the delay was not attributable to the action (or inaction) of such officer, the
Effective Date
of the promotion concerned under paragraph (1) may be adjusted to a date determined by the Secretary concerned, but not earlier than the
Effective Date
of the State promotion.” 2019—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–92 inserted “or based on particular merit, as determined by the promotion board” after “reserve active-status list”. 2018—Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 115–232, § 518(a)(1), which directed amendment of subsec. (f) by inserting “(1)” before “The
Effective Date
of promotion”, was executed by making the insertion before “The
Effective Date
of a promotion” to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 115–232, § 518(a)(2), added par. (2). 2015—Subsec. (b)(4)(E). Pub. L. 114–92 added subpar. (E). 2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–364 inserted at end “A promotion list is considered to be established under this section as of the date of the approval of the report of the selection board under the preceding sentence.” 2001—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 107–107, § 505(b)(1), added par. (4). Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 107–107, § 506(b)(1)(B), added par. (2). Former par. (2) redesignated (3). Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 107–107, § 506(b)(1)(A), (2), redesignated par. (2) as (3) and inserted “provided in paragraph (2) or as otherwise” after “Except as”. 1997—Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 105–85, § 514(c)(1), inserted “a grade below colonel in” after “an officer in”. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 105–85, § 514(c)(2), inserted “or the Air Force” after “A reserve officer of the Army”, substituted “in the Army Reserve or the Air Force Reserve, as the case may be, in that grade” for “in that grade in a unit of the Army Reserve that is organized to serve as a unit and that has attained the strength prescribed by the Secretary of the Army”, and struck out at end “A reserve officer of the Air Force who is on a promotion list for promotion to the grade of brigadier general or major general as a result of selection by a vacancy promotion board may be promoted to that grade only to fill a vacancy in the Air Force Reserve in that grade.”
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2018 Amendment Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title V, § 518(b), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1754, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 13, 2018], and shall apply with respect to promotions of officers whose State
Effective Date
is on or after that date.”
Effective Date
of 2006 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 109–364 effective Oct. 17, 2006, and applicable with respect to officers on promotion lists established on or after such date, see section 511(e) of Pub. L. 109–364, set out as a note under section 624 of this title.
Effective Date
of 2001
Amendments
ubsec. (c)(2) of this section applicable with respect to any report of a selection board recommending officers for promotion to the next higher grade that is submitted to the Secretary of the military department concerned on or after Dec. 28, 2001, and Secretary of the military department concerned may apply subsec. (c)(2) of this section in the case of an appointment of an officer to a higher grade resulting from a report of a selection board submitted to the Secretary before Dec. 28, 2001, if the Secretary determines that such appointment would have been made on an earlier date that is on or after Oct. 1, 2001, and was delayed under the circumstances specified in section 741(d)(4) of this title, see section 506(c) of Pub. L. 107–107, set out as a note under section 741 of this title.
Effective Date
Section effective Oct. 1, 1996, see section 1691(b)(1) of Pub. L. 103–337, set out as a note under section 10001 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 14308
Title 10 — Armed Forces
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73