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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§14501 Failure of selection for promotion

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle E— - Reserve Components › Part PART III— - PROMOTION AND RETENTION OF OFFICERS ON THE RESERVE ACTIVE-STATUS LIST › Chapter CHAPTER 1407— - FAILURE OF SELECTION FOR PROMOTION AND INVOLUNTARY SEPARATION › § 14501

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

An officer on the reserve active‑status list below colonel (or below captain in the Navy Reserve) who is in or above the promotion zone for their grade and category must be treated as having failed selection for promotion if the officer is considered but not recommended, or if the officer refuses a promotion they were chosen for. That rule does not apply to promotions made by a vacancy promotion board. An officer must be treated as having failed selection twice if any of these happen: the officer is considered but not recommended a second time by a mandatory board under section 14101(a) or a special board under section 14502(a); the officer refuses a promotion recommended by a mandatory board under section 14101(a) or a special board under section 14502(a) or 14502(b) after a prior failure or after removal under section 14111(b) or from a promotion list under section 14310; or the officer’s name was removed under section 14111(b) or from a promotion list under section 14310 after a recommendation by a mandatory board under section 14101(a) or a special board under section 14502(a) or (b), and then the next mandatory board under section 14101(a) or special board under section 14502(a) does not recommend the officer for that grade and category, or the officer’s name is removed again under section 14111(b) or from a promotion list under section 14310.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §14501

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An officer on the reserve active-status list in a grade below the grade of colonel or, in the case of an officer in the Navy Reserve, captain who is in or above the promotion zone established for that officer’s grade and competitive category and who (1) is considered but not recommended for promotion (other than by a vacancy promotion board), or (2) declines to accept a promotion for which selected (other than by a vacancy promotion board), shall be considered to have failed of selection for promotion.
(b)An officer shall be considered for all purposes to have twice failed of selection for promotion if any of the following applies:
(1)The officer is considered but not recommended for promotion a second time by a mandatory promotion board convened under section 14101(a) or a special selection board convened under section 14502(a) of this title.
(2)The officer declines to accept a promotion for which recommended by a mandatory promotion board convened under section 14101(a) or a special selection board convened under section 14502(a) or 14502(b) of this title after previously failing of selection or after the officer’s name was removed from the report of a selection board under section 14111(b) or from a promotion list under section 14310 of this title after recommendation for promotion by an earlier selection board described in subsection (a).
(3)The officer’s name has been removed from the report of a selection board under section 14111(b) or from a promotion list under section 14310 of this title after recommendation by a mandatory promotion board convened under section 14101(a) or by a special selection board convened under section 14502(a) or 14502(b) of this title and—
(A)the officer is not recommended for promotion by the next mandatory promotion board convened under section 14101(a) or special selection board convened under section 14502(a) of this title for that officer’s grade and competitive category; or
(B)the officer’s name is again removed from the report of a selection board under section 14111(b) or from a promotion list under section 14310 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–163 substituted “Navy Reserve” for “Naval Reserve”. 1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–106 inserted heading.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1996 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 104–106 effective as if included in the Reserve Officer Personnel Management Act, title XVI of Pub. L. 103–337, as enacted on Oct. 5, 1994, see section 1501(f)(3) of Pub. L. 104–106, set out as a note under section 113 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. Continuation on Reserve Active-Status List of Certain Reserve Colonels of Army and Air Force Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1681, Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 3021, provided that: “(a) Continuation Under Old Law.—Except as provided in subsection (b), a reserve officer of the Army or the Air Force who, on the

Effective Date

of this title [Oct. 1, 1996, see section 1691(b)(1), (2) of Pub. L. 103–337, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 10001 of this title]—“(1) is subject to placement on the reserve active-status list of the Army or the Air Force; and “(2)(A) holds the reserve grade of colonel, (B) is on a list of officers recommended for promotion to the reserve grade of colonel, or (C) has been nominated by the President for appointment in the reserve grade of colonel, shall continue to be subject to mandatory transfer to the Retired Reserve or discharge from the officer’s reserve appointment under section 3851 or 8851 of title 10, United States Code, as in effect on the day before the

Effective Date

of this title. “(b) Exemption.—This section does not apply to an officer who is—“(1) sooner transferred from an active status or discharged under some other provision of law; “(2) promoted to a higher grade, unless the officer was on a list of officers recommended for promotion to the reserve grade of colonel before the

Effective Date

of this title; or “(3) continued on the reserve active-status list under section 14701 of title 10, United States Code, as added by this title.” Mandatory Separation for Age for Certain Reserve Officers of Navy and Marine Corps Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1690, Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 3025, provided that: “(a)

Savings Provision

s for Required Separation Age.—A reserve officer of the Navy or the Marine Corps—“(1) who—“(A) on the

Effective Date

of this title [Oct. 1, 1996, see section 1691(b)(1), (2) of Pub. L. 103–337, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 10001 of this title] is in an active status, and “(B) on the day before the

Effective Date

of this title was an officer described in section 6389(e) [now 8373(e)], [former] 6397(a), [former] 6403(a), or [former] 6403(b) of title 10, United States Code; and “(2) who, on or after the

Effective Date

of this title is subject to elimination from an active status under any provision of such title, is entitled to be treated as that officer would have been treated under [former] section 6397 or 6403 as applicable, as in effect on the day before the

Effective Date

of this title, if that treatment would result in the date for the officer’s separation from an active status being a later date than the date established under the law in effect on or after the

Effective Date

of this title. “(b)

Savings Provision

s for Mandatory Separation for Age.—An officer who was initially appointed in the Naval Reserve [now Navy Reserve] or the Marine Corps Reserve before January 1, 1953, and who cannot complete 20 years of service computed under section 12732 of this title before he becomes 62 years of age, but can complete this service by the time he becomes 64 years of age, may be retained in an active status not later than the date he becomes 64 years of age. “(c) An officer who was initially appointed in the Naval Reserve [now Navy Reserve] or the Marine Corps Reserve before the

Effective Date

of this title, and who cannot complete 20 years of service computed under section 12732 of this title before he becomes 60 years of age, but can complete this service by the time he becomes 62 years of age, may be retained in an active status not later than the date he becomes 62 years of age.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 14501

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73