Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§14701a Continuation on reserve active-status list: officers in certain military specialties and career tracks

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle E— - Reserve Components › Part PART III— - PROMOTION AND RETENTION OF OFFICERS ON THE RESERVE ACTIVE-STATUS LIST › Chapter CHAPTER 1409— - CONTINUATION OF OFFICERS ON THE RESERVE ACTIVE-STATUS LIST AND SELECTIVE EARLY REMOVAL › § 14701a

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

A military department secretary can let a reserve commissioned officer in a rank above O-2 stay on the reserve active-status list past the usual date they would be separated or retired. The officer must hold a job specialty that the secretary has officially picked as eligible. If an officer is kept on the active-status list, they must be separated on the first day of the month after they complete 40 years of commissioned service, unless they retire, move to the Retired Reserve, or are discharged sooner. Military department secretaries must follow rules the Secretary of Defense creates, and those rules must say how to choose which job specialties qualify.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §14701a

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of the military department concerned may authorize a reserve commissioned officer in a grade above O-2 to remain on the reserve active-status list after the date otherwise provided for the separation or retirement of the officer under section 14505, 14506, or 14507 of this title, as applicable, if the officer has a military occupational specialty, rating, or specialty code in a military specialty designated pursuant to subsection (b).

(b)The Secretary of a military department shall designate the military specialties in which a military occupational specialty, rating, or specialty code, as applicable, assigned to members of the armed forces under the jurisdiction of such Secretary authorizes the members to be eligible for continuation on the reserve active-status list as provided in subsection (a).

(c)An officer continued on the reserve active-status list pursuant to this section shall, if not earlier retired, transferred to the Retired Reserve, or discharged, be separated in accordance with section 14513 or 14514 of this title, as applicable, on the first day of the month after the month in which the officer completes 40 years of commissioned service.

(d)The Secretaries of the military departments shall carry out this section in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. The regulations shall specify the criteria to be used by the Secretaries of the military departments in designating military specialties for purposes of subsection (b).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 14701a

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73