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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§620 Active-duty lists

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 36— - PROMOTION, SEPARATION, AND INVOLUNTARY RETIREMENT OF OFFICERS ON THE ACTIVE-DUTY LIST › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - PROMOTIONS › § 620

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary in charge of each military department must keep one active-duty list of all officers for each armed force he runs, except some officers listed elsewhere and the Coast Guard when it serves as part of the Navy. Officers are placed on the list by how senior they are in the rank they are serving; officers in the same rank are ordered by their position within that rank. If an officer gets a temporary rank or filling a job that changes their spot, they go back to the grade and place they would have had when that temporary duty ends. During a war or national emergency, a reserve officer called to active duty can be left off the list if the Secretary decides, but that exclusion ends no later than 24 months after the officer starts active duty.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §620

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of the military department concerned shall maintain a single list of all officers (other than officers described in section 641 of this title) who are on active duty for each armed force under his jurisdiction (other than the Coast Guard when it is operating as a service in the Navy).
(b)Officers shall be carried on the active-duty list of the armed force of which they are members in the order of seniority of the grade in which they are serving on active duty. Officers serving in the same grade shall be carried in the order of their rank in that grade.
(c)An officer whose position on the active-duty list results from service under a temporary appointment or in a grade held by reason of assignment to a position has, when that appointment or assignment ends, the grade and position on the active-duty list that he would have held if he had not received that appointment or assignment.
(d)Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned, a reserve officer who is ordered to active duty (whether voluntarily or involuntarily) during a war or national emergency and who would otherwise be placed on the active-duty list may be excluded from that list as determined by the Secretary concerned. Exclusion of an officer from the active-duty list as the result of action by the Secretary concerned under the preceding sentence shall expire not later than 24 months after the date on which the officer enters active duty under an order to active duty covered by that sentence.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1996—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–106 made technical amendment to Pub. L. 103–337, § 1624. See 1994 Amendment note below. 1994—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103–337, § 1624, as amended by Pub. L. 104–106, added subsec. (d).

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

of 1994 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 103–337 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.

Effective Date

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

Regulations

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

Effective Date

of 1980 Amendment note under section 101 of this title.

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. Transition Provisions Under Defense Officer Personnel Management Act

Regulations

prescribed under this section applicable to establishment of initial active-duty lists, see section 621(a) of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 611 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 620

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73