Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73
§8322 Officers: 30 years
Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle C— - Navy and Marine Corps › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 841— - VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT › § 8322
Summary
The Secretary of the Navy may retire a Regular Navy or Regular Marine Corps officer who has a permanent rank of warrant officer (W–1) or higher if the officer asks to retire after 30 or more years of active service. Count those years by adding up all of the officer’s active-duty service in the armed forces.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §8322
Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)An officer of the Regular Navy or the Regular Marine Corps holding a permanent appointment in the grade of warrant officer, W–1, or above who applies for retirement after completing 30 or more years of active service may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy, be retired.
(b)For the purpose of this section, an officer’s years of active service are computed by adding all his active service in the armed forces.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 632234 U.S.C. 383.
May 13, 1908, ch. 166, 35 Stat. 128 (8th sentence, less proviso);
June 17, 1948, ch. 497, § 1(d), 62 Stat. 477. 34 U.S.C. 879 (less applicability to enlisted men).
June 4, 1920, ch. 228, § 3 (3d proviso, less applicability to enlisted men), 41 Stat. 835. 34 U.S.C. 626–1(a) (1st sentence).Aug. 7, 1947, ch. 512, § 314(a) (1st sentence), 61 Stat. 863;
May 5, 1954, ch. 180, § 205, 68 Stat. 68. In subsection (a) the words “Regular” and “holding a permanent appointment in the grade of warrant officer, W–1, or above” are inserted for clarity. The words “after completing 30 or more years of active service” are substituted for the words “has been thirty years in the service” for clarity. The words “retired from active service” are omitted as surplusage. Subsection (b) is added to clarify the word “service”. It has been consistently interpreted to include active service in the armed forces as defined in this title. In subsection (c) the words “is entitled to retired pay at the rate of 75 percent of the highest basic pay of the grade in which retired” are substituted for the words “with three-fourths of the highest pay of his grade” for clarity and uniformity of expression.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 6322 of this title as this section. 1986—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–348 struck out subsec. (c) which provided that each officer retired under this section be entitled to retired pay, in the case of an officer who first became a member of a uniformed service, as defined in section 1407(a)(2), before Sept. 8, 1980, at the rate of 75 percent of the highest basic pay of the grade in which retired, and in the case of an officer who first became a member of a uniformed service, as defined in section 1407(a)(2), on or after Sept. 8, 1980, at the rate of 75 percent of the monthly retired pay base computed under section 1407(d). 1980—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96–513 substituted “September 8, 1980” for “the date of the enactment of the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1981” wherever appearing. Pub. L. 96–342 designated existing provisions as par. (1), inserted provision limiting applicability to officers who became members of the uniformed services before the date of the enactment of the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1981, and added par. (2).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of
Amendments
and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701(b)(3) of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 8322
Title 10 — Armed Forces
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73