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Title 14 — Coast GuardRelease 119-73

§2146 Discharge in lieu of retirement; separation pay

Title 14 › Subtitle SUBTITLE II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 21— - PERSONNEL; OFFICERS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - DISCHARGES; RETIREMENTS; REVOCATION OF COMMISSIONS; SEPARATION FOR CAUSE › § 2146

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Officers kept on active duty under sections 2143(a)(4), 2143(b), or 2145 may ask, and with the Secretary’s approval, be honorably discharged any time before their scheduled retirement or discharge. A Regular Coast Guard officer discharged under this rule or under sections 2142, 2143, or 2144 with 6 or more but less than 20 years of continuous active service before discharge gets separation pay under subsection (d)(1) of 10 U.S.C. 1174. If discharged under section 2164 with 6 to less than 20 years, the pay is under subsection (d)(1) or (d)(2) of 10 U.S.C. 1174 as the Secretary’s rules say. An officer discharged for twice failing promotion is not eligible for that pay if they asked not to be considered or asked to be removed from the promotion list.

Full Legal Text

Title 14, §2146

Coast Guard — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Each officer who is retained on active duty under section 2143(a)(4), 2143(b), or 2145 of this title may, if he so requests, with the approval of the Secretary, be honorably discharged at any time prior to the date otherwise specified for his retirement or discharge.
(b)An officer of the Regular Coast Guard who is discharged under this section or section 2142, 2143, or 2144 of this title and has completed 6 or more, but less than 20, continuous years of active service immediately before that discharge or release is entitled to separation pay computed under subsection (d)(1) of section 1174 of title 10.
(c)An officer of the Regular Coast Guard who is discharged under section 2164 of this title and has completed 6 or more, but less than 20, continuous years of active service immediately before that discharge or release is entitled to separation pay computed under subsection (d)(1) or (d)(2) of section 1174 of title 10 as determined under regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
(d)Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), an officer discharged under this chapter for twice failing of selection for promotion to the next higher grade is not entitled to separation pay under this section if the officer requested in writing or otherwise sought not to be selected for promotion, or requested removal from the list of selectees.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–282, § 112(b), renumbered section 286 of this title as this section. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–282, § 123(b)(2), substituted “section 2143(a)(4), 2143(b), or 2145” for “section 283(a)(4), 283(b), or 285”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–282, § 123(b)(2), substituted “section 2142, 2143, or 2144” for “section 282, 283, or 284”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–282, § 123(b)(2), substituted “section 2164” for “section 327”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–282, § 123(c)(2)(A), substituted “this chapter” for “chapter 11 of this title”. 2002—Pub. L. 107–295 substituted “separation” for “severance” in section catchline, added subsecs. (b) to (d), and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: “Each officer discharged under this section or under section 282, 283, or 284 of this title is entitled to a lump-sum payment computed by multiplying his years of active commissioned service, but not more than twelve, by two months’ basic pay of the grade in which he is serving on the date of his discharge. In determining the total number of years of active service to be used as a multiplier in computing this payment, a part of a year that is six months or more is counted as a whole year and a part of a year that is less than six months is disregarded. The acceptance of a lump-sum payment under this section does not deprive a person of any retirement benefits from the United States. However, there shall be deducted from each of his retirement payments so much thereof as is based on the service for which he has received payment under this section until the total amount deducted equals the amount of the lump-sum payment.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2002 Amendment Pub. L. 107–295, title IV, § 416(c), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2122, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (a) [amending this section and section 283, 286a, and 327 of this title] shall take effect 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 25, 2002], except that subsection (d) of section 286 [now 2146] of title 14, United States Code, as amended by paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of this section, shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to conduct on or after that date. The

Amendments

made to the table of sections of [former] chapter 11 of title 14, United States Code, by paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (b) of this section shall take effect 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

14 U.S.C. § 2146

Title 14 — Coast Guard

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73