Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle E— Reserve Components › Part I— ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION › Chapter 1005— ELEMENTS OF RESERVE COMPONENTS › § 10149
The President must make rules, and the secretary in charge must run continuous checks on Ready Reserve units and members. The checks must keep units ready for mobilization, keep the right mix of military skills, avoid keeping more people with needed civilian jobs than necessary (unless their military skills are urgently needed), give credit for combat service while protecting security needs, and avoid keeping people whose call-up would cause extreme personal or community hardship. A Ready Reserve member who is also a Member of Congress cannot be moved to the Standby Reserve or discharged just because they are a Member of Congress. Only the Secretary of Defense (or the department secretary for the Coast Guard when it is not part of the Navy) can order such a move, and only for service needs after considering the person’s Ready Reserve duties. “Member of Congress” includes a Delegate, a Resident Commissioner, and a Member-elect. If screening finds someone should not stay in the Ready Reserve, the secretary (or Homeland Security for the Coast Guard) may move them to the Standby Reserve, discharge them, or, if they qualify and ask, move them to the Retired Reserve.
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Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 10149
Title 10 — Armed Forces
Last Updated
Apr 3, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60