PRIA Logo™
Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102

§575 Recommendations for Promotion by Selection Boards

Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 33A — APPOINTMENT, PROMOTION, AND INVOLUNTARY SEPARATION AND RETIREMENT FOR MEMBERS ON THE WARRANT OFFICER ACTIVE-DUTY LIST › § 575

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

A selection board must pick warrant officers for promotion to the next grade. The board looks for the best qualified people in each grade or category and considers the service’s need for special skills. For promotions to chief warrant officer grades W–3, W–4, or W–5, the Secretary sets how many people from below the promotion zone the board may recommend. Those chosen from below the zone do not add to the board’s overall allowed number. Normally no more than 10 percent of the total recommendations may come from below the zone, but the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security can allow up to 15 percent when the Coast Guard is not operating as part of the Navy. If that percent equals less than one person, the board may still recommend one person from below the zone. A board cannot recommend anyone unless a majority of members vote for the recommendation and a majority find the officer fully qualified. Each time the board meets for a competitive category it must consider every officer in the promotion zone and every officer above it, unless rules bar someone. When the Secretary allows it, the board may place certain highly meritorious officers higher on the promotion list, following Secretary guidelines and a majority vote (unless the Secretary sets a different rule), and the board must order those placed higher. A warrant officer may ask to be taken off consideration for promotion. The Secretary may approve that only if the request is to finish a career progression assignment, advanced education, an especially valuable assignment, or a delayed career requirement; the Secretary finds the exclusion is in the service’s best interest; and the officer has not previously failed selection for that grade.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §575

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A selection board convened under section 573(a) of this title shall recommend for promotion to the next higher grade those warrant officers considered by the board whom the board, giving due consideration to the needs of the armed force concerned for warrant officers with particular skills, considers best qualified for promotion within each grade (or grade and competitive category) considered by the board.
(b)(1)In the case of a selection board to consider warrant officers for selection for promotion to the grade of chief warrant officer, W–3, chief warrant officer, W–4, or chief warrant officer, W–5, the Secretary concerned shall establish the number of warrant officers that the selection board may recommend from among warrant officers being considered from below the promotion zone within each grade (or grade and competitive category). The number of warrant officers recommended for promotion from below the promotion zone does not increase the maximum number of warrant officers which the board is authorized under section 574 of this title to recommend for promotion.
(2)The number of officers recommended for promotion from below the promotion zone may not exceed 10 percent of the total number recommended, except that the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Navy, may authorize such percentage to be increased to not more than 15 percent. If the number determined under this subsection with respect to a promotion zone within a grade (or grade and competitive category) is less than one, the board may recommend one such officer for promotion from below the zone within that grade (or grade and competitive category).
(c)A selection board convened under section 573(a) of this title may not recommend a warrant officer for promotion unless—
(1)the officer receives the recommendation of a majority of the members of the board; and
(2)a majority of the members of the board find that the officer is fully qualified for promotion.
(d)Each time a selection board is convened under section 573(a) of this title to consider warrant officers in a competitive category for promotion to the next higher grade, each warrant officer in the promotion zone, and each warrant officer above the promotion zone, for the grade and competitive category under consideration (except for a warrant officer precluded from consideration under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned under section 577 of this title) shall be considered for promotion.
(e)(1)In selecting the warrant officers to be recommended for promotion, a selection board shall, when authorized by the Secretary concerned, recommend warrant officers of particular merit, pursuant to guidelines and procedures prescribed by the Secretary concerned, from among those warrant officers selected for promotion, to be placed higher on the promotion list contained in the report of such board under section 576(c) of this title.
(2)A selection board may recommend that a warrant officer be placed higher on a promotion list under paragraph (1) only if the warrant officer receives the recommendation of at least a majority of the members of the board, unless the Secretary concerned establishes an alternative requirement. Any such alternate requirement shall be furnished to the board as part of the guidelines furnished to the board under section 576 of this title.
(3)For the warrant officers recommended to be placed higher on a promotion list under paragraph (1), the board shall recommend the order in which those warrant officers should be placed on the list.
(f)(1)Upon the request of a warrant officer, the Secretary concerned may exclude the warrant officer from consideration for promotion under this section.
(2)The Secretary concerned may approve a request of a warrant officer under paragraph (1) only if—
(A)the basis for the request is to allow the officer to complete—
(i)an assignment in support of career progression;
(ii)advanced education;
(iii)an assignment such Secretary determines is of significant value to the Armed Force concerned; or
(iv)a career progression requirement delayed by an assignment or education;
(B)such Secretary determines that such exclusion from consideration is in the best interest of the Armed Force concerned; and
(C)the officer has not previously failed of selection for promotion to the grade for which the officer requests exclusion from consideration.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2022—Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 117–263 added subsecs. (e) and (f). 2002—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 107–296 substituted “of Homeland Security” for “of Transportation”. 1999—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 106–65 inserted at end “If the number determined under this subsection with respect to a promotion zone within a grade (or grade and competitive category) is less than one, the board may recommend one such officer for promotion from below the zone within that grade (or grade and competitive category).” 1996—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 104–201 inserted “chief warrant officer, W–3,” after “promotion to the grade of” in first sentence. 1994—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 103–337, § 541(b)(3), inserted “and the Secretary of Transportation, when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Navy,” after “Secretary of Defense”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103–337, § 501(a), inserted “(except for a warrant officer precluded from consideration under

Regulations

prescribed by the Secretary concerned under section 577 of this title)” after “under consideration”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2002 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–296 effective on the date of transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, see section 1704(g) of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1994 AmendmentAmendment by section 541(b)(3) of Pub. L. 103–337 effective on the first day of the fourth month beginning after Oct. 5, 1994, see section 541(h) of Pub. L. 103–337, set out as a note under section 571 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective Feb. 1, 1992, see section 1132 of Pub. L. 102–190, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1991 Amendment note under section 521 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 575

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102