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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102

§581 Selective Retirement

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 › § 581

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Regular warrant officers in grades above W–1 who are not on a promotion list and who are eligible to retire can be considered for early retirement by a selection board. The Secretary in charge sets how many warrant officers the board may recommend. If the board recommends an officer and the Secretary approves, the officer will retire under whatever retirement rule they qualify for, on a date the officer asks and the Secretary approves. That date must be no later than the first day of the seventh calendar month after the month the Secretary approves the board’s report. The retirement counts as involuntary for other laws. The Secretary must write rules about how the board works. Those rules must say which officers’ names go to the board (for example, officers between the most junior and most senior names sent, or a chosen year group or specialty). The rules must also leave out any officer already approved for voluntary retirement or required to retire during the same or next fiscal year. The Secretary may delay an approved retirement up to three months for personal hardship or humanitarian reasons (this decision cannot be handed to someone else). If delayed, the retirement date chosen must be no later than the first day of the tenth calendar month after the month the Secretary approves the board’s report.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §581

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A regular warrant officer who holds a warrant officer grade above warrant officer, W–1, and whose name is not on a list of warrant officers recommended for promotion and who is eligible to retire under any provision of law may be considered for retirement by a selection board convened under section 573(c) of this title. The Secretary concerned shall specify the maximum number of warrant officers that such a board may recommend for retirement.
(b)A warrant officer who is recommended for retirement under this section and whose retirement is approved by the Secretary concerned shall be retired, under any provision of law under which he is eligible to retire, on the date requested by him and approved by the Secretary concerned, which date shall be not later than the first day of the seventh calendar month beginning after the month in which the Secretary concerned approves the report of the board which recommended the officer for retirement.
(c)The retirement of a warrant officer pursuant to this section shall be considered to be an involuntary retirement for purposes of any other provision of law.
(d)(1)The Secretary concerned shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this section.
(2)Such regulations shall require that when the Secretary concerned submits a list of regular warrant officers to a selection board convened under section 573(c) of this title to consider regular warrant officers for selection for retirement under this section, the list shall include—
(A)the name of each warrant officer on the active-duty list in the same grade or same grade and competitive category whose position on the active-duty list is between that of the most junior regular warrant officer in that grade whose name is submitted to the board and that of the most senior regular warrant officer in that grade whose name is submitted to the board; or
(B)with respect to a group of warrant officers designated under subparagraph (A) who are in a particular grade and competitive category, only those warrant officers in that grade and competitive category who are also in a particular year group or specialty, or any combination thereof determined by the Secretary concerned.
(3)Such regulations shall establish procedures to exclude from consideration by the board any warrant officer who has been approved for voluntary retirement, or who is to be mandatorily retired under any other provision of law, during the fiscal year in which the board is convened or during the following fiscal year. An officer not considered by a selection board convened under section 573(c) of this title under such regulations because the officer has been approved for voluntary retirement shall be retired on the date approved for the retirement of such officer as of the convening date of such selection board unless the Secretary concerned approves a modification of such date in order to prevent a personal hardship for the officer or for other humanitarian reasons.
(e)(1)The Secretary concerned may defer for not more than three months the retirement of an officer otherwise approved for early retirement under this section in order to prevent a personal hardship to the officer or for other humanitarian reasons. Any such deferral shall be made on a case-by-case basis considering the circumstances of the case of the particular officer concerned. The authority of the Secretary to grant such a deferral may not be delegated.
(2)An officer recommended for early retirement under this section, if approved for deferral under paragraph (1), shall be retired on the date requested by the officer, and approved by the Secretary concerned, which date shall be not later than the first day of the tenth calendar month beginning after the month in which the Secretary concerned approves the report of the board which recommended the officer for early retirement.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2014—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 113–291, § 501, redesignated second sentence of par. (1) as (2) and former par. (2) as (3), and, in par. (2), substituted “the list shall include—” for “the list shall include each”, inserted “(A) the name of each” before “warrant officer on the active-duty list”, substituted “; or” for period at end, and added subpar. (B). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 113–291, § 502(a), designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted “three months” for “90 days”, and added par. (2). 1996—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–106 added subsec. (e). 1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–337 struck out “in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps” after “A regular warrant officer”. 1992—Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 102–484 substituted “board” for “Board” in two places in first sentence.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1994 AmendmentAmendment by 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. § 581

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102