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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110

§637 Selection of Regular Officers for Continuation on Active Duty

Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 36 — PROMOTION, SEPARATION, AND INVOLUNTARY RETIREMENT OF OFFICERS ON THE ACTIVE-DUTY LIST › SUBCHAPTER IV — CONTINUATION ON ACTIVE DUTY AND SELECTIVE EARLY RETIREMENT › § 637

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows officers who would otherwise be retired or discharged to stay on active duty if a selection board under section 611(b) picks them and the service still needs them. Officers who are regular captains (Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force) or regular lieutenants (Navy) cannot be kept past the month they finish 20 years of active commissioned service unless they are promoted to major or lieutenant commander. Officers who are regular majors or lieutenant commanders cannot be kept past the month they finish 24 years unless promoted to lieutenant colonel or commander. If an officer is selected but says no, they will be processed for discharge or retirement under section 632. If an officer is kept on active duty, then is not promoted or recommended for promotion, they will be discharged when their continued tour ends or, if eligible, retired on the first day of the month after it ends. If an officer would be within two years of qualifying for retirement under section 7311, 8323, or 9311, they will be kept until they qualify and then retired. Those retirements or discharges count as involuntary. Officers facing retirement under sections 633 or 634 may also have retirement delayed and stay on active duty if a selection board chooses them. For officers retiring under sections 635 or 636 who are in certain general-officer grades, the Secretary (or the President for grades above major general/rear admiral) can delay retirement and keep them on active duty. Any single deferral normally cannot go beyond five years except as allowed by sections 1251 or 1253. The Secretary of the military department must approve board selections and may shorten a continuation under section 638a. The period ends at the original end date or earlier if shortened. The Secretary of Defense must issue rules to run this.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §637

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)An officer subject to discharge or retirement in accordance with section 632 of this title may, subject to the needs of the service, be continued on active duty if he is selected for continuation on active duty by a selection board convened under section 611(b) of this title.
(2)An officer who holds the regular grade of captain in the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force, or the regular grade of lieutenant in the Navy, and who is subject to discharge or retirement in accordance with section 632 of this title may not be continued on active duty under this subsection for a period which extends beyond the last day of the month in which he completes 20 years of active commissioned service unless he is promoted to the regular grade of major or lieutenant commander, respectively.
(3)An officer who holds the regular grade of major or lieutenant commander who is subject to discharge or retirement in accordance with section 632 of this title may not be continued on active duty under this subsection for a period which extends beyond the last day of the month in which he completes 24 years of active commissioned service unless he is promoted to the regular grade of lieutenant colonel or commander, respectively.
(4)An officer who is selected for continuation on active duty under this subsection but declines to continue on active duty shall be discharged, retired, or retained on active duty, as appropriate, in accordance with section 632 of this title.
(5)Each officer who is continued on active duty under this subsection, is not subsequently promoted or continued on active duty, and is not on a list of officers recommended for continuation or for promotion to the next higher regular grade shall, unless sooner retired or discharged under another provision of law—
(A)be discharged upon the expiration of his period of continued service; or
(B)if he is eligible for retirement under any provision of law, be retired under that law on the first day of the first month following the month in which he completes his period of continued service.
Notwithstanding the provisions of clause (A), any officer who would otherwise be discharged under such clause and is within two years of qualifying for retirement under section 7311, 8323, or 9311 of this title, shall unless he is sooner retired or discharged under some other provision of law, be retained on active duty until he is qualified for retirement under that section and then be retired.
(6)The retirement or discharge of an officer pursuant to this subsection shall be considered to be an involuntary retirement or discharge for purposes of any other provision of law.
(b)(1)An officer subject to retirement under section 633 or 634 of this title may, subject to the needs of the service, have his retirement deferred and be continued on active duty if he is selected for continuation on active duty by a selection board convened under section 611(b) of this title.
(2)An officer subject to retirement under section 635 or 636 of this title who is serving in the grade of brigadier general, rear admiral (lower half), major general, or rear admiral may, subject to the needs of the service, have his retirement deferred and be continued on active duty by the Secretary concerned. An officer subject to retirement under section 635 or 636 of this title who is serving in a grade above major general or rear admiral may have his retirement deferred and be continued on active duty by the President.
(3)Any deferral of retirement and continuation on active duty under this subsection shall be for a period not to exceed five years, except as provided under section 1251 or 1253 of this title.
(c)Continuation of an officer on active duty under this section pursuant to the action of a selection board convened under section 611(b) of this title is subject to the approval of the Secretary of the military department concerned. The period of the continuation on active duty of an officer under this section may be reduced by the Secretary concerned in the case of any officer as provided in section 638a of this title.
(d)For purposes of this section, a period of continuation on active duty under this section expires or is completed on the earlier of (1) the date originally established for the termination of such period, or (2) the date established for the termination of such period by any shortening of such period under section 638a of this title.
(e)The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2021—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “Marine Corps, or Space Force” for “or Marine Corps”. 2018—Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 115–232 substituted “section 7311, 8323, or 9311” for “section 3911, 6323, or 8911” in concluding provisions. 2008—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 110–181 substituted “except as provided under section 1251 or 1253 of this title” for “but such period may not (except as provided under section 1251(b) of this title) extend beyond the date of the officer’s sixty-second birthday”. 1990—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–510, § 521(b)(1)(A), inserted at end “The period of the continuation on active duty of an officer under this section may be reduced by the Secretary concerned in the case of any officer as provided in section 638a of this title.” Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 101–510, § 521(b)(1)(B), (C), added subsec. (d) and redesignated former subsec. (d) as (e). 1985—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 99–145 substituted “rear admiral (lower half)” for “commodore”. 1984—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 98–525, § 1405(15)(A), substituted “20” for “twenty”. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 98–525, § 1405(15)(B), substituted “24” for “twenty-four”. 1981—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 97–22, § 4(e)(1), substituted “section 633 or 634” for “section 633, 634, 635, or 636”. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 97–86 substituted “commodore” for “commodore admiral”. Pub. L. 97–22, § 4(e)(2), inserted provision that an officer subject to retirement under section 635 or 636 of this title who is serving in the grade of brigadier general, commodore admiral, major general, or rear admiral may, subject to the needs of the service, have his retirement deferred and be continued on active duty by the Secretary concerned and struck out requirement that the deferral of the retirement of an officer subject to retirement under section 635 or 636 of this title serving in a grade above major general or rear admiral was subject to the needs of the service.

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 1981 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 97–86 effective Sept. 15, 1981, see section 405(f) of Pub. L. 97–86, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective Sept. 15, 1981, but the authority to prescribe

Regulations

under this subchapter effective on Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701 of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1980 Amendment note under section 101 of this title. Transition Provisions Under Defense Officer Personnel Management ActFor provisions to prevent extinction or premature termination of rights, duties, penalties, or proceedings that existed or were begun prior to the

Effective Date

of Pub. L. 96–513 and otherwise to allow for an orderly transition to the system of officer personnel management put in place under Pub. L. 96–513, see section 601 et seq. of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 611 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 637

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110