Title 10Armed ForcesRelease 119-73not60

§663 Joint Duty Assignments After Completion of Joint Professional Military Education

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— General Military Law › Part II— PERSONNEL › Chapter 38— JOINT OFFICER MANAGEMENT › § 663

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must make sure that any officer who is a joint qualified officer and who finishes a program at one of three National Defense University schools gets a joint duty job as their very next assignment, unless the Secretary gives that officer a written waiver. For officers who finish those same schools but are not joint qualified, more than 50 percent must get joint duty jobs (or another joint assignment if the Secretary allows) as their next job. The Secretary may allow up to one-half of those officers to wait and take the joint job as their second assignment if needed for personnel management. The rule applies to graduates of the National War College, the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, and the Joint Forces Staff College. These requirements do not apply to people who completed the program other-than-in-residence.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §663

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each officer designated as a joint qualified officer who graduates from a school within the National Defense University specified in subsection (c) shall be assigned to a joint duty assignment for that officer’s next duty assignment after such graduation (unless the officer receives a waiver of that requirement by the Secretary in an individual case).
(b)(1)The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that a high proportion (which shall be greater than 50 percent) of the officers graduating from a school within the National Defense University specified in subsection (c) who are not designated as a joint qualified officer shall receive assignments to a joint duty assignment (or, as authorized by the Secretary in an individual case, to a joint assignment other than a joint duty assignment) as their next duty assignment after such graduation or, to the extent authorized in paragraph (2), as their second duty assignment after such graduation.
(2)The Secretary may, if the Secretary determines that it is necessary to do so for the efficient management of officer personnel, establish procedures to allow up to one-half of the officers subject to the assignment requirement in paragraph (1) to be assigned to such an assignment as their second (rather than first) assignment after such graduation from a school referred to in paragraph (1).
(c)For purposes of this section, a school within the National Defense University specified in this subsection is one of the following:
(1)The National War College.
(2)The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.
(3)The Joint Forces Staff College.
(d)(1)Subsection (a) does not apply to an officer graduating from a school within the National Defense University specified in subsection (c) following pursuit of a program on an other-than-in-residence basis.
(2)Subsection (b) does not apply with respect to any group of officers graduating from a school within the National Defense University specified in subsection (c) following pursuit of a program on an other-than-in-residence basis.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2011—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 112–81, § 503(a)(1), inserted “(or, as authorized by the Secretary in an individual case, to a joint assignment other than a joint duty assignment)” after “to a joint duty assignment”. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 112–81, § 503(a)(2), substituted “the assignment” for “the joint duty assignment” and “such an assignment” for “a joint duty assignment”. Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 112–81, § 2861(c), substituted “Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy” for “Industrial College of the Armed Forces”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 112–81, § 503(b), added subsec. (d). 2008—Subsecs. (a), (b)(1). Pub. L. 110–417, in subsec. (a), substituted “Qualified” for “Specialty” in heading and “designated as a joint qualified officer” for “with the joint specialty” in text, and, in subsec. (b)(1), substituted “are not designated as a joint qualified officer” for “do not have the joint specialty”. 2006—Subsecs. (a), (b)(1). Pub. L. 109–364, § 518(a)(1), (2)(A), substituted “a school within the National Defense University specified in subsection (c)” for “a joint professional military education school”. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 109–364, § 518(a)(2)(B), substituted “a school referred to in paragraph (1)” for “a joint professional military education school”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 109–364, § 518(b), added subsec. (c). 2004—Pub. L. 108–375, § 532(c)(2)(A), substituted “Joint duty assignments after completion of joint professional military education” for “Education” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 108–375, § 532(c)(1)(A), (B), redesignated subsec. (d)(1) as (a), inserted heading, and struck out heading and text of former subsec. (a) which related to capstone course for new general and flag officers. See section 2153 of this title. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 108–375, § 532(c)(1)(C)–(F), redesignated subsec. (d)(2)(A) as (b)(1) and substituted “in paragraph (2)” for “in subparagraph (B)”, redesignated subsec. (d)(2)(B) as (b)(2) and substituted “in paragraph (1)” for “in subparagraph (A)”, and inserted subsec. heading. Pub. L. 108–375, § 532(b), transferred subsec. (b), relating to joint military education schools, to section 2152(b) of this title. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 108–375, § 532(b), transferred subsec. (c), relating to other professional military education schools, to section 2152(c) of this title. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 108–375, § 532(c)(1)(B), (C), (E), redesignated par. (1) as subsec. (a), redesignated subpars. (A) and (B) of par. (2) as pars. (1) and (2), respectively, of subsec. (b), and struck out heading “Post-Education Joint Duty Assignments”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 108–375, § 532(c)(1)(A), struck out heading and text of subsec. (e) which related to the duration of the principal course of instruction offered at the Joint Forces Staff College. See section 2156 of this title. 2002—Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 107–314 substituted “Joint Forces Staff College” for “Armed Forces Staff College”. 2001—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 107–107 substituted “Joint Forces Staff College” for “Armed Forces Staff College” in subsec. heading and in text of par. (1). 1993—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103–160 amended subsec. (d) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (d) read as follows: “Post-Education Duty Assignments.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that— “(1) unless waived by the Secretary in an individual case, each officer with the joint specialty who graduates from a joint professional military education school shall be assigned to a joint duty assignment for that officer’s next duty assignment; and “(2) a high proportion (which shall be greater than 50 percent) of the other officers graduating from a joint professional military education school also receive assignments to a joint duty assignment as their next duty assignment.” 1991—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102–190 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2). 1989—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 101–189 added subsec. (e).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1993 Amendment Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title IX, § 933(b), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1736, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply with respect to officers graduating from joint professional military education schools after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 30, 1993].”

Effective Date

of 1991 Amendment Pub. L. 102–190, div. A, title IX, § 912(b), Dec. 5, 1991, 105 Stat. 1452, as amended by Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title IX, § 921, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2473, provided that the amendment made by section 912(a)(2) of Pub. L. 102–190 to this section was not to apply with respect to the Armed Forces Staff College until Jan. 1, 1994. Implementation of Subsection (e)Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title XI, § 1123(c)(2), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1557, provided that: “Subsection (e) of such section, as added by paragraph (1), shall be implemented by the Secretary of Defense not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 29, 1989].” Education Requirements; Joint Officer Management Program Pub. L. 99–433, title IV, § 406(d), Oct. 1, 1986, 100 Stat. 1033, provided that: “(1) Capstone course.—Subsection (a) of section 663 of such title [10 U.S.C. 663(a)] (as added by section 401) shall apply with respect to officers selected in reports of officer selection boards submitted to the Secretary concerned after the end of the 120-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 1, 1986]. “(2) Review of military education schools.—(A) The first review under subsections (b) and (c) of such section shall be completed not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the review at each Department of Defense school not later than 60 days thereafter. “(B) Such subsections shall be implemented so that the revised curricula take effect with respect to courses beginning after July 1987. “(3) Post-education duty assignments.—Subsection (d) of such section shall take effect with respect to classes graduating from joint professional military education schools after January 1987.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 663

Title 10Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60