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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110

§8298 Limitations of Time

Title 10 › Subtitle C — Navy and Marine Corps › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 837 — DECORATIONS AND AWARDS › § 8298

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Certain high Navy awards cannot be given unless two time limits are met, unless section 8296 or the special rule below allows otherwise. The rule covers six awards (including bars or emblems) such as the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, Distinguished-Service Medal, Silver Star, and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. The award must be made within five years of the act. A superior must send an official recommendation describing the act within three years. If the Secretary of the Navy decides that a superior did send a timely recommendation with enough evidence within three years, but no award was made because the recommendation was lost or was accidentally not acted on, the Secretary can approve the award. In that case the medal may be given within two years after the Secretary’s decision.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §8298

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Except as provided in section 8296 of this title or subsection (b), no medal of honor, Navy cross, distinguished-service medal, silver star medal, Navy and Marine Corps Medal, or bar, emblem, or insignia in place thereof may be awarded to a person unless—
(1)the award is made within five years after the date of the act or service justifying the award; and
(2)a statement setting forth the act or distinguished service and recommending official recognition of it was made by his superior through official channels within three years from the date of that act or service.
(b)If the Secretary of the Navy determines that—
(1)a statement setting forth the act or distinguished service and recommending official recognition of it was made by the person’s superior through official channels within three years from the date of that act or service and was supported by sufficient evidence within that time; and
(2)no award was made, because the statement was lost or through inadvertence the recommendation was not acted on;
a medal of honor, Navy cross, distinguished-service medal, silver star medal, Navy and Marine Corps Medal, or bar, emblem, or insignia in place thereof, as the case may be, may be awarded to the person within two years after the date of that determination.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 624834 U.S.C. 360.Feb. 4, 1919, ch. 14, § 7, 40 Stat. 1056; renumbered § 9 and amended Aug. 7, 1942, ch. 551, § 1, 56 Stat. 744. The words “Except as provided in section 6246 of this title” are substituted for the words “That except as otherwise prescribed herein” to identify the only exception. The words “may be awarded to a person” are substituted for the words “shall be issued to any person” for uniformity. The words “specific”, “or report distinctly”, and “at the time of” are omitted as surplusage. The words “bar, emblem, or insignia” are substituted for the words “or bar or other suitable emblem or insignia” for uniformity. The words “from the date of that act or service” are substituted for the word “thereafter”.

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 8298, acts Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 511; Aug. 21, 1957, Pub. L. 85–155, title III, § 301(9), title IV, § 401(1), 71 Stat. 387, 390, provided for promotion from grade of second lieutenant to first lieutenant after three years of service, discharge under section 8814 of this title upon failure of promotion, and filling vacancies for first lieutenants with second lieutenants, except Air Force nurses and medical specialists, prior to completion of three years of service, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 96–513, title II, § 204, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2880, effective Sept. 15, 1981. See section 630 of this title.

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232, § 807(b)(13), renumbered section 6248 of this title as this section. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 8296” for “section 6246” in introductory provisions. 1960—Pub. L. 86–582 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted “or subsection (b)” after “title”, and added subsec. (b).

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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 8298

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110