Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§8303 Replacement
Title 10 › Subtitle C — Navy and Marine Corps › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 837 — DECORATIONS AND AWARDS › § 8303
Summary
Navy Secretary can replace free certain medals or their parts if they are lost, stolen, destroyed, or unusable and the recipient is not at fault.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §8303
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The Secretary of the Navy may replace without charge any medal of honor, Navy cross, distinguished-service medal, silver star medal, or Navy and Marine Corps Medal, or any associated bar, emblem, or insignia awarded under this chapter that is stolen, lost, or destroyed or becomes unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part of the person to whom it was awarded.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 625334 U.S.C. 359 (proviso).Feb. 4, 1919, ch. 14, § 6 (proviso), 40 Stat. 1056; renumbered § 8 and amended Aug. 7, 1942, ch. 551, § 1, 56 Stat. 744. The words “Secretary of the Navy may replace” are substituted for the words “Provided, That such replacement shall be made only in those cases where”.
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 8303, acts Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 514; Aug. 21, 1957, Pub. L. 85–155, title III, § 301(13), 71 Stat. 388;
July 12, 1960, Pub. L. 86–616, § 6(3), 74 Stat. 391;
June 28, 1962, Pub. L. 87–509, § 4(a), 76 Stat. 121; Nov. 8, 1967, Pub. L. 90–130, § 1(27)(D), 81 Stat. 382, related to effect of failure of a promotion-list officer considered for promotion to grade of captain, major, or lieutenant colonel under section 8299 of this title to be recommended for promotion, which officer was to be known as a “deferred officer”, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 96–513, title II, § 204, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2880, effective Sept. 15, 1981. See section 631 and 632 of this title.
Amendments
2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 6253 of this title as this section. 2001—Pub. L. 107–107 substituted “stolen, lost, or destroyed” for “lost or destroyed”.
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. § 8303
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102