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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110

§8386 Members of the Fleet Reserve and Fleet Marine Corps Reserve: Release From Active Duty

Title 10 › Subtitle C — Navy and Marine Corps › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 845 — RECALL TO ACTIVE DUTY › § 8386

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Navy can release a member of the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve from active duty at any time, unless special wartime or emergency rules apply. In a war or a national emergency declared by Congress or the President after January 1, 1953, a member may not be released from active duty (other than for training) without the member’s consent unless one of three things happens: a board of officers convened at the member’s request by an authority the Secretary names recommends release and that recommendation is approved; the member does not ask for a board; or another law allows the release. These wartime rules do not apply during demobilization or when the Navy or Marine Corps is reducing its forces.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §8386

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Except as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary of the Navy may, at any time, release any member of the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve from active duty.
(b)In time of war or national emergency declared by Congress or by the President after January 1, 1953, a member of the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve, without his consent, may be released from active duty other than from active duty for training only if—
(1)a board of officers convened at his request by an authority designated by the Secretary recommends the release and the recommendation is approved;
(2)the member does not request that a board be convened; or
(3)his release is otherwise authorized by law.
This subsection does not apply during a period of demobilization or reduction in strength of the Navy or the Marine Corps.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 648634 U.S.C. 854d (3d proviso).
June 25, 1938, ch. 690, § 205 (3d proviso); added
July 9, 1952, ch. 608, § 808, 66 Stat. 508. 34 U.S.C. 854 (note).
July 9, 1952, ch. 608, § 803 (3d sentence), 66 Stat. 505. In subsection (a) the words “or active duty for training” are omitted as covered by the term “active duty” as used in this revised title. In subsection (b) the words “other than from active duty for training” are inserted since the term “active duty” as used in 34 U.S.C. 854d (3d proviso) does not include active duty for training. Clause (3) is inserted, since other provisions of law are necessarily exceptions to the general rule here stated. The words “or the Marine Corps” are inserted in the last sentence of subsection (b) to reflect the applicability of the section to the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 6486 of this title as this section.

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. § 8386

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110