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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102

§9343 Highest Grade Held Satisfactorily: Reserve Enlisted Members Reduced in Grade Not as a Result of the Member’s Misconduct

Title 10 › Subtitle D — Air Force and Space Force › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 943 — RETIRED GRADE › § 9343

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Retired Air Force Reserve enlisted members must be retired at the highest enlisted rank they once held and served satisfactorily on active duty (or, for National Guard members, on full‑time Guard duty). This applies only if, at retirement, the person is in a lower rank than that highest rank and was earlier reduced in rank for administrative reasons not caused by their own misconduct, as decided by the Secretary of the Air Force. The rule covers retirements after September 30, 1996.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §9343

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A Reserve enlisted member of the Air Force described in subsection (b) who is retired under section 9314 of this title shall be retired in the highest enlisted grade in which the member served on active duty satisfactorily (or, in the case of a member of the National Guard, in which the member served on full-time National Guard duty satisfactorily), as determined by the Secretary of the Air Force.
(b)This section applies to a Reserve enlisted member who—
(1)at the time of retirement is serving on active duty (or, in the case of a member of the National Guard, on full-time National Guard duty) in a grade lower than the highest enlisted grade held by the member while on active duty (or full-time National Guard duty); and
(2)was previously administratively reduced in grade not as a result of the member’s own misconduct, as determined by the Secretary of the Air Force.
(c)This section applies with respect to Reserve enlisted members who are retired under section 9314 of this title after September 30, 1996.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 9343 was renumbered section 9443 of this title.

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232, § 806(b)(14), renumbered section 8963 of this title as this section. Subsecs. (a), (c). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 9314” for “section 8914”.

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. § 9343

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102