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Title 14, Coast GuardRelease 119-110

§2116 Officers to Be Recommended for Promotion

Title 14 › SUBTITLE II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 21 — PERSONNEL; OFFICERS › SUBCHAPTER I — APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION › § 2116

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Selection boards must pick the eligible officers they think are best qualified. They must consider Coast Guard needs and follow specific guidance from the Secretary. An officer can only be recommended if at least a majority of a five‑member board agree, or at least two‑thirds agree if the board has more than five members. A board cannot recommend more junior officers (those below the promotion zone) than these limits: 5% of the officers it can promote to lieutenant or lieutenant commander, 7.5% for commander, and 10% for captain. If a percentage comes out to less than one, the board may still recommend one such officer. A board may also pick certain promotees to be placed at the top of the promotion list for special merit. The number allowed there is up to three times the percentages above, or one if that amount is less than one. Top‑list picks need the same voting support as other recommendations. The Secretary must first do a survey and publish a finding that this top‑placement rule will improve officer retention before boards may use it. The Secretary must send that finding to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Full Legal Text

Title 14, §2116

Coast Guard, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A selection board convened to recommend officers for promotion shall recommend those eligible officers whom the board, giving due consideration to the needs of the Coast Guard for officers with particular skills so noted in specific direction furnished to the board by the Secretary under section 2115 of this title, considers best qualified of the officers under consideration for promotion. No officer may be recommended for promotion unless he receives the recommendation of at least a majority of the members of a board composed of five members, or at least two-thirds of the members of a board composed of more than five members.
(b)The number of officers that a board convened under section 2106 of this title may recommend for promotion to a grade below rear admiral (lower half) from among eligible officers junior in rank to the junior officer in the appropriate promotion zone may not exceed—
(1)5 percent of the total number of officers that the board is authorized to recommend for promotion to the grade of lieutenant or lieutenant commander;
(2)7½ percent of the total number of officers that the board is authorized to recommend for promotion to the grade of commander; and
(3)10 percent of the total number of officers that the board is authorized to recommend for promotion to the grade of captain;
unless such percentage is a number less than one, in which case the board may recommend one such officer for promotion.
(c)(1)In selecting the officers to be recommended for promotion, a selection board may recommend officers of particular merit, from among those officers chosen for promotion, to be placed at the top of the list of selectees promulgated by the Secretary under section 2121(a) of this title. The number of officers that a board may recommend to be placed at the top of the list of selectees may not exceed three times the percentages set forth in subsection (b) unless such a percentage is a number less than one, in which case the board may recommend one officer for such placement. No officer may be recommended to be placed at the top of the list of selectees unless he or she receives the recommendation of at least a majority of the members of a board composed of five members, or at least two-thirds of the members of a board composed of more than five members.
(2)The Secretary shall conduct a survey of the Coast Guard officer corps to determine if implementation of this subsection will improve Coast Guard officer retention. A selection board may not make any recommendation under this subsection before the date on which the Secretary publishes a finding, based upon the results of the survey, that implementation of this subsection will improve Coast Guard officer retention.
(3)The Secretary shall submit any finding made by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (2) to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2022—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 117–263 inserted “three times” after “may not exceed”. 2018—Pub. L. 115–282, § 112(b), renumbered section 259 of this title as this section. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–282, § 123(b)(2), substituted “section 2115” for “section 258”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–282, § 123(b)(2), substituted “section 2106” for “section 251” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 115–282, § 123(b)(2), substituted “section 2121(a)” for “section 271(a)”. 2012—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 112–213 substituted “In selecting” for “After selecting”. 2010—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–281 inserted “, giving due consideration to the needs of the Coast Guard for officers with particular skills so noted in specific direction furnished to the board by the Secretary under section 258 of this title,” after “whom the board”. 2002—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–295 added subsec. (c). 1985—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–145 substituted “rear admiral (lower half)” for “commodore”. 1983—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97–417 substituted “commodore” for “real admiral”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

14 U.S.C. § 2116

Title 14, Coast Guard

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110