Title 14, Coast GuardRelease 119-110
§2120a Special Selection Review Boards
Title 14 › SUBTITLE II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 21 — PERSONNEL; OFFICERS › SUBCHAPTER I — APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION › § 2120a
Summary
If the Secretary learns of credible bad information about someone a promotion board has recommended for promotion to rear admiral or lower, and that information was not given to the promotion board, the Secretary must create a special selection review board to reexamine the person and decide if the promotion recommendation should stand. While under review, the person’s name cannot be put on the public list of recommended officers, sent to the President or the Senate, or included on a promotion list under section 2121. The special board is formed under the rules in section 2120(c) and can review as many people as the Secretary names. The board looks at the original record and the new adverse information. The person must be given that new information and a reasonable chance to comment, except when the information is classified (a cleared summary is provided), the person already saw and commented on it for the original board, or the person waives the right. The board compares the person’s record to samples of officers who were recommended and not recommended, uses the promotion board’s standards, and needs a majority vote to sustain the promotion recommendation. If the recommendation is not sustained, the person is treated as not selected. If it is sustained and the President approves, the person is appointed with the same rank date and pay as originally recommended. The Secretary must write regulations to carry out these rules. "Promotion board" means the selection board under section 2106.
Full Legal Text
Title 14, §2120a
Coast Guard, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)In General.—
(1)If the Secretary determines that a person recommended by a promotion board for promotion to a grade at or below the grade of rear admiral is the subject of credible information of an adverse nature, including any substantiated adverse finding or conclusion described in section 2115(a)(3) of this title that was not furnished to the promotion board during its consideration of the person for promotion as otherwise required by such section, the Secretary shall convene a special selection review board under this section to review the person and recommend whether the recommendation for promotion of the person should be sustained.
(2)If a person and the recommendation for promotion of the person is subject to review under this section by a special selection review board convened under this section, the name of the person—
(A)shall not be disseminated or publicly released on the list of officers recommended for promotion by the promotion board recommending the promotion of the person; and
(B)shall not be forwarded to the President or the Senate, as applicable, or included on a promotion list under section 2121 of this title.
(b)Convening.—
(1)Any special selection review board convened under this section shall be convened in accordance with the provisions of section 2120(c) of this title.
(2)Any special selection review board convened under this section may review such number of persons, and recommendations for promotion of such persons, as the Secretary shall specify in convening such special selection review board.
(c)Information Considered.—
(1)In reviewing a person and recommending whether the recommendation for promotion of the person should be sustained under this section, a special selection review board convened under this section shall be furnished and consider the following:
(A)The record and information concerning the person furnished in accordance with section 2115 of this title to the promotion board that recommended the person for promotion.
(B)Any credible information of an adverse nature on the person, including any substantiated adverse finding or conclusion from an officially documented investigation or inquiry described in section 2115(a)(3) of this title.
(2)The furnishing of information to a special selection review board under paragraph (1)(B) shall be governed by the standards and procedures referred to in section 2115 of this title.
(3)(A)Before information on a person described in paragraph (1)(B) is furnished to a special selection review board for purposes of this section, the Secretary shall ensure that—
(i)such information is made available to the person; and
(ii)subject to subparagraphs (C) and (D), the person is afforded a reasonable opportunity to submit comments on such information to the special selection review board before its review of the person and the recommendation for promotion of the person under this section.
(B)If information on a person described in paragraph (1)(B) is not made available to the person as otherwise required by subparagraph (A)(i) due to the classification status of such information, the person shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be furnished a summary of such information appropriate to the person’s authorization for access to classified information.
(C)(i)An opportunity to submit comments on information is not required for a person under subparagraph (A)(ii) if—
(I)such information was made available to the person in connection with the furnishing of such information under section 2115(a) of this title to the promotion board that recommended the promotion of the person subject to review under this section; and
(II)the person submitted comments on such information to that promotion board.
(ii)The comments on information of a person described in clause (i)(II) shall be furnished to the special selection review board.
(D)A person may waive either or both of the following:
(i)The right to submit comments to a special selection review board under subparagraph (A)(ii).
(ii)The furnishing of comments to a special selection review board under subparagraph (C)(ii).
(d)Consideration.—
(1)In considering the record and information on a person under this section, the special selection review board shall compare such record and information with an appropriate sampling of the records of those officers who were recommended for promotion by the promotion board that recommended the person for promotion, and an appropriate sampling of the records of those officers who were considered by and not recommended for promotion by that promotion board.
(2)Records and information shall be presented to a special selection review board for purposes of paragraph (1) in a manner that does not indicate or disclose the person or persons for whom the special selection review board was convened.
(3)In considering whether the recommendation for promotion of a person should be sustained under this section, a special selection review board shall, to the greatest extent practicable, apply standards used by the promotion board that recommended the person for promotion.
(4)The recommendation for promotion of a person may be sustained under this section only if the special selection review board determines that the person—
(A)ranks on an order of merit created by the special selection review board as better qualified for promotion than the sample officer highest on the order of merit list who was considered by and not recommended for promotion by the promotion board concerned; and
(B)is comparable in qualification for promotion to those sample officers who were recommended for promotion by that promotion board.
(5)A recommendation for promotion of a person may be sustained under this section only by a vote of a majority of the members of the special selection review board.
(6)If a special selection review board does not sustain a recommendation for promotion of a person under this section, the person shall be considered to have failed of selection for promotion.
(e)Reports.—
(1)Each special selection review board convened under this section shall submit to the Secretary a written report, signed by each member of the board, containing the name of each person whose recommendation for promotion it recommends for sustainment and certifying that the board has carefully considered the record and information of each person whose name was referred to it.
(2)The provisions of section 2117(a) of this title apply to the report and proceedings of a special selection review board convened under this section in the same manner as they apply to the report and proceedings of a promotion board convened under section 2106 of this title.
(f)Appointment of Persons.—
(1)If the report of a special selection review board convened under this section recommends the sustainment of the recommendation for promotion to the next higher grade of a person whose name was referred to it for review under this section, and the President approves the report, the person shall, as soon as practicable, be appointed to that grade in accordance with section 2121 of this title.
(2)A person who is appointed to the next higher grade as described in paragraph (1) shall, upon that appointment, have the same date of rank, the same effective date for the pay and allowances of that grade, and the same position on the active-duty list as the person would have had pursuant to the original recommendation for promotion of the promotion board concerned.
(g)Regulations.—
The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
(h)Promotion Board Defined.—
In this section, the term “promotion board” means a selection board convened by the Secretary under section 2106 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
14 U.S.C. § 2120a
Title 14, Coast Guard
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110