§3751 Failure of Selection and Removal From an Active Status

Summary

The Secretary can remove from active duty a Reserve officer who fails selection for the next higher rank two times. The Secretary must remove a Reserve officer who is a captain and has completed thirty years of commissioned service if their name is not on an approved promotion list for rear admiral (lower half). If an officer has two failed selections but is not removed, the Secretary may keep them on active duty for a time the Secretary sets. Under section 12646 of title 10, an officer removed must be offered a chance to transfer to the Retired Reserve if eligible; otherwise the Secretary may move them to inactive status or discharge them. Removals take effect on the June 30 after the approving board report for a two-failure case, or on the June 30 after the date the captain reaches thirty years of commissioned service as computed under the law. Total commissioned service is figured two ways: for someone appointed as an ensign and serving continuously, count from the date they accepted that appointment; for someone first appointed above ensign, use the greater of their actual higher-grade service or the equivalent service of a Regular Coast Guard officer who started as an ensign and remained junior to the Reserve officer.