Title 14, Coast GuardRelease 119-102

§4903 Authorization of Personnel End Strengths

Title 14 › SUBTITLE IV — COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATIONS AND REPORTS TO CONGRESS › CHAPTER 49 — AUTHORIZATIONS › § 4903

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Congress must approve how many active duty Coast Guard members there will be at the end of each fiscal year. Money for active duty Coast Guard can only be provided if Congress has approved that end strength for the year. If a declaration of war or national emergency is in effect at the end of a fiscal year, the President may postpone the legal limit on that end strength for up to 6 months after the war or emergency ends. Congress must also approve the average number of Coast Guard students in military training each fiscal year. That approval covers four types of training: recruit and specialized training, flight training, professional training at military or civilian schools, and officer acquisition training. Funds for those training programs can only be provided if Congress has approved the student loads for that year.

Full Legal Text

Title 14, §4903

Coast Guard, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)For each fiscal year, Congress shall authorize the strength for active duty personnel of the Coast Guard as of the end of that fiscal year. Amounts may be appropriated for a fiscal year to or for the use of active duty personnel of the Coast Guard only if the end strength for active duty personnel for that fiscal year has been authorized by law. If at the end of any fiscal year there is in effect a declaration of war or national emergency, the President may defer the effectiveness of any end-strength limitation with respect to that fiscal year prescribed by law for any military or civilian component of the Coast Guard, for a period not to exceed 6 months after the end of the war or termination of the national emergency.
(b)(1)Congress shall authorize the average military training student loads for the Coast Guard for each fiscal year. That authorization is required for student loads for the following individual training categories:
(A)Recruit and specialized training.
(B)Flight training.
(C)Professional training in military and civilian institutions.
(D)Officer acquisition training.
(2)Amounts may be appropriated for a fiscal year for use in training military personnel of the Coast Guard in the categories referred to in paragraph (1) only if the average student loads for the Coast Guard for that fiscal year have been authorized by law.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 66114:ch. 11(note).Sept. 10, 1976, Pub. L. 94–406, § 6, 90 Stat. 1236. The words “after fiscal year 1977” are omitted as executed. The word “Amounts” is substituted for “funds” for clarity and consistency.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–282 renumbered section 2703 of this title as this section. 2016—Pub. L. 114–120 renumbered section 661 of this title as this section. 2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–295 inserted at end “If at the end of any fiscal year there is in effect a declaration of war or national emergency, the President may defer the effectiveness of any end-strength limitation with respect to that fiscal year prescribed by law for any military or civilian component of the Coast Guard, for a period not to exceed 6 months after the end of the war or termination of the national emergency.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

14 U.S.C. § 4903

Title 14, Coast Guard

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102