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Title 33, Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-110

§3028 Positions of Importance and Responsibility

Title 33 › CHAPTER 43 — NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION COMMISSIONED OFFICER CORPS › SUBCHAPTER II — APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF OFFICERS › § 3028

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary can choose certain NOAA jobs to be high-level and say those jobs should carry the rank of vice admiral, rear admiral, or rear admiral (lower half). The Secretary can put officers into those chosen jobs. The President must pick one officer to run the ship and aircraft fleets and to run the commissioned officer corps. The President appoints that person with Senate approval, and the person must be on the lineal list and have served at least one year as a captain or higher when appointed. When an officer is put into one of these jobs and given the higher rank by the President, they hold that rank and pay while serving (including any final annual leave). When the job ends, they return to their permanent rank and number unless they move to another higher job or start terminal leave. No more than five officers may serve on active duty at rear admiral (lower half) or higher at once, and only one may be a vice admiral. The appointment does not cancel the officer’s permanent rank and it creates an open slot on the active roster.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §3028

Navigation and Navigable Waters, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Designation of positions
The Secretary may designate positions in the Administration as being positions of importance and responsibility for which it is appropriate that officers of the Administration, if serving in those positions, serve in the grade of vice admiral, rear admiral, or rear admiral (lower half), as designated by the Secretary for each position.
(b)Assignment of officers to designated positions
The Secretary may assign officers to positions designated under subsection (a).
(c)Director of NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and Assistant Administrator for Marine and Aviation Operations
The President shall designate one position as responsible for oversight of the vessel and aircraft fleets and for the administration of the commissioned officer corps. The President shall fill that position by appointing, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an officer on the lineal list who has served, on the date of such appointment, in the grade of captain or above for not less than one year. For the specific purpose of administering the commissioned officer corps, that position shall carry the title of Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. For the specific purpose of administering the vessel and aircraft fleets, that position shall carry the title of Assistant Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for Marine and Aviation Operations.
(d)Grade
(1)Temporary appointment to grade designated for position
An officer assigned to a position under this section while so serving has the grade designated for that position, if appointed to that grade by the President.
(2)Reversion to permanent grade
An officer who has served in a grade above captain, upon termination of the officer’s assignment to the position for which that appointment was made, shall, unless appointed or assigned to another position for which a higher grade is designated or immediately beginning a period of terminal leave, revert to the grade and number the officer would have occupied but for serving in a grade above that of captain. In such a case, the officer shall be an extra number in that grade.
(e)Limit on number of officers appointed
The total number of officers serving on active duty at any one time in the grade of rear admiral (lower half) or above may not exceed five, with only one serving in the grade of vice admiral.
(f)Pay and allowances
An officer appointed to a grade under this section, while serving in that grade or in a period of annual leave used at the end of the appointment, shall have the pay and allowances of the grade to which appointed.
(g)Effect of appointment
An appointment of an officer under this section— (1)
(2)creates a vacancy on the active list.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 853u of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 107–372.

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 119–60 substituted “Commissioned Officer Corps and Assistant Administrator for” for “Corps and Office of” in heading, “who has served, on the date of such appointment, in the grade of captain or above for not less than one year” for “serving in or above the grade of rear admiral (lower half)” in second sentence, and “Assistant Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for” for “Director of the Office of” in fourth sentence. 2020—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–259, § 303(1), substituted “The President shall designate one position” for “The Secretary shall designate one position under this section” in first sentence, and “The President shall fill that position by appointing, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,” for “That position shall be filled by” in second sentence. Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 116–259, § 303(2), inserted “or immediately beginning a period of terminal leave” after “for which a higher grade is designated”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–259, § 303(3), amended subsec. (e) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “(1) Overall limit.—The total number of officers serving on active duty at any one time in the grade of rear admiral (lower half) or above may not exceed four. “(2) Limit by grade.—The number of officers serving on active duty under appointments under this section may not exceed— “(A) one in the grade of vice admiral; “(B) two in the grade of rear admiral; and “(C) two in the grade of rear admiral (lower half).” Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 116–259, § 303(4), inserted “or in a period of annual leave used at the end of the appointment” after “serving in that grade”. 2012—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 112–166 struck out “, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate” before period at end.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2012 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 112–166 effective 60 days after Aug. 10, 2012, and applicable to appointments made on and after that

Effective Date

, including any nomination pending in the Senate on that date, see section 6(a) of Pub. L. 112–166, set out as a note under section 113 of Title 6, Domestic Security. Appointment of Commissioned Officers Pub. L. 98–498, title III, § 320(c)(2), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2309, provided that: “After the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 19, 1984], no appointment of a commissioned officer may be made under section 2(d) or 2(f) of Reorganization Plan Numbered 4 of 1970 (84 Stat. 2090, 5 U.S.C. App.).”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 3028

Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110