§206 Assignment of Officers

Summary

The Surgeon General must pick one commissioned officer from the Regular Corps to run the Surgeon General’s office, act as Surgeon General if the Surgeon General is gone or unable to work, and do other tasks the Surgeon General gives them. That officer will be called the Deputy Surgeon General. The Surgeon General must also assign eight Regular Corps officers to lead big parts of the Service, including the Director of NIH and the top chiefs for state services, medical services, the Coast Guard medical office, dental, nursing, pharmacy, and sanitary engineering. Those leaders are called Assistant Surgeons General. With the Secretary’s approval, the Surgeon General can make extra temporary Assistant Surgeon General positions and fill them with officers from the Regular Corps or the Ready Reserve Corps. The total number of these special temporary posts cannot exceed 1 percent of the highest number of Regular Corps officers on active duty and Ready Reserve officers on active duty for more than 30 days during the 90 days before that day. If the number goes over 1 percent on any day, then for up to one year after that day the count can only be lowered by resignation, retirement, death, or moving an officer to a lower grade. The Surgeon General must also name which Assistant Surgeon General will serve if both the Surgeon General and the Deputy Surgeon General are unavailable.