(a)
(1) For the Army, 231.
(2) For the Navy, 162.
(3) For the Air Force, 198.
(4) For the Marine Corps, 62.
(b)
(2) Unless the Secretary of Defense determines that a lower number is in the best interest of the Department, the minimum number of officers serving in positions designated under paragraph (1) for each armed force shall be as follows:
(A) For the Army, 85.
(B) For the Navy, 61.
(C) For the Air Force, 73.
(D) For the Marine Corps, 21.
(3) The number excluded under paragraph (1) and serving in positions designated under that paragraph—
(A) in the grade of general or admiral may not exceed 20;
(B) in a grade above the grade of major general or rear admiral may not exceed 68; and
(C) in the grade of major general or rear admiral may not exceed 144.
(4) Not later than 30 days after determining to raise or lower a number specified in paragraph (2), the Secretary of Defense shall notify the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives of such determination.
(5)
(A) The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff may designate up to 15 general and flag officer positions in the unified and specified combatant commands, and up to three general and flag officer positions on the Joint Staff, as positions to be held only by reserve component officers who are in a general or flag officer grade below lieutenant general or vice admiral. Each position so designated shall be considered to be a joint duty assignment position for purposes of chapter 38 of this title.
(B) A reserve component officer serving in a position designated under subparagraph (A) while on active duty under a call or order to active duty that does not specify a period of 180 days or less shall not be counted for the purposes of the limitations under subsection (a) and under section 525 of this title if the officer was selected for service in that position in accordance with the procedures specified in subparagraph (C).
(C) Whenever a vacancy occurs, or is anticipated to occur, in a position designated under subparagraph (A)—
(i) the Secretary of Defense shall require the Secretary of the Army to submit the name of at least one Army reserve component officer, the Secretary of the Navy to submit the name of at least one Navy Reserve officer and the name of at least one Marine Corps Reserve officer, and the Secretary of the Air Force to submit the name of at least one Air Force reserve component officer for consideration by the Secretary for assignment to that position; and
(ii) the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff may submit to the Secretary of Defense the name of one or more officers (in addition to the officers whose names are submitted pursuant to clause (i)) for consideration by the Secretary for assignment to that position.
(D) Whenever the Secretaries of the military departments are required to submit the names of officers under subparagraph (C)(i), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall submit to the Secretary of Defense the Chairman's evaluation of the performance of each officer whose name is submitted under that subparagraph (and of any officer whose name the Chairman submits to the Secretary under subparagraph (C)(ii) for consideration for the same vacancy).
(E) Subparagraph (B) does not apply in the case of an officer serving in a position designated under subparagraph (A) if the Secretary of Defense, when considering officers for assignment to fill the vacancy in that position which was filled by that officer, did not have a recommendation for that assignment from each Secretary of a military department who (pursuant to subparagraph (C)) was required to make such a recommendation.
(c)
(2) The limitations of this section also do not apply to a number, as specified by the Secretary of the military department concerned, of reserve component general or flag officers authorized to serve on active duty for a period of not more than 365 days. The number so specified for an armed force may not exceed the number equal to 10 percent of the authorized number of general or flag officers, as the case may be, of that armed force under section 12004 of this title. In determining such number, any fraction shall be rounded down to the next whole number, except that such number shall be at least one.
(3) The limitations of this section do not apply to a reserve component general or flag officer who is on active duty for a period in excess of 365 days but not to exceed three years, except that the number of such officers from each reserve component who are covered by this paragraph and not serving in a position that is a joint duty assignment for purposes of chapter 38 of this title may not exceed 5 per component, unless authorized by the Secretary of Defense.
(d)
(e)
(f)
(2) A general or flag officer assigned to a temporary joint duty assignment as described in paragraph (1) may not be excluded under this subsection from the limitations in subsection (a) for a period of longer than one year.
(g)
(h)
(1)
(2)
(A) the statutory limit of general officers or flag officers of that armed force under subsection (a); or
(B) the actual number of general officers or flag officers of that armed force who, as of January 1, 2014, counted toward the statutory limit of general officers or flag officers of that armed force under subsection (a).
(3)
(i)
(1)
(2)
(A) the statutory limit on general officer and flag officer positions that are joint duty assignments under subsection (b)(1); or
(B) the actual number of general officers and flag officers who, as of January 1, 2014, were in joint duty assignments counted toward the statutory limit under subsection (b)(1).
(3)
(j)
(1) the numbers of general officers and flag officers who, as of January 1 of the calendar year in which the report is submitted, counted toward the service-specific limits of subsection (a); and
(2) the number of general officers and flag officers in joint duty assignments who, as of such January 1, counted toward the statutory limit under subsection (b)(1).
(k)
Historical and Revision Notes
Section is based on Pub. L. 95–79, title VIII, §811(a), July 30, 1977, 91 Stat. 335, as amended by Pub. L. 96–107, title VIII, §817, Nov. 9, 1979, 93 Stat. 818; Pub. L. 96–342, title X, §1003, Sept. 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 1120; Pub. L. 97–86, title VI, §602, Dec. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 1110.
Present law (section 811(a) of Public Law 95–79, as amended) provides that the authority to suspend the limitation on the number of general and flag officers who may be serving on active duty applies during war or national emergency. In codifying the limitation (in section 526 of title 10 as proposed to be added by section 1(b) of the bill), the committee determined that the same war and emergency waiver authority as applies to other limitations on the number of officers on active duty under the existing 10 U.S.C. 526 (redesignated as 10 U.S.C. 527 by the bill) should apply with respect to this limitation and accordingly amended the suspension authority in present law to include the codified general and flag officer limitation. This authority is slightly different from the waiver authority in the source law in that the suspension would expire 2 years after it takes effect or 1 year after the end of the war or national emergency, whichever occurs first, rather than upon termination of the war or emergency.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 526 was renumbered section 527 of this title.
Amendments
2019—Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 116–92 inserted "the" before "number of general officers".
2016—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 114–328, §503(b), substituted "62" for "61".
Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 114–328, §501(h)(2), added subsec. (k).
2013—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 112–239 substituted "162" for "160".
Subsecs. (c) to (g). Pub. L. 113–66, §501(a)(1), redesignated subsecs. (d) to (h) as (c) to (g), respectively.
Subsecs. (h), (i). Pub. L. 113–66, §501(a)(2), added subsecs. (h) and (i). Former subsec. (h) redesignated (g).
Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 113–66, §501(b)(2), added subsec. (j).
2011—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 112–81, §502(b)(1)(A)(i), substituted "231" for "230".
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 112—81, §502(b)(1)(A)(ii), which directed substitution of "161" for "160", could not be executed because of the intervening amendment by Pub. L. 112—239. See 2013 Amendment note above.
Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 112–81, §502(b)(1)(A)(iii), substituted "198" for "208".
Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 112–81, §502(b)(1)(A)(iv), substituted "61" for "60".
Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 112–81, §502(c)(1), substituted "310" for "324".
Subsec. (b)(2)(C). Pub. L. 112–81, §502(b)(1)(B), substituted "73" for "76".
2009—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–84, §502(e), substituted "230" for "307" in par. (1), "160" for "216" in par. (2), "208" for "279" in par. (3), and "60" for "81" in par. (4).
Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 111–84, §502(f)(1), substituted "Secretary of Defense" for "Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff", "324" for "65", and "The Secretary of Defense shall allocate those exclusions to the armed forces based on the number of general or flag officers required from each armed force for assignment to these designated positions." for "Officers in positions so designated shall not be counted for the purposes of those limitations."
Subsec. (b)(2) to (5). Pub. L. 111–84, §502(f)(2), (3), added pars. (2) to (4) and redesignated former par. (2) as (5).
Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 111–84, §502(g)(1), added par. (3).
Subsecs. (g), (h). Pub. L. 111–84, §502(g)(2), added subsecs. (g) and (h).
2008—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 110–417, §503(a), substituted "307" for "302".
Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 110–417, §503(b), substituted "81" for "80".
Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 110–417, §503(c), substituted "65" for "12".
Subsec. (b)(2)(A). Pub. L. 110–417, §525, substituted "up to three general and flag officer positions" for "a general and flag officer position".
Pub. L. 110–181, §1824(c), substituted "15 general and flag officer positions in" for "10 general and flag officer positions on the staffs of the commanders of".
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 110–181, §502, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).
2006—Subsec. (b)(2)(A). Pub. L. 109–163, §510, inserted ", and a general and flag officer position on the Joint Staff," after "combatant commands".
Subsec. (b)(2)(C)(i). Pub. L. 109–163, §515(b)(1)(C), substituted "Navy Reserve" for "Naval Reserve".
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–163, §503(b)(2), substituted "Certain Reserve Officers" for "Certain Officers" in heading.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 109–163, §503(b)(1), added subsec. (e).
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 109–364 added subsec. (f).
2003—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 108–136 struck out par. (3) which read as follows: "This subsection shall cease to be effective on December 31, 2004."
2002—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 107–314, §405(c), substituted "December 31, 2004" for "October 1, 2002".
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–314, §1041(a)(3), struck out heading and text of subsec. (c). Text read as follows:
"(1) Not later than 60 days before an action specified in paragraph (2) may become effective, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report providing notice of the intended action and an analytically based justification for the intended action.
"(2) Paragraph (1) applies in the case of the following actions:
"(A) A change in the grade authorized as of July 1, 1994, for a general officer position in the National Guard Bureau, a general or flag officer position in the Office of a Chief of a reserve component, or a general or flag officer position in the headquarters of a reserve component command.
"(B) Assignment of a reserve component officer to a general officer position in the National Guard Bureau, to a general or flag officer position in the Office of a Chief of a reserve component, or to a general or flag officer position in the headquarters of a reserve component command in a grade other than the grade authorized for that position as of July 1, 1994.
"(C) Assignment of an officer other than a general or flag officer as the military executive to the Reserve Forces Policy Board."
1999—Subsec. (b)(2), (3). Pub. L. 106–65, §553, added par. (2) and redesignated former par. (2) as (3).
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 106–65, §1067(1), substituted "and the Committee on Armed Services" for "and the Committee on National Security".
1998—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 105–261 substituted "October 1, 2002" for "October 1, 1998".
1996—Subsec. (a)(1) to (3). Pub. L. 104–106, §1503(a)(3)(A), added pars. (1) to (3) and struck out former pars. (1) to (3) which read as follows:
"(1) For the Army, 386 before October 1, 1995, and 302 on and after that date.
"(2) For the Navy, 250 before October 1, 1995, and 216 on and after that date.
"(3) For the Air Force, 326 before October 1, 1995, and 279 on and after that date."
Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 104–201 substituted "80" for "68".
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–106, §1503(a)(3)(B)–(D), redesignated subsec. (c) as (b), struck out "that are applicable on and after October 1, 1995" after "limitations in subsection (a)", and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: "
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–106, §1503(a)(3)(C), (E), redesignated subsec. (d) as (c) and, in par. (2)(B), struck out "the" after "general officer position in the" and inserted "to" after "reserve component, or" and "than" after "in a grade other". Former subsec. (c) redesignated (b).
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–106, §1503(a)(3)(C), redesignated subsec. (e) as (d). Former subsec. (d) redesignated (c).
Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 104–106, §1502(a)(1), substituted "Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives" for "Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives".
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–106, §1503(a)(3)(C), redesignated subsec. (e) as (d).
1994—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 103–337, §404, struck out "before October 1, 1995, and 61 on and after that date" after "Corps, 68".
Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 103–337, §512, added subsecs. (d) and (e).
1992—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–484, §403(b), inserted heading.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–484, §403(a), added subsec. (c).
1990—Pub. L. 101–510 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: "The total number of general officers on active duty in the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps and flag officers on active duty in the Navy may not exceed 1,073."
Effective Date of 2013 Amendment
Pub. L. 113–66, div. A, title V, §501(c), Dec. 26, 2013, 127 Stat. 749, provided that: "The amendments made by this is [sic] section [amending this section] shall take effect on January 1, 2014."
Effective Date of 2011 Amendment
Amendment by section 502(b)(1) of Pub. L. 112–81 effective Oct. 1, 2013, except amendment by section 502(b)(1)(A)(iv) effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 502(b)(3) of Pub. L. 112–81, as amended, set out as a note under section 525 of this title.
Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title V, §502(c)(2), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1387, provided that: "The amendment made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall take effect on January 1, 2012."
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title IV, §403(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1545, provided that the amendment made by that section is effective Sept. 30, 1991.
Termination of Reporting Requirements
For termination, effective Dec. 31, 2021, of provisions in subsec. (j) of this section requiring submittal of annual report to Congress, see section 1061 of Pub. L. 114–328, set out as a note under section 111 of this title.
Acquisition and Contracting Billets
Pub. L. 110–417, [div. A], title V, §503(e), Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4434, provided that:
"(1)
"(2)