
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 14USC729]

 
                          TITLE 14--COAST GUARD
 
               PART II--COAST GUARD RESERVE AND AUXILIARY
 
                     CHAPTER 21--COAST GUARD RESERVE
 
                              SUBCHAPTER B
 
                          commissioned officers
 
Sec. 729. Promotion; recommendations of selection boards

    (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, a Reserve officer shall 
only be promoted pursuant to the recommendation of a selection board.
    (b) The Secretary shall convene selection boards from time to time 
to recommend Reserve officers for promotion to the next higher grade. A 
board may be convened to consider officers in one or more grades.
    (c) A selection board shall, from among the names of those eligible 
Reserve officers submitted to it, recommend for promotion to the next 
higher grade:
        (1) those officers serving in the grade of lieutenant (junior 
    grade) or above whom it considers to be best qualified; and
        (2) those officers serving in the grade of ensign whom it 
    considers to be fully qualified.

    (d)(1) Before convening a selection board to recommend Reserve 
officers for promotion, the Secretary shall establish a promotion zone 
for officers serving in each grade to be considered by the board. The 
Secretary shall determine the number of officers in the promotion zone 
for officers serving in any grade from among officers who are eligible 
for promotion in that grade.
    (2)(A) Before convening a selection board to recommend Reserve 
officers for promotion to a grade (other than the grade of lieutenant 
(junior grade)), the Secretary shall determine the maximum number of 
officers in that grade that the board may recommend for promotion.
    (B) The Secretary shall make the determination under subparagraph 
(A) of the maximum number that may be recommended with a view to having 
in an active status a sufficient number of Reserve officers in each 
grade to meet the needs of the Coast Guard for Reserve officers in an 
active status.
    (C) In order to make the determination under subparagraph (B), the 
Secretary shall determine the following:
        (i) The number of positions needed to accomplish mission 
    objectives that require officers in the grade to which the board 
    will recommend officers for promotion.
        (ii) The estimated number of officers needed to fill vacancies 
    in such positions during the period in which it is anticipated that 
    officers selected for promotion will be promoted.
        (iii) The number of officers authorized by the Secretary to 
    serve in an active status in the grade under consideration.
        (iv) Any statutory limitation on the number of officers in any 
    grade authorized to be in an active status.

    (3)(A) The Secretary may, when the needs of the Coast Guard require, 
authorize the consideration of officers in a grade above lieutenant 
(junior grade) for promotion to the next higher grade from below the 
promotion zone.
    (B) When selection from below the promotion zone is authorized, the 
Secretary shall establish the number of officers that may be recommended 
for promotion from below the promotion zone. That number may not exceed 
the number equal to 10 percent of the maximum number of officers that 
the board is authorized to recommend for promotion, except that the 
Secretary may authorize a greater number, not to exceed 15 percent of 
the total number of officers that the board is authorized to recommend 
for promotion, if the Secretary determines that the needs of the Coast 
Guard so require. If the maximum number determined under this 
subparagraph is less than one, the board may recommend one officer for 
promotion from below the promotion zone.
    (C) The number of officers recommended for promotion from below the 
promotion zone does not increase the maximum number of officers that the 
board is authorized to recommend for promotion under paragraph (2).
    (e) The law and regulations relating to the selection for promotion 
of a commissioned officer of the Regular Coast Guard to the grades of 
rear admiral (lower half) and rear admiral apply to a Reserve officer, 
except that to be eligible for consideration for promotion to the grade 
of rear admiral (lower half) an officer shall have completed at least 
ten years commissioned service, of which the last five years shall have 
been served in the Coast Guard Reserve.
    (f) The provisions of section 260 of this title apply to boards 
convened under this section. The Secretary shall determine the procedure 
to be used by a selection board.
    (g) The report of a selection board shall be submitted to the 
Secretary for review and transmission to the President for approval. 
When an officer recommended by a board for promotion is not acceptable 
to the President, the President may remove the name of that officer from 
the report of the board.
    (h) The recommendations of a selection board, as approved by the 
President, constitute a list of selectees from which the promotions of 
Reserve officers shall be made. An officer on a list of selectees 
remains thereon until promoted unless removed by the President under 
section 738 of this title. If an existing list of selectees has not been 
exhausted by the time a later list has been approved, all officers 
remaining on the older list shall be tendered appointments prior to 
those on the later list.
    (i) A Reserve officer whose name is on a list of selectees for 
promotion shall, unless that officer's promotion is lawfully withheld, 
be tendered an appointment in the next higher grade at the same time, or 
as soon thereafter as practicable, as that officer's running mate is 
tendered a similar appointment.

(Added Pub. L. 96-322, Sec. 1, Aug. 4, 1980, 94 Stat. 1010; amended Pub. 
L. 97-417, Sec. 2(13), Jan. 4, 1983, 96 Stat. 2086; Pub. L. 99-145, 
title V, Sec. 514(c)(1), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 629; Pub. L. 106-398, 
Sec. 1 [[div. A], title V, Sec. 502(a)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 
1654A-99.)


                            Prior Provisions

    Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in 
section 780 of this title prior to the complete revision of this chapter 
by Pub. L. 96-322.


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106-398 amended subsec. (d) generally. 
Prior to amendment, subsec. (d) read as follows: ``Before convening a 
selection board to recommend Reserve officers for promotion to a grade 
above lieutenant (junior grade), the Secretary shall determine the total 
number of Reserve officers to be selected for promotion to that grade. 
The number to be selected shall normally be equal to the number of 
vacancies existing in that grade, plus the number of vacancies 
anticipated over the next twelve months, minus the number of officers on 
the list of selectees for that grade. The Secretary may, however, 
prescribe regulations that provide for the establishment of promotion 
opportunity percentages for each grade to ensure that equitable 
promotion opportunities exist among successive groups of Reserve 
officers being considered for promotion. The number so determined may 
not cause the number of Reserve officers in an active status in a grade 
to exceed that authorized for the grade concerned.''
    1985--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 99-145 substituted ``rear admiral (lower 
half)'' for ``commodore'' wherever appearing.
    1983--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 97-417 substituted ``the grades of 
commodore and rear admiral'' for ``the grade of rear admiral'', and 
inserted ``for promotion to the grade of commodore'' after 
``consideration''.


                    Effective Date of 2000 Amendment

    Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title V, Sec. 502(c)], Oct. 30, 
2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A-100, provided that: ``The amendments made by 
this section [amending this section and section 731 of this title] shall 
apply with respect to selection boards convened under section 730 of 
title 14, United States Code, on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act [Oct. 30, 2000].''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 731, 738 of this title.
