1625-0004 StatA

TITLE 14—COAST GUARD

§ 211
OFFICERS
A. APPOINTMENTS

§ 211. Original appointment of permanent commissioned officers
(a)(1) The President may appoint permanent
commissioned officers in the Regular Coast
Guard in grades appropriate to their qualification, experience, and length of service, as the
needs of the Coast Guard may require, from
among the following categories:
(A) Graduates of the Coast Guard Academy.
(B) Commissioned warrant officers, warrant
officers, and enlisted members of the Regular
Coast Guard.
(C) Members of the Coast Guard Reserve who
have served at least 2 years as such.
(D) Licensed officers of the United States
merchant marine who have served 2 or more
years aboard a vessel of the United States in
the capacity of a licensed officer.
(2) Original appointments under this section in
the grades of lieutenant commander and above
shall be made by the President by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate.
(3) Original appointments under this section in
the grades of ensign through lieutenant shall be
made by the President alone.
(b) No person shall be appointed a commissioned officer under this section until his mental, moral, physical, and professional fitness to
perform the duties of a commissioned officer has
been established under such regulations as the
Secretary shall prescribe.
(c) Appointees under this section shall take
precedence in the grade to which appointed in
accordance with the dates of their commissions
as commissioned officers in such grade. Appointees whose dates of commission are the
same shall take precedence with each other as
the Secretary shall determine.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the term
‘‘original’’, with respect to the appointment of a
member of the Coast Guard, refers to that member’s most recent appointment in the Coast
Guard that is neither a promotion nor a demotion.
(Added Pub. L. 88–130, § 1(10)(C), Sept. 24, 1963, 77
Stat. 177; amended Pub. L. 89–444, § 1(11), June 9,
1966, 80 Stat. 196; Pub. L. 98–557, § 15(a)(3)(B), Oct.
30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2865; Pub. L. 109–241, title II,
§ 217(a), July 11, 2006, 120 Stat. 525; Pub. L.
112–213, title II, § 206, Dec. 20, 2012, 126 Stat. 1546.)
AMENDMENTS
2012—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 112–213 added subsec. (d).
2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–241 amended subsec. (a)
generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) related to
Presidential appointment of commissioned officers in
the Regular Coast Guard in grades of ensign or above.
1984—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 98–557 substituted reference to enlisted members for reference to enlisted
men.
1966—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 89–444 substituted ‘‘two
years’’ for ‘‘four years’’.
SAVINGS PROVISION
Pub. L. 88–130, § 5, Sept. 24, 1963, 77 Stat. 193, as
amended by Pub. L. 89–444, § 3, June 9, 1966, 80 Stat. 198,
provided that:

Page 46

‘‘(a) Officers in each grade who have been recommended as qualified for temporary promotion under
laws and regulations in effect the day before the effective date of this Act [Sept. 24, 1963] but not promoted
to the grade for which they were recommended shall be
placed on a list of selectees in order of their precedence, and they shall be promoted as if they had been
selected for promotion in the approved report of a selection board convened under this Act [enacting sections 41a, 211 to 214, 251 to 262, 271 to 277, 281 to 294, 321
to 327, 331 to 335, of this title amending sections 42, 44,
46, 47, 190, 433, 759a, and 791 of this title, and enacting
provisions set out as notes under sections 262, 285, and
289 of this title, and repealing sections 221 to 248, 301 to
313a, 435 to 437, 439, and 440 of this title, and act Sept.
21, 1961, 75 Stat. 538, set out as a note under section 435
of this title].
‘‘(b) Officers who have been recommended for promotion to the grade of rear admiral under laws and regulations in effect the day before the effective date of
this Act but have not been promoted to that grade shall
be promoted as if they had been so recommended in the
approved report of a selection board convened under
this Act.
‘‘(c) The enactment of this Act does not terminate
the appointment of any officer.
‘‘(d) An officer of the Regular Coast Guard who on the
day before the effective date of this Act had been promoted to and was serving on active duty in a temporary grade higher than his permanent grade shall be
considered to have been promoted to that grade under
section 271 of title 14, United States Code.
‘‘(e) An officer of the Regular Coast Guard who was
appointed as a temporary commissioned officer under
any provision of law in effect prior to the effective date
of this Act and who is serving on active duty shall be
considered to have been appointed under section 214 of
title 14, United States Code, and subject to the provisions thereof. An officer of the Regular Coast Guard
who was appointed as a permanent commissioned officer under any provision of law in effect prior to the effective date of this Act [Sept. 24, 1963], and who is serving on active duty shall be considered to have been appointed under section 211 of title 14, United States
Code, and subject to the provisions thereof.
‘‘(f) Each officer who would have been required to retire on June 30, 1962, under the provisions of section 288
of title 14, United States Code, had that section been in
effect on that date, shall be retired on the last day of
the sixth month following the month in which this Act
becomes effective. If, under section 288 of title 14,
United States Code, the retirement of any other officer
would be required after June 30, 1962, but less than six
months following the effective date of this Act, his retirement shall be deferred until the last day of the
twelfth month following the month in which this Act
becomes effective, or June 30, 1964, whichever is earlier.
‘‘(g) The enactment of this Act does not increase or
decrease the retired pay of any person retired on or
prior to the effective date of this Act.
‘‘(h) Notwithstanding section 1431 of title 10, United
States Code, an original election, change, or revocation
of an election, made under that section by an officer
who is retired under the provisions of section 282, 283,
284, 285, or 288 of title 14, United States Code, is effective if made prior to the first day of the third month
following the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1963].’’

[§§ 212, 213. Repealed. Pub. L. 103–337, div. A,
title V, § 541(f)(5)(A), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat.
2767]
Section 212, added Pub. L. 88–130, § 1(10)(C), Sept. 24,
1963, 77 Stat. 177; amended Pub. L. 98–557, § 15(a)(3)(B),
Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2865, related to original appointment of permanent commissioned warrant officers in
Coast Guard. See section 571 et seq. of Title 10, Armed
Forces.
Section 213, added Pub. L. 88–130, § 1(10)(C), Sept. 24,
1963, 77 Stat. 178; amended Pub. L. 98–557, § 15(a)(3)(B),