(d) Officers of the Regular Corps, found pursuant to subsection (c) to be qualified, shall be given permanent promotions based on length of service, as follows:

(1) Officers in the junior assistant grade shall be promoted at such times as may be prescribed in regulations of the President.

(2) Officers with permanent rank in the assistant grade, the senior assistant grade, and the full grade shall (except as provided in regulations under subsection (b)) be promoted after completion of three, ten, and seventeen years, respectively, of service in grades above the junior assistant grade; and such promotions, when made, shall be effective, for purposes of pay and seniority in grade, as of the day following the completion of such years of service. An officer with permanent rank in the assistant, senior assistant, or full grade who has not completed such years of service shall be promoted at the same time, and his promotion shall be effective as of the same day, as any officer junior to him in the same grade in the same professional category who is promoted under this paragraph.

(e) Officers in a professional category of the Regular Corps, found pursuant to subsection (c) to be qualified may be given permanent promotions to fill any or all vacancies in such category in the senior assistant grade, the full grade, the senior grade, or the director grade; but no officer who has not had one year of service with permanent or temporary rank in the next lower grade shall be promoted to any restricted grade or to the director grade.

(f) If an officer who has completed the years of service required for promotion to a grade under paragraph (2) of subsection (d) fails to receive such promotion, he shall (unless he has already been twice examined for promotion to such grade) be once reexamined for promotion to such grade. If he is thereupon promoted (otherwise than under subsection (e)), the effective date of such promotion shall be one year later than it would have been but for such failure. Upon the effective date of any permanent promotion of such officer to such grade, he shall be considered as having had only the length of service required for such promotion which he previously failed to receive.

(g) If, for reasons other than physical disability, an officer of the Regular Corps in the junior assistant grade is found pursuant to subsection (c) not to be qualified for promotion he shall be separated from the Service. If, for reasons other than physical disability, an officer of the Regular Corps in the assistant, senior assistant, or full grade, after having been twice examined for promotion (other than promotion to a restricted grade), fails to be promoted

(1) if in the assistant grade he shall be separated

from the Service and paid six months' basic pay and allowances;

(2) if in the senior assistant grade he shall be separated from the Service and paid one year's basic pay and allowances;

(3) if in the full grade he shall be considered as not in line for promotion and shall, at such time thereafter as the Surgeon General may determine, be retired from the Service with retired pay (unless he is entitled to a greater amount by reason of another provision of law) at the rate of 212 per centum of the basic pay of the permanent grade held by him at the time of retirement for each year.

(h) If an officer of the Regular Corps, eligible to take an examination for promotion, refuses to take such examination, he may be separated from the Service in accordance with regulations of the President.

(i) At the end of his first three years of service, the record of each officer of the Regular Corps originally appointed to the senior assistant grade or above, shall be reviewed in accordance with regulations of the President and, if found not qualified for further service, he shall be separated from the Service and paid six months' pay and allowances.

(j) (1) The order of seniority of officers in a grade in the Regular Corps shall be determined, subject to the provisions of paragraph (2), by the relative length of time spent in active service after the effective date of each such officer's original appointment or permanent promotion to that grade. When permanent promotions of two or more officers to the same grade are effective on the same day, their relative seniority shall be the same as it was in the grade from which promoted. In all other cases of original appointments or permanent promotions (or both) to the same grade effective on the same day, relative seniority shall be determined in accordance with regulations of the President.

(2) In the case of an officer originally appointed in the Regular Corps to the grade of assistant or above, his seniority in the grade to which appointed shall be determined after inclusion, as service in such grade, of any active service in such grade or in any higher grade in the Reserve Corps, but (if the appointment is to the grade of senior assistant or above) only to the extent of whichever of the following is greater: (A) His active service in such grade or any higher grade in the Reserve Corps after the first day on which, under regulations in effect on the date of his appointment to the Regular Corps, he had the training and experience necessary for such appointment, or (B) the excess of his total active service in the Reserve Corps (above the grade of junior assistant) over three years if his appointment in the

Regular Corps is to the senior assistant grade, over ten years if the appointment is to the full grade, or over seventeen years if the appointment is to the senior grade.

(k) Any commissioned officer of the Regular Corps in any grade in any professional category may be recommended to the President for temporary promotion to fill a vacancy in any higher grade in such category, up to and including the director grade. In time of war, or of national emergency proclaimed by the President, any commissioned officer of the Regular Corps in any grade in any professional category may be recommended to the President for promotion to any higher grade in such category, up to and including the director grade, whether or not a vacancy exists in such grade. The selection of officers to be recommended for temporary promotions shall be made in accordance with regulations of the President. Promotion of an officer recommended pursuant to this subsection may be made without regard to length of service, without examination, and without vacating his permanent appointment, and shall carry with it the pay and allowances of the grade to which promoted. Such promotions may be terminated at any time, as may be directed by the President.

(1) Whenever the number of officers of the Regular Corps on active duty, plus the number of officers of the Reserve Corps who have been on active duty for thirty days or more, exceeds the authorized strength of the Regular Corps, the Secretary shall determine the requirements of the Service in each grade in each category, based upon the total number of officers so serving on active duty and the tasks being performed by the Service; and the Surgeon General shall thereupon assign each officer of the Reserve Corps on active duty to a professional category. If the Secretary finds that the number of officers fixed under section 209 (c) for any grade and category (or the number of officers, including officers of the Reserve Corps, on active duty in such grade in such category, if such number is greater than the number fixed under section 209 (c)) is insufficient to meet such requirements of the Service, officers of either the Regular Corps or the Reserve Corps may be recommended for temporary promotion to such grade in such category. Any such promotion may be terminated at any time, as may be directed by the President.

(m) Any officer of the Regular Corps, or any officer of the Reserve Corps on active duty, who is promoted to a higher grade shall, unless he expressly declines such promotion, be deemed for all purposes to have accepted such promotion; and shall not be required to renew his oath of office, or to execute a new affidavit as required by the Act of December 11, 1926, as amended (5 U.S.C. 21a).1

1 This Act has been codified to section 3332 of title 5, United States Code.

RETIREMENT OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS

SEC. 211. (a) (1) A commissioned officer of the Service 42 U.S.C. 212 shall be retired on the first day of the month following the month in which he attains the age of sixty-four years.

(2) A commissioned officer of the Service may be retired by the Secretary, and shall be retired if he applies for retirement, on the first day of any month after completion of thirty years of active service.

(3) Any commissioned officer of the Service who has had less than thirty years of active service may be retired by the Secretary, with or without application by the officer, on the first day of any month after completion of twenty or more years of active service of which not less than ten are years of active commissioned service in any of the uniformed services.

(4) A commissioned officer retired pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3) who was (in the case of an officer in the Reserve Corps) on active duty with the Service on the day preceding such retirement shall be entitled to receive retired pay at the rate of 212 per centum of the basic pay of the highest grade held by him as such officer and in which, in the case of a temporary promotion to such grade, he has performed active duty for not less than six months, (A) for each year of active service, or (B) if it results in higher retired pay, for each of the following

years:

(i) his years of active service (determined without regard to subsection (d)) as a member of a uniformed service; plus

(ii) in the case of a medical or dental officer, four years and, in the case of a medical officer, who has completed one year of medical internship or the equivalent thereof, one additional year, the four years and the one year to be reduced by the period of active service performed during such officer's attendance at medical school or dental school or during his medical internship; plus

(iii) the number of years of service with which he was entitled to be credited for purposes of basic pay on May 31, 1958, or (if higher) on any date prior thereto, reduced by any such year included under clause (i) and further reduced by any such year with which he was entitled to be credited under paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 205 (a) of title 37, United States Code, on any date before June 1, 1958;

except that (C) in the case of any officer whose retired pay, so computed, is less than 50 per centum of such basic pay, who retires pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, who has not less than twelve whole years of

active service (computed without the application of subsection (e)), and who does not use, for purposes of a retirement annuity under the Civil Service Retirement Act,' any service which is also creditable in computing his retired pay from the Service, it shall, instead, be 50 per centum of such pay, and (D) the retired pay of an officer shall in no case be more than 75 per centum of such basic pay.

(5) With the approval of the President, a commissioned officer whose service as Surgeon General, Deputy Surgeon General, or Assistant Surgeon General has totaled four years or more and who has had not less than twenty-five years of active service in the Service may retire voluntarily at any time; and his retired pay shall be at the rate of 75 per centum of the basic pay of the highest grade held by him as such officer.

(b) For purposes of subsection (a), the basic pay of the highest grade to which a commissioned officer has received a temporary promotion means the basic pay to which he would be entitled if serving on active duty in such grade on the date of his retirement.

(c) A commissioned officer, retired for reasons other than for failure of promotion to the senior grade, may (1) if an officer of the Regular Corps or an officer of the Reserve Corps entitled to retired pay under subsection (a), be involuntarily recalled to active duty during such times as the Commissioned Corps constitutes a branch of the land or naval forces of the United States, and (2) if an officer of either the Regular or Reserve Corps, be recalled to active duty at any time with his consent. (d) The term "active service", as used in subsection (a), includes:

(1) all active service in any of the uniformed services;

(2) active service with the Public Health Service, other than as a commissioned officer, which the Surgeon General determines is comparable to service performed by commissioned officers of the Service, except that, if there are more than five years of such service only the last five years thereof may be included; and

(3) all active service (other than service included under the preceding provisions of this subsection) which is creditable for retirement purposes under laws governing the retirement of members of any of the uniformed services.

(e) For the purpose of determining the number of years by which a percentage of the basic pay of an officer is to be multiplied in computing the amount of his retired pay pursuant to section 210(g) (3) or paragraph

1 The Civil Service Retirement Act has been codified to chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code.