§ 601.
Positions of importance and responsibility: generals and lieutenant generals; admirals and vice admirals
(a)
The President may designate positions of importance and responsibility to carry the grade of general or admiral or lieutenant general or vice admiral. The President may assign to any such position an officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force who is serving on active duty in any grade above colonel or, in the case of an officer of the Navy, any grade above captain. An officer assigned to any such position has the grade specified for that position if he is appointed to that grade by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Except as provided in subsection (b), the appointment of an officer to a grade under this section for service in a position of importance and responsibility ends on the date of the termination of the assignment of the officer to that position.
(b)
An officer who is appointed to the grade of general, admiral, lieutenant general, or vice admiral for service in a position designated under subsection (a) or by law to carry that grade shall continue to hold that grade—
(1)
while serving in that position;
(2)
while under orders transferring him to another position designated under subsection (a) or by law to carry one of those grades, beginning on the day his assignment to the first position is terminated and ending on the day before the day on which he assumes the second position;
(3)
while hospitalized, beginning on the day of the hospitalization and ending on the day he is discharged from the hospital, but not for more than 180 days;
(4)
at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, while the officer is awaiting orders after being relieved from the position designated under subsection (a) or by law to carry one of those grades, but not for more than 60 days beginning on the day the officer is relieved from the position, unless, during such period, the officer is placed under orders to another position designated under subsection (a) or by law to carry one of those grades, in which case paragraph (2) will also apply to the officer; and
(5)
while awaiting retirement, beginning on the day he is relieved from the position designated under subsection (a) or by law to carry one of those grades and ending on the day before his retirement, but—
(A)
subject to subparagraph (B), not for more than 60 days; and
(B)
with respect to an officer awaiting retirement following not less than one year of consecutive deployment outside of the United States to a combat zone (as defined in section 112(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) or in support of a contingency operation, not for more than 90 days.
(e)
Prior to making a recommendation to the Secretary of Defense for the nomination of an officer for appointment to a position of importance and responsibility under this section, which appointment would result in the initial appointment of the officer concerned in the grade of lieutenant general or general in the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force or vice admiral or admiral in the Navy, the Secretary concerned shall consider all officers determined to be among the best qualified for such position.
(Added [Pub. L. 96–513, title I, § 105], Dec. 12, 1980, [94 Stat. 2849]; amended [Pub. L. 97–86, title IV, § 405(b)(1)], Dec. 1, 1981, [95 Stat. 1105]; [Pub. L. 98–525, title V, § 523], Oct. 19, 1984, [98 Stat. 2523]; [Pub. L. 99–145, title V, § 514(b)(1)], Nov. 8, 1985, [99 Stat. 628]; [Pub. L. 99–433, title IV, § 403], Oct. 1, 1986, [100 Stat. 1031]; [Pub. L. 102–190, div. A, title V, § 502(a)], Dec. 5, 1991, [105 Stat. 1354]; [Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title IV, § 403(c)], Feb. 10, 1996, [110 Stat. 287]; [Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title V, § 501(a)], Jan. 28, 2008, [122 Stat. 94]; [Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title V, § 551(b)(1)], title IX, § 924(b)(3)(C), Jan. 1, 2021, [134 Stat. 3630], 3821; [Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title V, § 505], Dec. 23, 2022, [136 Stat. 2558]; [Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1741(a)(4)], Dec. 22, 2023, [137 Stat. 679].)