10 USC § 12204 - Commissioned officers: original appointment; limitation

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t10/s12204"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "10 USC § 12204 - Commissioned officers: original appointment; limitation"
title_number: 10
title_name: "ARMED FORCES"
section_number: "12204"
section_name: "Commissioned officers: original appointment; limitation"
chapter_number: 1205
chapter_name: "APPOINTMENT OF RESERVE OFFICERS"
part_number: "II"
part_name: "PERSONNEL GENERALLY"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 25, § 594; Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XII, § 1234(a)(1), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2059; renumbered § 12204, Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1662(c)(2), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2990; Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title X, § 1057(a)(2), Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3440.)"
---


# § 12204. Commissioned officers: original appointment; limitation

**(a)** No person may be appointed as a Reserve in a commissioned grade above major or lieutenant commander, unless—

**(1)** he was formerly a commissioned officer of an armed force; or

**(2)** such an appointment is recommended by a board of officers convened by the Secretary concerned.

**(b)** This section does not apply to adjutants general and assistant adjutants general of the several States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.

---

**Source Credit**: (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 25, § 594; Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XII, § 1234(a)(1), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2059; renumbered § 12204, Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1662(c)(2), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2990; Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title X, § 1057(a)(2), Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3440.)

| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 594(a) | 50:941(c) (less 1st 21 words). | July 9, 1952, ch. 608 § 217(c), 66 Stat. 487. |
| 594(b) | 50:941(c) (1st 21 words). |  |

In subsection (a), the words “unless * * * he was formerly” are substituted for the words “has not held an appointment as”. The words “or any component thereof” are omitted as surplusage.

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2006—Subsec. (b).  struck out “and Territories” after “States”.

1994— renumbered  as this section.

1988—Subsec. (b).  struck out “the Canal Zone,” after “Puerto Rico,”.