10 USC § 625 - Authority to vacate promotions to grades of brigadier general and rear admiral (lower half)

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t10/s625"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "10 USC § 625 - Authority to vacate promotions to grades of brigadier general and rear admiral (lower half)"
title_number: 10
title_name: "ARMED FORCES"
section_number: "625"
section_name: "Authority to vacate promotions to grades of brigadier general and rear admiral (lower half)"
chapter_number: 36
chapter_name: "PROMOTION, SEPARATION, AND INVOLUNTARY RETIREMENT OF OFFICERS ON THE ACTIVE-DUTY LIST"
subchapter_number: "II"
subchapter_name: "PROMOTIONS"
part_number: "II"
part_name: "PERSONNEL"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Added Pub. L. 96–513, title I, § 105, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2858; amended Pub. L. 97–86, title IV, § 405(b)(1), (4)(A), Dec. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 1105; Pub. L. 99–145, title V, § 514(b)(1), (4)(A), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 628; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title IX, § 924(b)(3)(H), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3821; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1722(b)(4), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 668.)"
---


# § 625. Authority to vacate promotions to grades of brigadier general and rear admiral (lower half)

**(a)** The President may vacate the promotion to the grade of brigadier general or rear admiral (lower half) of an officer who has served less than 18 months in that grade after promotion to that grade under this chapter.

**(b)** An officer of the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps whose promotion is vacated under this section holds the regular grade of colonel, if he is a regular officer, or the reserve grade of colonel, if he is a reserve officer. An officer of the Navy whose promotion is vacated under this section holds the regular grade of captain, if he is a regular officer, or the reserve grade of captain, if he is a reserve officer.

**(c)** The position on the active-duty list of an officer whose promotion is vacated under this section is the position he would have held had he not been promoted to the grade of brigadier general or rear admiral (lower half).

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**Source Credit**: (Added Pub. L. 96–513, title I, § 105, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2858; amended Pub. L. 97–86, title IV, § 405(b)(1), (4)(A), Dec. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 1105; Pub. L. 99–145, title V, § 514(b)(1), (4)(A), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 628; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title IX, § 924(b)(3)(H), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3821; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1722(b)(4), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 668.)

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2023—Subsec. (b).  substituted “or Marine Corps” for “Marine Corps, or Space Force”.

2021—Subsec. (b).  substituted “Marine Corps, or Space Force” for “or Marine Corps”.

1985— substituted “rear admiral (lower half)” for “commodore” in section catchline and subsecs. (a) and (c).

1981— substituted “commodore” for “commodore admiral” in section catchline and subsecs. (a) and (c).

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1981 Amendment

Amendment by  effective , see , set out as a note under .

### Effective Date

Section effective , but the authority to prescribe regulations under this section effective on , see , set out as an Effective Date of 1980 Amendment note under .