10 USC § 716 - Commissioned officers: transfers among the armed forces, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health Service

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t10/s716"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "10 USC § 716 - Commissioned officers: transfers among the armed forces, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health Service"
title_number: 10
title_name: "ARMED FORCES"
section_number: "716"
section_name: "Commissioned officers: transfers among the armed forces, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health Service"
chapter_number: 41
chapter_name: "SPECIAL APPOINTMENTS, ASSIGNMENTS, DETAILS, AND DUTIES"
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. 85–599, § 11(2), Aug. 6, 1958, 72 Stat. 521; amended Pub. L. 91–392, § 1, Sept. 1, 1970, 84 Stat. 834; Pub. L. 96–215, § 2(a), Mar. 25, 1980, 94 Stat. 123; Pub. L. 97–295, § 1(10), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1289; Pub. L. 98–94, title X, § 1007(a)(1), Sept. 24, 1983, 97 Stat. 661; Pub. L. 99–348, title III, § 304(a)(1), July 1, 1986, 100 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314.)"
---


# § 716. Commissioned officers: transfers among the armed forces, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health Service

**(a)** Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President, within authorized strengths and with the consent of the officer involved, may transfer any commissioned officer of a uniformed service from his uniformed service to, and appoint him in, another uniformed service. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall jointly establish, by regulations approved by the President, policies and procedures for such transfers and appointments.

**(b)** An officer transferred under this section may not be assigned precedence or relative rank higher than that which he held on the day before the transfer.

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**Source Credit**: (Added Pub. L. 85–599, § 11(2), Aug. 6, 1958, 72 Stat. 521; amended Pub. L. 91–392, § 1, Sept. 1, 1970, 84 Stat. 834; Pub. L. 96–215, § 2(a), Mar. 25, 1980, 94 Stat. 123; Pub. L. 97–295, § 1(10), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1289; Pub. L. 98–94, title X, § 1007(a)(1), Sept. 24, 1983, 97 Stat. 661; Pub. L. 99–348, title III, § 304(a)(1), July 1, 1986, 100 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314.)

## Editorial Notes

### Codification

Another section 716 was renumbered .

### Amendments

2002—Subsec. (a).  substituted “of Homeland Security” for “of Transportation”.

1986—Subsec. (c).  struck out subsec. (c) which defined “uniformed service” for purposes of this section. See .

1983— amended section generally, substituting “transfers among the armed forces, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health Service” for “transfers between armed forces and to and from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration” in section catchline and adding subsec. (c). Prior to amendment subsecs. (a) and (b) read as follows:

“(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may, within authorized strengths, transfer any commissioned officer with his consent from his armed force or from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to, and appoint him in, another armed force or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, and the Secretary of Commerce shall jointly establish, by regulations approved by the President, policies and procedures for such transfers and appointments.

“(b) An officer transferred under this section—

“(1) may not be assigned precedence or relative rank higher than that which he held on the day before his transfer; and

“(2) shall be credited for retirement and pay purposes with the same years of service with which he has been credited on the day before his transfer.”

1982—Subsec. (a).  struck out the comma after “policies”.

1980— inserted “and to and from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration” in section catchline, divided existing unlettered provisions into subsecs. (a) and (b)(1), inserted references to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and to Secretary of Commerce in subsec. (a) as so redesignated, and added subsec. (b)(2).

1970— substituted “armed forces” for “Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps” in section catchline and “his armed force”, “another armed force”, “An officer transferred under this section may not be assigned”, and “before his transfer” for “the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps”, “any other of those armed forces”, “No officer transferred pursuant to this authority shall be assigned”, and “prior to such transfer” in text, respectively, and authorized interservice transfers of officers of the Coast Guard.

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2002 Amendment

Amendment by  effective on the date of transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, see , set out as a note under .

## Executive Documents

### Delegation of Functions

Functions of President under subsec. (a) of this section delegated to Secretary of Commerce by section 1(m) of Ex. Ord. No. 11023, , 27 F.R. 5131, as amended, set out as a note under , The President.