10 USC § 8166 - Precedence accorded commanding officers

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t10/s8166"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "10 USC § 8166 - Precedence accorded commanding officers"
title_number: 10
title_name: "ARMED FORCES"
section_number: "8166"
section_name: "Precedence accorded commanding officers"
chapter_number: 821
chapter_name: "OFFICERS IN COMMAND"
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: "(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 372, § 5946; renumbered § 8166, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(b)(5), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1834.)"
---


# § 8166. Precedence accorded commanding officers

The commanding officer of a vessel or of a naval station takes precedence over all officers under his command.

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**Source Credit**: (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 372, § 5946; renumbered § 8166, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(b)(5), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1834.)

| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 5946 | 34 U.S.C. 246. | R.S. 1468. |

The word “placed” is omitted as surplusage. The words “of war” are omitted to avoid an erroneous implication that the section does not apply to the commanding officers of noncombatant ships of the Navy. As of the date of enactment of R.S. 1468, all vessels of the Navy were “vessels of war”; the elimination of the words, therefore, preserves the purpose of the statute.

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018— renumbered  as this section.

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by  effective , with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see , set out as a note preceding .