Original appointment of permanent commissioned officers
The President may appoint permanent commissioned officers in the Regular Coast Guard in grades appropriate to their qualification, experience, and length of service, as the needs of the Coast Guard may require, from among the following categories:
Graduates of the Coast Guard Academy.
Commissioned warrant officers, warrant officers, and enlisted members of the Regular Coast Guard.
Members of the Coast Guard Reserve who have served at least 2 years as such.
Licensed officers of the United States merchant marine who have served 2 or more years aboard a vessel of the United States in the capacity of a licensed officer.
Original appointments under this section in the grades of lieutenant commander and above shall be made by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Original appointments under this section in the grades of ensign through lieutenant shall be made by the President alone.
No person shall be appointed a commissioned officer under this section until his mental, moral, physical, and professional fitness to perform the duties of a commissioned officer has been established under such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe.
Appointees under this section shall take precedence in the grade to which appointed in accordance with the dates of their commissions as commissioned officers in such grade. Appointees whose dates of commission are the same shall take precedence with each other as the Secretary shall determine.
For the purposes of this section, the term “original”, with respect to the appointment of a member of the Coast Guard, refers to that member’s most recent appointment in the Coast Guard that is neither a promotion nor a demotion.
Source
(Added Pub. L. 88–130, § 1(10)(C),Notes
Amendments
Savings Provision
Officers in each grade who have been recommended as qualified for temporary promotion under laws and regulations in effect the day before the effective date of this Act [
Officers who have been recommended for promotion to the grade of rear admiral under laws and regulations in effect the day before the effective date of this Act but have not been promoted to that grade shall be promoted as if they had been so recommended in the approved report of a selection board convened under this Act.
The enactment of this Act does not terminate the appointment of any officer.
An officer of the Regular Coast Guard who on the day before the effective date of this Act had been promoted to and was serving on active duty in a temporary grade higher than his permanent grade shall be considered to have been promoted to that grade under section 271 of title 14, United States Code.
An officer of the Regular Coast Guard who was appointed as a temporary commissioned officer under any provision of law in effect prior to the effective date of this Act and who is serving on active duty shall be considered to have been appointed under section 214 of title 14, United States Code, and subject to the provisions thereof. An officer of the Regular Coast Guard who was appointed as a permanent commissioned officer under any provision of law in effect prior to the effective date of this Act [
Each officer who would have been required to retire on
The enactment of this Act does not increase or decrease the retired pay of any person retired on or prior to the effective date of this Act.
Notwithstanding section 1431 of title 10, United States Code, an original election, change, or revocation of an election, made under that section by an officer who is retired under the provisions of section 282, 283, 284, 285, or 288 of title 14, United States Code, is effective if made prior to the first day of the third month following the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1963].”