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Title 10 — Armed Forces

Part II · Chapter 841 — Voluntary Retirement

§ 8321. Officers: 40 years

Statutory text

(a)

Each officer of the Regular Navy or the Regular Marine Corps holding a permanent appointment in the grade of warrant officer, W–1, or above who applies for retirement after completing 40 or more years of active service shall be retired by the Secretary of the Navy.

(b)

For the purpose of this section, an officer’s years of active service are computed by adding all his active service in the armed forces.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 393, § 6321 · 70A Stat. 393

    Enacted · 10 U.S.C. § 8321

    Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 393, § 6321

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 393, § 6321

  2. John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

    Pub. L. 115–232 div. A title VIII § 807(b)(15) · 132 Stat. 1636

    Changed · 10 U.S.C. § 8321

    Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 6321 of this title as this section

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 6321 of this title as this section.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (15) Chapter 571.— Each section in chapter 571 10 USC 8321–8336. is redesignated so that the number of the section, as redesignated, is the number equal to the previous number plus 2,000.

    Effective date note
    Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

1 of 2 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 1 partial

Notes

historicalAndRevision
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large)
632134 U.S.C. 381.R.S. 1443; June 17, 1948, ch. 497, § 1(a), 62 Stat. 477.
 34 U.S.C. 879 (less applicability to enlisted men).June 4, 1920, ch. 228, § 3 (3d proviso, less applicability to enlisted men), 41 Stat. 835.
 34 U.S.C. 626–1(a) (1st sentence).Aug. 7, 1947, ch. 512, § 314(a) (1st sentence), 61 Stat. 863; May 5, 1954, ch. 180, § 205, 68 Stat. 68.

In subsection (a) the words “Regular” and “holding a permanent appointment in the grade of warrant officer, W–1, or above” are inserted for clarity. The word “shall” is substituted for the word “may” because the Attorney General has construed R.S. 1443 as conferring a right to retirement upon officers who apply for it after 40 years of service (30 Op. Atty. Gen. 406). The words “from active service” are omitted as surplusage. The words “after completing 40 or more years of active service” are substituted for the words “has been forty years in the service of the United States” for clarity.

In subsection (b) the accepted meaning of the words “service of the United States” is spelled out for clarity. They have been consistently interpreted to include active service in the armed forces as defined in this title.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 6321 of this title as this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective , with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Credits

1956–2018 · 2 acts
  1. 1956Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 393, § 6321
  2. 2018renumbered § 8321, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(b)(15), , 132 Stat. 1836.
Show as published

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 393, § 6321; renumbered § 8321, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(b)(15), , 132 Stat. 1836.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc10.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-04-17

USLM identifier /us/usc/t10/s8321