---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 636"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "636"
heading: "Retirement for years of service: regular and Space Force officers in grades above brigadier general; regular Navy officers in grades above rear admiral (lower half)"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/636"
units:
  - "Subtitle A — General Military Law"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 36 — Promotion, Separation, and Involuntary Retirement of Officers on the Active-Duty List"
  - "Subchapter III — Failure of Selection for Promotion and Retirement for Years of Service"
---

# §636. Retirement for years of service: regular and Space Force officers in grades above brigadier general; regular Navy officers in grades above rear admiral (lower half)

- (a) **Major Generals and Rear Admirals Serving in Grade.—**
  - (1) Except as provided in subsection [(b)](#b) or [(c)](#c) and under section [637(b)](/usc/10/637.md?p=b) or [637a](/usc/10/637a.md) of this title, each [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) of the [Regular](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-12) Army, [Regular](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-12) Air Force, or [Regular](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-12) Marine Corps who holds the [regular](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-12) [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) of major general, and each [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) of the [Regular](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-12) Navy who holds the [regular](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-12) [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) of rear admiral, shall, if not earlier retired, be retired on the first day of the first month beginning after the date of the fifth anniversary of his appointment to that [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) or on the first day of the month after the month in which he completes 35 years of active commissioned service, whichever is later.
  - (2) Except as provided in subsection [(b)](#b) or [(c)](#c) and under section [637(b)](/usc/10/637.md?p=b) or [637a](/usc/10/637a.md) of this title, each [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) of the Space Force who holds the [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) of major general shall, if not earlier retired, be retired as specified in [paragraph (1)](#a-1).
- (b) **Lieutenant Generals and Vice Admirals.—** In the administration of [subsection (a)](#a) in the case of an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) who is serving in the [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) of lieutenant general or vice admiral, the number of years of active commissioned service applicable to the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) is 38 years.
- (c) **Generals and Admirals.—** In the administration of [subsection (a)](#a) in the case of an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) who is serving in the [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) of general or admiral, the number of years of active commissioned service applicable to the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) is 40 years.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 96–513, title I, § 105, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2863; amended Pub. L. 98–525, title XIV, § 1405(14), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2622; Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title V, § 506(a), (b), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1726; Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title V, § 505(b)(4), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2108; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title IX, § 924(b)(4)(G), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3822; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1722(b)(6)(D), (E)(iv), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 669, 670.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2023—Pub. L. 118–31, § 1722(b)(6)(E)(iv), substituted “and Space Force officers in grades above brigadier general; regular Navy officers in grades above” for “officers in grades above brigadier general and” in section catchline.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 118–31, § 1722(b)(6)(D), designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted “or Regular Marine Corps” for “Regular Marine Corps, or Regular Space Force”, and added par. (2).

2021—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “Regular Marine Corps, or Regular Space Force” for “or Regular Marine Corps”.

2016—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–328 inserted “or 637a” after “637(b)”.

1997—Pub. L. 105–85, § 506(b), substituted “regular officers in grades above brigadier general and rear admiral (lower half)” for “regular major generals and rear admirals” in section catchline.

Pub. L. 105–85, § 506(a), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, substituted “Except as provided in subsection (b) or (c) and” for “Except as provided”, and added subsecs. (b) and (c).

1984—Pub. L. 98–525 substituted “35” for “thirty-five”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section effective Sept. 15, 1981, but the authority to prescribe regulations under this section effective on Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701 of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as an Effective Date of 1980 Amendment note under section 101 of this title.