---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 9343"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "9343"
heading: "Highest grade held satisfactorily: Reserve enlisted members reduced in grade not as a result of the member’s misconduct"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/9343"
units:
  - "Subtitle D — Air Force and Space Force"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 943 — Retired Grade"
---

# §9343. Highest grade held satisfactorily: Reserve enlisted members reduced in grade not as a result of the member’s misconduct

- (a) A [Reserve](/usc/10/101.md?p=c-6) [enlisted member](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-6) of the Air Force described in [subsection (b)](#b) who is retired under [section 9314 of this title](/usc/10/9314.md) shall be retired in the highest enlisted [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) in which the member served on [active duty](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-1) satisfactorily (or, in the case of a member of the [National Guard](/usc/10/101.md?p=c-1), in which the member served on [full-time National Guard duty](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-5) satisfactorily), as determined by the [Secretary](/usc/10/9511.md?p=10) of the Air Force.
- (b) This section applies to a [Reserve](/usc/10/101.md?p=c-6) [enlisted member](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-6) who—
  - (1) at the time of retirement is serving on [active duty](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-1) (or, in the case of a member of the [National Guard](/usc/10/101.md?p=c-1), on [full-time National Guard duty](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-5)) in a [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) lower than the highest enlisted [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) held by the member while on [active duty](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-1) (or [full-time National Guard duty](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-5)); and
  - (2) was previously administratively reduced in [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) not as a result of the member’s own misconduct, as determined by the [Secretary](/usc/10/9511.md?p=10) of the Air Force.
- (c) This section applies with respect to [Reserve](/usc/10/101.md?p=c-6) [enlisted members](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-6) who are retired under [section 9314 of this title](/usc/10/9314.md) after September 30, 1996.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title V, § 532(c)(1), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2519, § 8963; renumbered § 9343 and amended Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, §§ 806(b)(14), 809(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1833, 1840.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 9343 was renumbered section 9443 of this title.

### Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232, § 806(b)(14), renumbered section 8963 of this title as this section.

Subsecs. (a), (c). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 9314” for “section 8914”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

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.