---
kind: "section"
citation: "33 U.S.C. § 3028"
title: "33"
title_heading: "Navigation and Navigable Waters"
number: "3028"
heading: "Positions of importance and responsibility"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/33/3028"
units:
  - "Chapter 43 — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps"
  - "Subchapter II — Appointment and Promotion of Officers"
---

# §3028. Positions of importance and responsibility

- (a) **Designation of positions—** The [Secretary](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-6) may designate positions in the [Administration](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-7) as being positions of importance and responsibility for which it is appropriate that [officers](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) of the [Administration](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-7), if serving in those positions, serve in the [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) of vice admiral, rear admiral, or rear admiral (lower half), as designated by the [Secretary](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-6) for each position.
- (b) **Assignment of officers to designated positions—** The [Secretary](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-6) may assign [officers](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) to positions designated under [subsection (a)](#a).
- (c) **Director of NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and Assistant Administrator for Marine and Aviation Operations—** The President shall designate one position as responsible for oversight of the vessel and aircraft fleets and for the [administration](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-7) of the commissioned [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) corps. The President shall fill that position by appointing, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) on the lineal list who has served, on the date of such appointment, in the [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) of captain or above for not less than one year. For the specific purpose of administering the commissioned [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) corps, that position shall carry the title of Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric [Administration](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-7) Commissioned [Officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) Corps. For the specific purpose of administering the vessel and aircraft fleets, that position shall carry the title of Assistant Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric [Administration](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-7) for Marine and Aviation Operations.
- (d) **Grade—**
  - (1) **Temporary appointment to grade designated for position—** An [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) assigned to a position under this section while so serving has the [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) designated for that position, if appointed to that [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) by the President.
  - (2) **Reversion to permanent grade—** An [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) who has served in a [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) above captain, upon termination of the [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3)’s assignment to the position for which that appointment was made, shall, unless appointed or assigned to another position for which a higher [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) is designated or immediately beginning a period of terminal leave, revert to the [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) and number the [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) would have occupied but for serving in a [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) above that of captain. In such a case, the [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) shall be an extra number in that [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2).
- (e) **Limit on number of officers appointed—** The total number of [officers](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) serving on [active duty](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-1) at any one time in the [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) of rear admiral (lower half) or above may not exceed five, with only one serving in the [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) of vice admiral.
- (f) **Pay and allowances—** An [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) appointed to a [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) under this section, while serving in that [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) or in a period of annual leave used at the end of the appointment, shall have the pay and allowances of the [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) to which appointed.
- (g) **Effect of appointment—** An appointment of an [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3) under this section—
  - (1) does not vacate the permanent [grade](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-2) held by the [officer](/usc/33/3002.md?p=b-3); and
  - (2) creates a vacancy on the active list.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 107–372, title II, § 228, Dec. 19, 2002, 116 Stat. 3086; Pub. L. 112–166, § 2(gg)(2), Aug. 10, 2012, 126 Stat. 1290; Pub. L. 116–259, title III, § 303, Dec. 23, 2020, 134 Stat. 1171; Pub. L. 119–60, div. H, title LXXXIV, § 8401(a)(1), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1907.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 853u of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 107–372.

### Amendments

2025—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 119–60 substituted “Commissioned Officer Corps and Assistant Administrator for” for “Corps and Office of” in heading, “who has served, on the date of such appointment, in the grade of captain or above for not less than one year” for “serving in or above the grade of rear admiral (lower half)” in second sentence, and “Assistant Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for” for “Director of the Office of” in fourth sentence.

2020—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–259, § 303(1), substituted “The President shall designate one position” for “The Secretary shall designate one position under this section” in first sentence, and “The President shall fill that position by appointing, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,” for “That position shall be filled by” in second sentence.

Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 116–259, § 303(2), inserted “or immediately beginning a period of terminal leave” after “for which a higher grade is designated”.

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–259, § 303(3), amended subsec. (e) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows:

“(1) Overall limit.—The total number of officers serving on active duty at any one time in the grade of rear admiral (lower half) or above may not exceed four.

“(2) Limit by grade.—The number of officers serving on active duty under appointments under this section may not exceed—

“(A) one in the grade of vice admiral;

“(B) two in the grade of rear admiral; and

“(C) two in the grade of rear admiral (lower half).”

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 116–259, § 303(4), inserted “or in a period of annual leave used at the end of the appointment” after “serving in that grade”.

2012—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 112–166 struck out “, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate” before period at end.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2012 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 112–166 effective 60 days after Aug. 10, 2012, and applicable to appointments made on and after that effective date, including any nomination pending in the Senate on that date, see section 6(a) of Pub. L. 112–166, set out as a note under section 113 of Title 6, Domestic Security.

### Appointment of Commissioned Officers

Pub. L. 98–498, title III, § 320(c)(2), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2309, provided that: “After the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 19, 1984], no appointment of a commissioned officer may be made under section 2(d) or 2(f) of Reorganization Plan Numbered 4 of 1970 (84 Stat. 2090, 5 U.S.C. App.).”