Talk:Tombstone promotion/Legislative history

Legislative history

The following list of Congressional legislation pertains to tombstone promotions in the United States armed services. Each entry lists an act of Congress, its citation in the United States Statutes at Large, and a summary of the act's relevance.

Legislation	Citation	Summary
Act of March 3, 1871	16 Stat. 537	Authorized Navy officers of the Medical, Pay, and Engineer Corps, chaplains, professors of mathematics, and constructors, with 45 years of service, or 40 years of service and 62 years of age, to retire with the relative rank but not the pay of commodore.
Act of October 1, 1890	26 Stat. 562	Authorized Army officers below the grade of major, who fail a physical examination for promotion to a higher grade due to physical disability contracted in the line of duty, to retire in the higher grade.
Act of March 3, 1899	30 Stat. 1006	Authorized Navy line officers in the grades of captain, commander, and lieutenant commander to apply for voluntary retirement, or be selected by a board for involuntary retirement, with the rank and three-fourths the sea pay of the next higher grade (commodore in the case of a captain). Authorized any Navy officer with a creditable record, who served in the Civil War, to retire with the rank and three-fourths the sea pay of the next higher grade (rear admiral in the case of a captain).
Act of April 23, 1904	33 Stat. 264	Authorized Army officers below the grade of brigadier general, who served in the Civil War and retired for disability, age, or after 40 years of service, to retire with the rank and retired pay of the next higher grade.
Act of June 12, 1906	34 Stat. 245	Prohibited Army officers above the rank of colonel from being retired before serving at least one year in that rank, except for disability or age.
Act of June 29, 1906	34 Stat. 554	Authorized Navy and Marine Corps officers below the grades of rear admiral and brigadier general, who served in the Civil War and retired for disability, age, or after 40 years of service, to retire with the rank and retired pay of the next higher grade.
Act of March 2, 1907	34 Stat. 1163	Authorized Army brigadier generals who have held that rank for three years or more, and who served in the Civil War, to retire with the rank and retired pay of major general.
Act of April 16, 1908	35 Stat. 62	Authorized any Revenue-Cutter Service officer with a creditable record, who served in the Civil War in the land or naval forces of the United States, to retire with the rank and three-fourths the duty pay of the next higher grade.
Act of May 13, 1908	35 Stat. 128	Provided all Navy officers then on the retired list with the retired pay corresponding to their rank.
Act of August 22, 1912	37 Stat. 328	Reduced rank and retired pay of Navy officers who subsequently applied for voluntary retirement, or were selected by a board for involuntary retirement, to the rank and three-fourths the sea pay of the grade from which retired, instead of the next higher grade.
Act of March 4, 1915	38 Stat. 1191	Authorized Army and Navy officers who served more than three years in Panama with the Isthmian Canal Commission to be advanced one grade in rank upon retirement.
Act of August 29, 1916	39 Stat. 611	Authorized Marine Corps colonels with 45 years on the active list, or 40 years on the active list and 64 years of age, to retire with the rank of brigadier general.
Act of May 22, 1917	40 Stat. 87	Repealed authorization for Marine Corps colonels with 45 years on the active list, or 40 years on the active list and 64 years of age, to retire with the rank of brigadier general.
Act of January 12, 1923	42 Stat. 1131	Authorized Coast Guard officers with 40 years of service to retire with the rank and retired pay of the next higher grade (commodore in the case of a captain).
Act of March 4, 1925	43 Stat. 1271  43 Stat. 1279	Restricted promotions to commodore at retirement to Navy officers already holding the rank of captain. Authorized Navy and Marine Corps officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat during World War I, and who retired because of ineligibility for promotion due to age, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement. Authorized Navy captain Douglas E. Dismukes to be placed on the retired list with the rank and retired pay of a rear admiral.
Act of June 10, 1926	44 Stat. 724	Restricted promotions to commodore at retirement to Navy officers of the Corps of Professors of Mathematics.
Act of March 3, 1927	44 Stat. 1354	Authorized Navy captain Reginald R. Belknap to be placed on the retired list with the rank but not the retired pay of a rear admiral.
Act of March 3, 1931	46 Stat. 1485	Authorized Navy and Marine Corps officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat during World War I, and who retire because of ineligibility for promotion due to excessive time in grade, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of July 31, 1935	49 Stat. 507	Authorized Regular Army and Philippine Scout officers below the grade of major, who served as commissioned officers in the Army of the United States before November 12, 1918, and have 15 to 29 years of service, to retire in the grade of major.
Act of January 16, 1936	49 Stat. 1092	Authorized Navy and Marine Corps officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat during World War I, and who retired or would retire for physical disability, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of June 9, 1937	50 Stat. 252	Authorized Coast Guard captains with 40 years of service to retire with the rank and retired pay of a rear admiral (lower half) instead of commodore. Changed rank of all Coast Guard commodores on the retired list to rear admiral (lower half).
Act of June 23, 1938	52 Stat. 950  52 Stat. 951	Authorized Navy lieutenants with at least 21 years of service, who served in the Navy or Naval Reserve Force before November 12, 1918, and who retire because of nonselection for promotion to lieutenant commander, to retire in the grade of lieutenant commander. Authorized Navy line officers and Marine Corps officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of June 25, 1938	52 Stat. 1183	Authorized Naval and Marine Corps Reservists who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to be advanced to the next higher grade when placed on the honorary retired list, with no pay unless they were on active duty for ten of the eleven years preceding retirement, in which case they received 50 percent of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of June 13, 1940	54 Stat. 381	Authorized Army promotion-list officers with at least 28 years of service, who fail to reach the grade of colonel due to lack of vacancies in that grade or restrictions on years of service in the grades of major or lieutenant colonel, to retire in the grade of colonel. Authorized Army promotion-list officers with 23 to 28 years of service, who fail to reach the grade of lieutenant colonel due to restrictions on years of service in the grade of major, to retire in the grade of lieutenant colonel.
Act of October 14, 1940	54 Stat. 1175	Authorized Navy lieutenants with at least 21 years of service, who served in the Navy or Naval Reserve Force before November 12, 1918, and who retire for any reason, to retire in the grade of lieutenant commander.
Act of February 23, 1942	56 Stat. 120	Authorized Navy and Marine Corps officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, and who retired before June 23, 1938, to be advanced on the retired list to the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement. Authorized Navy staff officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, and who retired on or after June 23, 1938, to be advanced on the retired list to the rank but not the pay of the next higher grade.
Act of June 6, 1942	56 Stat. 328	Authorized Coast Guard and Coast and Geodetic Survey officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of February 21, 1946	60 Stat. 28	Authorized Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers to be placed on the retired list with the rank and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the highest temporary grade in which they served satisfactorily on or before June 30, 1946.
Act of August 7, 1947 [Officer Personnel Act of 1947]	61 Stat. 874  61 Stat. 875  61 Stat. 882  61 Stat. 912  61 Stat. 913	Authorized Navy and Marine Corps officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat on or before December 31, 1946, to be placed on the retired list with (or advanced on the retired list to) the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement. Repealed authorization for Navy lieutenants with at least 21 years of service, who served in the Navy or Naval Reserve Force before November 12, 1918, to retire in the grade of lieutenant commander. Repealed authorization for Naval and Marine Corps Reservists who were specially commended for performance in duty in actual combat, to be advanced to the next higher grade when placed on the honorary retired list, if the duty was performed after December 31, 1946. Repealed promotions to commodore at retirement for Navy officers of the Corps of Professors of Mathematics. Authorized permanent professors of the U.S. Military Academy with long and distinguished service as such, to be retired in the grade of brigadier general, but with no increase in pay. Authorized Army officers in the grade of lieutenant colonel with at least 28 years of active federal commissioned service, who served in any capacity as a member of the military or naval forces of the United States before November 12, 1918, and retired after January 1, 1946, to retire in the grade of colonel.
Act of August 4, 1949	63 Stat. 516  63 Stat. 519  63 Stat. 561	Reauthorized Coast Guard officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement, unless the duty was performed after December 31, 1946. Authorized Coast Guard warrant officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to be placed on the retired list with the grade of commissioned warrant officer and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of a warrant officer, unless the duty was performed after December 31, 1946. Repealed authorization for Coast Guard officers with 40 years of service to retire with the rank and retired pay of the next higher grade, effective November 1, 1949.
Act of October 12, 1949 [Career Compensation Act of 1949]	63 Stat. 818  63 Stat. 835  63 Stat. 836	Authorized any member of the uniformed services who retired for disability discovered by a physical examination in connection to a permanent promotion or a temporary promotion whose eligibility was based on cumulative years of service or years of service in grade, to retire with the grade to which they would have been promoted if not retired. Repealed authorization for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast and Geodetic Survey officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement. Repealed authorization for Coast and Geodetic Survey officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with the rank of the next higher grade, if the duty was performed after December 31, 1946.
Act of August 3, 1950	64 Stat. 406  64 Stat. 407	Repealed authorization for Coast Guard officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement. Repealed authorization for Coast Guard warrant officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with three-fourths of the active-duty pay of a warrant officer.
Act of May 20, 1958	72 Stat. 129	Authorized Navy and Marine Corps officers who were advanced on the retired list to grades higher than captain or colonel, having been specially commended for performance of duty in active combat, to recompute their retired pay using their grade on the retired list if they are recalled to active duty for at least two years of continuous service in that grade.
Act of August 11, 1959	73 Stat. 337  73 Stat. 338	Repealed authorization for Navy and Marine Corps officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with the rank of the next higher grade, effective November 1, 1959. Repealed authorization for Coast Guard officers and warrant officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with the rank of the next higher grade, effective November 1, 1959.
Act of May 13, 1960	74 Stat. 130	Repealed authorization for Coast and Geodetic Survey officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with the rank of the next higher grade, effective November 1, 1959.
Act of December 8, 1967 [JAG Corps Act of 1967]	81 Stat. 548	Authorized Navy officers below the grade of rear admiral (lower half), who served as Assistant Judge Advocate General of the Navy for at least one year, to retire with the rank, grade, and retired pay of a rear admiral (lower half). Authorized Marine Corps officers below the grade of brigadier general, who served as Assistant Judge Advocate General of the Navy for at least one year, to retire with the rank, grade, and retired pay of a brigadier general.
Act of December 23, 2016 [National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017]	130 Stat. 2105	Repealed authorization for Assistant Judge Advocates General of the Navy to hold the grades of rear admiral (lower half) or brigadier general while so serving, and to retire with the retired pay of those grades.