Collapse to view only § 10144. Ready Reserve: Individual Ready Reserve

§ 10141. Ready Reserve; Standby Reserve; Retired Reserve: placement and status of members; training categories
(a) There are in each armed force a Ready Reserve, a Standby Reserve, and a Retired Reserve. Each Reserve shall be placed in one of those categories.
(b) Reserves who are on the inactive status list of a reserve component, or who are assigned to the inactive Army National Guard or the inactive Air National Guard, are in an inactive status. Members in the Retired Reserve are in a retired status. All other Reserves are in an active status.
(c) As prescribed by the Secretary concerned, each reserve component except the Army National Guard of the United States and the Air National Guard of the United States shall be divided into training categories according to the degrees of training, including the number and duration of drills or equivalent duties to be completed in stated periods. The designation of training categories shall be the same for all armed forces and the same within the Ready Reserve and the Standby Reserve.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2972.)
§ 10142. Ready Reserve
(a) The Ready Reserve consists of units or Reserves, or both, liable for active duty as provided in sections 12301 and 12302 of this title.
(b) The authorized strength of the Ready Reserve is 2,900,000.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2972.)
§ 10143. Ready Reserve: Selected Reserve
(a) Within the Ready Reserve of each of the reserve components there is a Selected Reserve. The Selected Reserve consists of units, and, as designated by the Secretary concerned, of Reserves, trained as prescribed in section 10147(a)(1) of this title or section 502(a) of title 32, as appropriate.
(b) The organization and unit structure of the Selected Reserve shall be approved—
(1) in the case of all reserve components other than the Coast Guard Reserve, by the Secretary of Defense based upon recommendations from the military departments as approved by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in accordance with contingency and war plans; and
(2) in the case of the Coast Guard Reserve, by the Secretary of Homeland Security upon the recommendation of the Commandant of the Coast Guard.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2972; amended Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314.)
§ 10144. Ready Reserve: Individual Ready Reserve
(a) Within the Ready Reserve of each of the reserve components there is an Individual Ready Reserve. The Individual Ready Reserve consists of those members of the Ready Reserve who are not in the Selected Reserve or the inactive National Guard.
(b)
(1) Within the Individual Ready Reserve of each reserve component there is a category of members, as designated by the Secretary concerned, who are subject to being ordered to active duty involuntarily in accordance with section 12304 of this title. A member may not be placed in that mobilization category unless—
(A) the member volunteers for that category; and
(B) the member is selected for that category by the Secretary concerned, based upon the needs of the service and the grade and military skills of that member.
(2) A member of the Individual Ready Reserve may not be carried in such mobilization category of members after the end of the 24-month period beginning on the date of the separation of the member from active service.
(3) The Secretary shall designate the grades and military skills or specialities of members to be eligible for placement in such mobilization category.
(4) A member in such mobilization category shall be eligible for benefits (other than pay and training) as are normally available to members of the Selected Reserve, as determined by the Secretary of Defense.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2973; amended Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title V, § 511(a), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1728.)
§ 10145. Ready Reserve: placement in
(a) Each person required under law to serve in a reserve component shall, upon becoming a member, be placed in the Ready Reserve of his armed force for his prescribed term of service, unless he is transferred to the Standby Reserve under section 10146(a) of this title.
(b) The units and members of the Army National Guard of the United States and of the Air National Guard of the United States are in the Ready Reserve of the Army and the Ready Reserve of the Air Force, respectively.
(c) All Reserves assigned to units organized to serve as units and designated as units in the Ready Reserve are in the Ready Reserve.
(d) Under such regulations as the Secretary concerned may prescribe, any qualified member of a reserve component or any qualified retired enlisted member of a regular component may, upon his request, be placed in the Ready Reserve. However, a member of the Retired Reserve entitled to retired pay or a retired enlisted member of a regular component may not be placed in the Ready Reserve unless the Secretary concerned makes a special finding that the member’s services in the Ready Reserve are indispensable. The authority of the Secretary concerned under the preceding sentence may not be delegated—
(1) to a civilian officer or employee of the military department concerned below the level of Assistant Secretary; or
(2) to a member of the armed forces below the level of the lieutenant general or vice admiral in an armed force with responsibility for military personnel policy in that armed force.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2973; amended Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title V, § 513, Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1460.)
§ 10146. Ready Reserve: transfer from
(a) Subject to subsection (c) and under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, or by the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, a member in the Ready Reserve may be transferred to the Standby Reserve.
(b) A Reserve who is qualified and so requests may be transferred to the Retired Reserve under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned and, in the case of the Secretary of a military department, approved by the Secretary of Defense.
(c) A member of the Army National Guard of the United States or the Air National Guard of the United States may be transferred to the Standby Reserve only with the consent of the governor or other appropriate authority of the State.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2973; amended Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314.)
§ 10147. Ready Reserve: training requirements
(a) Except as specifically provided in regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, or by the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, each person who is enlisted, inducted, or appointed in an armed force, and who becomes a member of the Ready Reserve under any provision of law except section 513 or 10145(b) of this title, shall be required, while in the Ready Reserve, to—
(1) participate in at least 48 scheduled drills or training periods during each year and serve on active duty for training of not less than 14 days (exclusive of traveltime) during each year; or
(2) serve on active duty for training not more than 30 days during each year.
(b) A member who has served on active duty for one year or longer may not be required to perform a period of active duty for training if the first day of that period falls during the last 120 days of the member’s required membership in the Ready Reserve.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2973; amended Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314.)
§ 10148. Ready Reserve: failure to satisfactorily perform prescribed training
(a) A member of the Ready Reserve covered by section 10147 of this title who fails in any year to perform satisfactorily the training duty prescribed in that section, as determined by the Secretary concerned under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, may be ordered without his consent to perform additional active duty for training for not more than 45 days. If the failure occurs during the last year of his required membership in the Ready Reserve, his membership is extended until he performs that additional active duty for training, but not for more than six months.
(b) A member of the Army National Guard of the United States or the Air National Guard of the United States who fails in any year to perform satisfactorily the training duty prescribed by or under law for members of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard, as the case may be, as determined by the Secretary concerned, may, upon the request of the Governor of the State (or, in the case of the District of Columbia, the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard) be ordered, without his consent, to perform additional active duty for training for not more than 45 days. A member ordered to active duty under this subsection shall be ordered to duty as a Reserve of the Army or as a Reserve of the Air Force, as the case may be.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2974.)
§ 10149. Ready Reserve: continuous screening
(a) Under regulations to be prescribed by the President, the Secretary concerned shall provide a system of continuous screening of units and members of the Ready Reserve to ensure the following:
(1) That there will be no significant attrition of those members or units during a mobilization.
(2) That there is a proper balance of military skills.
(3) That except for those with military skills for which there is an overriding requirement, members having critical civilian skills are not retained in numbers beyond the need for those skills.
(4) That with due regard to national security and military requirements, recognition will be given to participation in combat.
(5) That members whose mobilization in an emergency would result in an extreme personal or community hardship are not retained in the Ready Reserve.
(b)
(1) In applying Ready Reserve continuous screening under this section, an individual who is both a member of the Ready Reserve and a Member of Congress may not be transferred to the Standby Reserve or discharged on account of the individual’s position as a Member of Congress.
(2) The transfer or discharge of an individual who is both a member of the Ready Reserve and a Member of Congress may be ordered—
(A) only by the Secretary of Defense or, in the case of a Member of Congress who also is a member of the Coast Guard Reserve, the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating when it is not operating as a service in the Navy; and
(B) only on the basis of the needs of the service, taking into consideration the position and duties of the individual in the Ready Reserve.
(3) In this subsection, the term “Member of Congress” includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Congress and a Member-elect.
(c) Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, and by the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, a member of the Ready Reserve who is designated as a member not to be retained in the Ready Reserve as a result of screening under subsection (a) shall, as appropriate, be—
(1) transferred to the Standby Reserve;
(2) discharged; or
(3) if the member is eligible and applies therefor, transferred to the Retired Reserve.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1)
§ 10150. Ready Reserve: transfer back from Standby Reserve

Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, and by the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, a member of the Standby Reserve who has not completed his required period of service in the Ready Reserve may be transferred to the Ready Reserve when the reason for his transfer to the Standby Reserve no longer exists.

(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2975; amended Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314.)
§ 10151. Standby Reserve: composition

The Standby Reserve consists of those units or members, or both, of the reserve components, other than those in the Ready Reserve or Retired Reserve, who are liable for active duty only as provided in sections 12301 and 12306 of this title.

(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2975.)
§ 10152. Standby Reserve: inactive status list

An inactive status list shall be maintained in the Standby Reserve. Whenever an authority designated by the Secretary concerned considers that it is in the best interest of the armed force concerned, a member in the Standby Reserve who is not required to remain a Reserve, and who cannot participate in prescribed training, may, if qualified, be transferred to the inactive status list under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary concerned. These regulations shall fix the conditions under which such a member is entitled to be returned to an active status.

(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2975.)
§ 10153. Standby Reserve: status of members

While in an inactive status, a Reserve is not eligible for pay or promotion and (as provided in section 12734(a) of this title) does not accrue credit for years of service under chapter 1223 of this title.

(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2975.)
§ 10154. Retired Reserve
The Retired Reserve consists of the following Reserves:
(1) Reserves who are or have been retired under section 7311, 8323, or 9311 of this title or under section 291 1
1 See References in Text note below.
of title 14.
(2) Reserves who have been transferred to the Retired Reserve, retain their status as Reserves, and are otherwise qualified.
(Added Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1661(a)(1), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2975; amended Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title V, § 517(a), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1094; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 809(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1840.)