i. Hearings provided for in this chapter shall be before boards of no less than three officers, all of the members of which shall be officers who have been designated by the Commandant of the Marine Corps as hearing officers for such cases. At least a majority of the members of a board acting in any particular case shall be senior in rank to the officer under consideration. Each board acting in a particular case shall carefully consider the allegations made concerning the officer as to whom revocation of commission has been recommended, in conjunction with the official record of that officer on file in Headquarters, U. S. Marine Corps, and in conjunction with any documentary evidence and statements, oral and written, submitted by that officer. Such board shall make written recommendation to the Commandant of the Marine Corps concerning the officer. If such recommendation be for revocation of commission or for acceptance of any resignation submitted, and if such recommendation be approved by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, all papers in the case together with a draft of orders or other documents designed to effect severance from the service, shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the Navy.

10054 RETIREMENTS

1. There are four types of retirement for commissioned officers of the regular Marine Corps, namely: 1) Voluntary, 2) involuntary, 3) physical disability, and 4) age.

2. Officers contemplating voluntary retirement, and those subject to involuntary or age retirement, should obtain a complete physical examination three months prior to effective date in order that any existing defects may be corrected without complicating and delaying actual processing for release. In the event a disability is disclosed the officer may be subject to retirement for physical disability. In this connection, it must be emphasized that physical evaluation board proceedings and findings must be approved by the Secretary of the Navy prior to the date retirement would otherwise be effective. After the Secretary of the Navy has approved a request for retirement, or the President has approved involuntary retirement proceedings, and the retirement has become effective, ordinarily the retired status of an officer may not be changed because of physical disability incurred either before or after the effective date of retirement except by reason of physical disability incurred subsequently while serving on active duty as a retired officer in time of war or national emergency.

retired in the highest temporary rank satisfactorily held prior to 7 August 1947. In either case they shall receive retired pay computed at the rate prescribed by law and applicable in each individual case but based upon such higher rank.

6. All officers of the Marine Corps, who have been specially commended for the performance of duty in actual combat by the head of the executive department under whose jurisdiction such duty was performed, except officers on a promotion list who may be retired for physical disability, shall, upon retirement unless otherwise entitled to higher retired rank and pay, be placed upon the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade than that in which serving at the time of retirement. Provided, that all officers heretofore and hereafter holding rank or grade on the retired list above that of colonel solely by virtue of such commendation, if hereafter recalled to active duty, may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy, be so recalled either in the rank or grade to which they would otherwise be entitled had they not been accorded higher rank or grade by virtue of such commendation, or in the rank or grade held by them on the retired list. Officers who have been specially commended for an act or service justifying such commendation performed after December 31, 1946, are not eligible for the provisions herein stated.

7. Any officer of the Marine Corps who may be retired while serving in an appropriate higher command or in a duty of great importance and responsibility for which des ignated by the President in accordance with the provisions of Part B, Chapter 9, or who may be retired subsequent to such service, may, in the discretion of the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, when retired, be placed on the retired list with the highest grade or rank held by him while on the active list. No increase in retired pay shall accrue solely as the result of such advancement in rank on the retired list.

ficer of the Marine Corps whose permanent status is enlisted, has completed more than 20 years active service in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard, or reserve components thereof, 10 years of which must have been active commissioned service, he may at his own request, in the discretion of the President, be transferred to the retired list.

3. When an officer has been 30 years in the service, he may, upon his own application, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy, be retired from active service and placed upon the retired list.

4. When an officer has been 40 years in the service, he will be retired from active service by the Secretary of the Navy upon his own application.

10056 INVOLUNTARY RETIREMENTS

1. Paragraphs 10056 and 10060, inclusive, govern involuntary retirements, which are controlled by the provisions of the act of August 7, 1947, Public Law 381, Eightieth Congress. The provisions of this act which control involuntary retirement of certain officers are not related herein. All provisions relative to involuntary retirements, except where otherwise qualified, apply only to permanent regular officers above the grade of commissioned warrant officer.

2. For the purposes of this part in respect to eligibility for continuation on the active list and in respect to separation from the active list pursuant to the provisions of the act of August 7, 1947, Public Law 381, Eightieth Congress, the total commissioned service of an officer who shall have served continuously in the regular Marine Corps following appointment therein in the grade or rank of second lieutenant upon graduation from the Naval Academy or pursuant to the act of August 13, 1946, Public Law 729, Seventy-ninth Congress, shall be computed from June 30 of the fiscal year in which he accepted such appointment.

3. Each other officer shall be deemed to have for these purposes as much total commissioned service as any officer described above in this paragraph who shall not have lost numbers or precedence and who is, or shall have been, junior to such officer for the purpose of eligibility for promotion or selection for promotion since the date of the latter's first appointment to permanent commissioned rank in the regular Marine Corps above the grade of commissioned warrant officer, following which he shall have served continuously on the active list of the regular Marine Corps.

1. Each woman officer of the grade of lieutenant colonel in the regular Marine Corps, or a woman officer serving as Director of Women Marines with the rank of colonel, who attains the age of 55 years or completes 30 years active commissioned service in the regular Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve, whichever is earlier, shall be retired by the President on the first day of the month following that in which she attains such age or completes such service, and except as otherwise provided by law, shall be placed on the retired list in the permanent grade held by her at the time of retirement. However, a woman lieutenant colonel or major, who serves as Director of Women Marines with the rank of colonel and who attains the age of 50 years while so serving, may be retired by the President on the first day of the month following that in which she ceases to serve as Director of Women Marines, and if so retired may be placed on the retired list in the rank of colonel, as authorized in subparagraph 2.

2. Any woman officer of the regular Marine Corps, who may be retired for any reason while serving as Director of Women Marines or who subsequent to such service may be retired for any reason while serving in a lower grade, may, if she shall have served two and one-half years or more as such Director, be placed on the retired list, at the discretion of the President, in the rank held by her while serving as Director of Women Marines.

3. Each woman officer of the regular Marine Corps, who attains the age of 50 years while serving in the grade of major or below, shall be retired by the President on the first day of the month following that in which she attains such age, and, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be placed on the retired list in the permanent grade held by her at the time of retirement. However, the foregoing shall not apply to an officer of the grade of major who is on a promotion list for the grade of lieutenant colonel or to one while serving as Director of Women Marines with the rank of colonel.

4. Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph 3, women officers of the grade of major in the regular Marine Corps, whose names on June 30 of the fiscal year in which they complete 20 years active commissioned service in the regular Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Reserve are not then on a promotion list for promotion to the next higher grade, shall be placed on the retired list on that date.

10102 DISCHARGES AND

TERMINATIONS

1. Women officers of the grades of captain and first lieutenant in the regular Marine Corps, whose names on June 30 of the fiscal year in which they complete 13 and 7 years active commissioned service, respectively, in the regular Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Reserve are not then on a promotion list for promotion to the next higher grade, shall be honorably discharged from the Marine Corps on that date.

2. The commission or warrant of any woman serving in the regular Marine Corps under the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 (62 Stat. 356) may be terminated regardless of rank, grade, or length of service, by or at the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, except as may be otherwise provided by law, under the same circumstances, procedures and conditions and for the same reasons under which a male member of the regular Marine Corps and of the same grade, rating or rank, and length of service may be totally separated from the service by administrative action, whether by termination of commission, termination of appointment, revocation of commission, discharge, or otherwise.

10200 RESIGNATIONS

1. The President, or the Secretary of the Navy acting for him, may accept the resignation of an officer of the Marine Corps Reserve. Officers will include in their letter of resignation the reason therefor. The provisions of paragraph 10050 pertaining to tendering and acceptance of resignations are applicable. Periods of obligated service acquired under law or contractual agreement must be completed before a resignation will be accepted. A woman officer may tender her resignation at any time after completion of 2 years of active commissioned service, or 4 years total commissioned service.

2. An officer tendering a resignation from the Marine Corps Reserve under conditions which might reasonably be susceptible to subsequent characterization as other than honorable shall include one of the following alternative statements:

"I have been fully advised concerning provisions of statutes and regulations relative to court-martial trials and action by boards of officers, and concerning the application of such statutes and regulations to the factual situation obtaining in my case. After fully weighing the benefits which might inure to me as a result of such action, and although considering that I would suffer no greater prejudice as a result of such action, I hereby waive any and all court-martial action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and I further waive any consideration of my case by any board of officers and findings and recommendations by any such board of officers. This waiver is made in the interest of expediting ultimate disposition of my case, as I feel that my position in the matter has been made clear, and I have full confidence in the ability and fairness of the officers in higher authority who will act upon my case,"

commissioned service shall not be involuntarily discharged except pursuant to the approved recommendation of a board of officers convened by one of the following: The Commandant of the Marine Corps, commands authorized to convene general courts martial, the Directors, Marine Corps Reserve Districts, the Directors, Marine Corps Reserve and Recruitment Districts, and the Commander, Marine Air Reserve Training. The members of the board shall be senior in rank to the individual under consideration and the majority shall be officers of the Marine Corps Reserve on active duty. This Board may recommend the discharge of an officer for any of the following reasons:

a. Failure of selection for promotion to the next higher grade a second time.

b. Failure on reexamination to qualify professionally for promotion.

c. When found not physically qualified for promotion or for active duty, unless, within the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy, he is placed on the retired list of the Marine Corps Reserve.

d. Failure to complete basic military training prescribed in paragraph 24316, unless waiver and retention is authorized by the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

e. Failure to carry out agreements entered into prior to appointment.

f. Civilian occupation incompatible with Marine Corps Reserve status.

g. For such other full and sufficient cause, as determined by the Secretary of the Navy such as failure to complete successfully prescribed course of study, failure to answer and/or comply with official correspondence, obvious lack of interest in the reserve, and serious breach of discipline.

3. An officer of the reserve component may be discharged as a result of the approved sentence of a court-martial.

4. The President or the Secretary of the Navy may drop from the rolls any member of the reserve components who has been absent without authority from his place of duty for a period of three months or more, or who, having been found guilty of any offense by the civil authorities, is finally sentenced to confinement in a Federal or State penitentiary or correctional institution.