(a) Authority.—(1) The Secretary concerned may order a member of a reserve component under the Secretary’s jurisdiction to active duty pursuant to section 12301(d) of this title to perform Active Guard and Reserve duty organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, or training the reserve components.

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Terms Used In 10 USC 12310

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.

(2) A Reserve ordered to active duty under paragraph (1) shall be ordered in the Reserve’s reserve grade. While so serving, the Reserve continues to be eligible for promotion as a Reserve, if otherwise qualified.

(b) Duties.—A Reserve on active duty under subsection (a) may perform the following additional duties to the extent that the performance of those duties does not interfere with the performance of the Reserve’s primary Active Guard and Reserve duties described in subsection (a)(1):

(1) Supporting operations or missions assigned in whole or in part to the reserve components.

(2) Supporting operations or missions performed or to be performed by—

(A) a unit composed of elements from more than one component of the same armed force; or

(B) a joint forces unit that includes—

(i) one or more reserve component units; or

(ii) a member of a reserve component whose reserve component assignment is in a position in an element of the joint forces unit.


(3) Advising the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the military departments, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the commanders of the combatant commands regarding reserve component matters.

(4) Instructing or training in the United States or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or possessions of the United States of—

(A) active-duty members of the armed forces;

(B) members of foreign military forces (under the same authorities and restrictions applicable to active-duty members providing such instruction or training);

(C) Department of Defense contractor personnel; or

(D) Department of Defense civilian employees.


(c) Operations Relating to Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorist Attacks.—(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b), a Reserve on active duty as described in subsection (a), or a Reserve who is a member of the National Guard serving on full-time National Guard duty under section 502(f) of title 32 in connection with functions referred to in subsection (a), may, subject to paragraph (3), perform duties in support of emergency preparedness programs to prepare for or to respond to any emergency involving any of the following:

(A) The use or threatened use of a weapon of mass destruction (as defined in section 1403 of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996 (50 U.S.C. 2302(1))) in the United States.

(B) A terrorist attack or threatened terrorist attack in the United States that results, or could result, in catastrophic loss of life or property.

(C) The intentional or unintentional release of nuclear, biological, radiological, or toxic or poisonous chemical materials in the United States that results, or could result, in catastrophic loss of life or property.

(D) A natural or manmade disaster in the United States that results in, or could result in, catastrophic loss of life or property.


(2) The costs of the pay, allowances, clothing, subsistence, gratuities, travel, and related expenses for a Reserve performing duties under the authority of paragraph (1) shall be paid from the appropriation that is available to pay such costs for other members of the reserve component of that Reserve who are performing duties as described in subsection (a).

(3) A Reserve may perform duty described in paragraph (1) only while assigned to a reserve component weapons of mass destruction civil support team.

(4) Reserves on active duty who are performing duties described in paragraph (1) shall be counted against the annual end strength authorizations required by section 115(a)(1)(B) and 115(a)(2) of this title. The justification material for the defense budget request for a fiscal year shall identify the number and component of the Reserves programmed to be performing duties described in paragraph (1) during that fiscal year.

(5) A reserve component weapons of mass destruction civil support team, and any Reserve assigned to such a team, may not be used to respond to an emergency described in paragraph (1) unless the Secretary of Defense has certified to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives that that team, or that Reserve, possesses the requisite skills, training, and equipment to be proficient in all mission requirements.

(6) If the Secretary of Defense submits to Congress any request for the enactment of legislation to modify the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (3), the Secretary shall provide with the request—

(A) justification for each such requested modification; and

(B) the Secretary’s plan for sustaining the qualifications of the personnel and teams described in paragraph (3).


(7) In this subsection, the term “United States” includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

(d) Training.—A Reserve on active duty as described in subsection (a) may be provided training consistent with training provided to other members on active duty, as the Secretary concerned sees fit.