(a) A selection board convened under section 573(a) of this title shall recommend for promotion to the next higher grade those warrant officers considered by the board whom the board, giving due consideration to the needs of the armed force concerned for warrant officers with particular skills, considers best qualified for promotion within each grade (or grade and competitive category) considered by the board.

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(b)(1) In the case of a selection board to consider warrant officers for selection for promotion to the grade of chief warrant officer, W-3, chief warrant officer, W-4, or chief warrant officer, W-?5, the Secretary concerned shall establish the number of warrant officers that the selection board may recommend from among warrant officers being considered from below the promotion zone within each grade (or grade and competitive category). The number of warrant officers recommended for promotion from below the promotion zone does not increase the maximum number of warrant officers which the board is authorized under section 574 of this title to recommend for promotion.

(2) The number of officers recommended for promotion from below the promotion zone may not exceed 10 percent of the total number recommended, except that the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Navy, may authorize such percentage to be increased to not more than 15 percent. If the number determined under this subsection with respect to a promotion zone within a grade (or grade and competitive category) is less than one, the board may recommend one such officer for promotion from below the zone within that grade (or grade and competitive category).

(c) A selection board convened under section 573(a) of this title may not recommend a warrant officer for promotion unless—

(1) the officer receives the recommendation of a majority of the members of the board; and

(2) a majority of the members of the board find that the officer is fully qualified for promotion.

(d) Each time a selection board is convened under section 573(a) of this title to consider warrant officers in a competitive category for promotion to the next higher grade, each warrant officer in the promotion zone, and each warrant officer above the promotion zone, for the grade and competitive category under consideration (except for a warrant officer precluded from consideration under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned under section 577 of this title) shall be considered for promotion.

(e)(1) In selecting the warrant officers to be recommended for promotion, a selection board shall, when authorized by the Secretary concerned, recommend warrant officers of particular merit, pursuant to guidelines and procedures prescribed by the Secretary concerned, from among those warrant officers selected for promotion, to be placed higher on the promotion list contained in the report of such board under section 576(c) of this title.

(2) A selection board may recommend that a warrant officer be placed higher on a promotion list under paragraph (1) only if the warrant officer receives the recommendation of at least a majority of the members of the board, unless the Secretary concerned establishes an alternative requirement. Any such alternate requirement shall be furnished to the board as part of the guidelines furnished to the board under section 576 of this title.

(3) For the warrant officers recommended to be placed higher on a promotion list under paragraph (1), the board shall recommend the order in which those warrant officers should be placed on the list.

(f)(1) Upon the request of a warrant officer, the Secretary concerned may exclude the warrant officer from consideration for promotion under this section.

(2) The Secretary concerned may approve a request of a warrant officer under paragraph (1) only if—

(A) the basis for the request is to allow the officer to complete—

(i) an assignment in support of career progression;

(ii) advanced education;

(iii) an assignment such Secretary determines is of significant value to the Armed Force concerned; or

(iv) a career progression requirement delayed by an assignment or education;

(B) such Secretary determines that such exclusion from consideration is in the best interest of the Armed Force concerned; and

(C) the officer has not previously failed of selection for promotion to the grade for which the officer requests exclusion from consideration.