42 USC 207 – Grades, ranks, and titles of commissioned corps
(a) Grades of commissioned officers
The Surgeon General, during the period of his appointment as such, shall be of the same grade as the Surgeon General of the Army; the Deputy Surgeon General and the Chief Medical Officer of the United States Coast Guard, while assigned as such, shall have the grade corresponding with the grade of major general; and the Chief Dental Officer, while assigned as such, shall have the grade as is prescribed by law for the officer of the Dental Corps selected and appointed as Assistant Surgeon General of the Army. During the period of appointment to the position of Assistant Secretary for Health, a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service shall have the grade corresponding to the grade of General of the Army. Assistant Surgeons General, while assigned as such, shall have the grade corresponding with either the grade of brigadier general or the grade of major general, as may be determined by the Secretary after considering the importance of the duties to be performed: Provided, That the number of Assistant Surgeons General having a grade higher than that corresponding to the grade of brigadier general shall at no time exceed one-half of the number of positions created by subsection (b) of section 206 of this title or pursuant to subsection (c) of section 206 of this title. The grades of commissioned officers of the Service shall correspond with grades of officers of the Army as follows:
(1) Officers of the director grade—colonel;
(2) Officers of the senior grade—lieutenant colonel;
(3) Officers of the full grade—major;
(4) Officers of the senior assistant grade—captain;
(5) Officers of the assistant grade—first lieutenant;
(6) Officers of the junior assistant grade—second lieutenant;
(7) Chief warrant officers of (W-4) grade—chief warrant officer (W-4);
(8) Chief warrant officers of (W-3) grade—chief warrant officer (W-3);
(9) Chief warrant officers of (W-2) grade—chief warrant officer (W-2); and
(10) Warrant officers of (W-1) grade—warrant officer (W-1).
(b) Titles of medical officers
Terms Used In 42 USC 207
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- 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.
- officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
- Secretary: means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. See 42 USC 201
- Service: means the Public Health Service. See 42 USC 201
- Surgeon General: means the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. See 42 USC 201
The titles of medical officers of the foregoing grades shall be respectively (1) medical director, (2) senior surgeon, (3) surgeon, (4) senior assistant surgeon, (5) assistant surgeon, and (6) junior assistant surgeon. The President is authorized to prescribe titles, appropriate to the several grades, for commissioned officers of the Service other than medical officers. All titles of the officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall have the suffix “Reserve”.
(c) Repealed. Pub. L. 96-76, title III, §304(b), Sept. 29, 1979, 93 Stat. 584
(d) Maximum number in grade for each fiscal year
Within the total number of officers of the Regular Corps authorized by the appropriation Act or Acts for each fiscal year to be on active duty, the Secretary shall by regulation prescribe the maximum number of officers authorized to be in each of the grades from the warrant officer (W-1) grade to the director grade, inclusive. Such numbers shall be determined after considering the anticipated needs of the Service during the fiscal year, the funds available, the number of officers in each grade at the beginning of the fiscal year, and the anticipated appointments, the anticipated promotions based on years of service, and the anticipated retirements during the fiscal year. The number so determined for any grade for a fiscal year may not exceed the number limitation (if any) contained in the appropriation Act or Acts for such year. Such regulations for each fiscal year shall be prescribed as promptly as possible after the appropriation Act fixing the authorized strength of the corps for that year, and shall be subject to amendment only if such authorized strength or such number limitation is thereafter changed. The maxima established by such regulations shall not require (apart from action pursuant to other provisions of this chapter) any officer to be separated from the Service or reduced in grade.
(e) Exception to grade limitations for officers assigned to Department of Defense
In computing the maximum number of commissioned officers of the Public Health Service authorized by law to hold a grade which corresponds to the grade of brigadier general or major general, there may be excluded from such computation not more than three officers who hold such a grade so long as such officers are assigned to duty and are serving in a policymaking position in the Department of Defense.
(f) Exception to maximum number limitations for officers assigned to Department of Defense
In computing the maximum number of commissioned officers of the Public Health Service authorized by law or administrative determination to serve on active duty, there may be excluded from such computation officers who are assigned to duty in the Department of Defense.