10 U.S.C. § 575 - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 10. Armed Forces § 575. Recommendations for promotion by selection boards

(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).

(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.

(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--