US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

37 U.S.C. § 302a

Special pay: optometrists

(a)

Regular Special Pay .—

Each of the following officers is entitled to special pay at the rate of $100 a month for each month of active duty:
(1)
A commissioned officer—
(A)
of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, or Regular Air Force who is designated as an optometry officer; or
(B)
who is an optometry officer of the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service.
(2)
A commissioned officer—
(A)
of a Reserve component of the Army, Navy, or Air Force who is designated as an optometry officer; or
(B)
1
1 See Change of Name note below.
who is an optometry officer of the Reserve Corps  of the Public Health Service,
who is on active duty as a result of a call or order to active duty for a period of at least one year.
(3)
A general officer of the Army or the Air Force appointed, from any of the categories named in clause (1) or (2), in the Army, Air Force, or the National Guard, as the case may be.
(b)

Retention Special Pay .—

(1)
section 303a(a) of this title Under regulations prescribed under , the Secretary concerned may pay an officer described in paragraph (2) a retention special pay of not more than $15,000 for any twelve-month period during which the officer is not undergoing an internship or initial residency training.
(2)
An officer referred to in paragraph (1) is an officer of a uniformed service who—
(A)
is entitled to special pay under subsection (a);
(B)
has completed any initial active-duty service commitment incurred for education and training; and
(C)
is determined by the Secretary concerned to be qualified as an optometrist.
(3)
An officer may not be paid retention special pay under paragraph (1) for any twelve-month period unless the officer first executes a written agreement under which the officer agrees to remain on active duty for a period of not less than one year beginning on the date the officer accepts the award of such special pay.
(4)
section 303a(e) of this title The Secretary concerned may terminate at any time the eligibility of an officer to receive retention special pay under paragraph (1). An officer who does not complete the period for which the payment was made under paragraph (1) shall be subject to the repayment provisions of .

Pub. L. 92–129, title II, § 202(a)85 Stat. 357Pub. L. 93–64, title II, § 20287 Stat. 149Pub. L. 95–114, § 291 Stat. 1046Pub. L. 95–485, title VIII, § 801(b)92 Stat. 1619Pub. L. 96–284, § 4(a)94 Stat. 591Pub. L. 100–26, § 8(d)(2)101 Stat. 285Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title VI, § 617(a)104 Stat. 1578Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title VI, § 614(a)110 Stat. 2544Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A]114 Stat. 1654Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title VI, § 615(d)116 Stat. 2568Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title VI, § 687(b)(5)119 Stat. 3328(Added , , ; amended , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , title VI, § 626(a)(1)], , , 1654A–153; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 109–1632006—Subsec. (b)(4). amended par. (4) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (4) read as follows: “The Secretary concerned may terminate at any time the eligibility of an officer to receive retention special pay under paragraph (1). If such eligibility is terminated, the officer concerned shall receive such special pay only for the part of the period of active duty that the officer served and may be required to refund any amount in excess of that amount.”

Pub. L. 107–3142002—Subsec. (b)(1). substituted “$15,000” for “$6,000”.

Pub. L. 106–3982000—Subsec. (b)(1). substituted “the Secretary concerned may pay an officer described in paragraph (2) a” for “an officer described in paragraph (2) may be paid”.

Pub. L. 104–201, § 614(a)(1)(A)1996—Subsec. (b)(2). , substituted “a uniformed service” for “an armed force” in introductory provisions.

Pub. L. 104–201, § 614(a)(1)(B)Subsec. (b)(2)(C). , struck out “of the military department” before “concerned to be”.

Pub. L. 104–201, § 614(a)(2)Subsec. (b)(4). , struck out “of the military department” before “concerned may terminate”.

Pub. L. 101–5101990— designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b).

Pub. L. 100–261987— substituted “A” for “a” at beginning of pars. (1) to (3), “; or” for “, or” at end of par. (1)(A), period for semicolon at end of par. (1)(B), and period for “; and” at end of par. (2).

Pub. L. 96–2841980— substituted “Each” for “(a) In addition to any other basic pay, special pay, incentive pay or allowance to which he is entitled, each”, struck out “beginning on or after ” after “active duty”, struck out subsec. (b) which prohibited inclusion of active duty monthly special pay in computation of amount of increase in pay authorized in any other provision of this title or in computation of retired pay or severance pay, and struck out subsec. (c) which provided that no special pay be paid for any month after September 1980.

Pub. L. 95–4851978—Subsec. (c). substituted “September 1980” for “September 1978”.

Pub. L. 95–1141977—Subsec. (a). amended subsec. (a) to provide for the reinstatement of special pay provisions for optometrists for each month on active duty beginning on or after .

Pub. L. 95–114Subsecs. (b), (c). reenacted subsec. (b) without change and added subsec. (c).

Pub. L. 93–641973—Subsec. (a). substituted “” for “” wherever appearing.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

section 204(c)(3) of Title 42Reference to Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service deemed to be a reference to the Ready Reserve Corps, see , The Public Health and Welfare.

Effective Date of 1977 Amendment

Pub. L. 95–114, § 491 Stat. 1047

section 303 of this title“The amendments made by sections 2 and 3 of this Act [amending this section and ] become effective on .”
, , , provided that:

Effective Date of 1973 Amendment

Pub. L. 93–64section 206 of Pub. L. 93–64section 401 of this titleAmendment by effective , see , set out as a note under .

Effective Date

Pub. L. 92–129, title II, § 20985 Stat. 359

section 428 of this titlesection 308a of this title“The foregoing provisions of this title [enacting this section and and amending sections 203 and 403 of this title and sections 2204 and 2207 of the former Appendix to Title 50, War and National Defense] shall become effective on , except that section 203 [enacting ] shall become effective on such date as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, but not earlier than , and section 206 [amending section 2203 of the former Appendix to Title 50] shall become effective .”
, , , provided that:

Savings Provision

section 687(b) of Pub. L. 109–163section 687(f) of Pub. L. 109–163section 510 of Title 10For savings provision relating to payment or repayment of any bonus, incentive pay, special pay, or similar pay obligated to be paid before , under a provision of this section amended by , see , set out as a note under , Armed Forces.

Application of Increase

section 615 of Pub. L. 107–314section 615(i) of Pub. L. 107–314section 301d of this titleIn case of amendment by to increase maximum amount of special pay or bonus that may be paid during any 12-month period, the amended limitation is applicable to 12-month periods beginning after , see , set out as a note under .

Implementation of Subsection (b)

Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title VI, § 617(b)104 Stat. 1579Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A]114 Stat. 1654, , , provided that the Secretary of Defense could not implement subsec. (b) of this section, unless the Secretary submitted to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report justifying the need of the military departments for the authority provided in such subsection and describing the manner in which that authority would be implemented, prior to repeal by , title VI, § 626(a)(2)], , , 1654A–153.

Pay Continuation

section 210 of Pub. L. 92–129section 203 of this titleEnactment of this section not to reduce the pay to which any member of the uniformed services was entitled on , see , set out as a note under .