US Code

Public Law 119-87 (04/30/2026)

50 U.S.C. § 3819

Authority of President to order Reserve components to active service; release from active duty; retention of unit organizations and equipment

1

1 See References in Text note below.
ProvidedUntil , and subject to the limitations imposed by section 2 of the Selective Service Act of 1948, as amended, the President shall be authorized to order into the active military or naval service of the United States for a period of not to exceed twenty-four consecutive months, with or without their consent, any or all members and units of any or all Reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States and retired personnel of the Regular Armed Forces. Unless he is sooner released under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned, any member of the inactive or volunteer reserve who served on active duty for a period of 12 months or more in any branch of the Armed Forces between the period , and , inclusive, who is now or may hereafter be ordered to active duty pursuant to this section, shall upon completion of 17 or more months of active duty since , if he makes application therefor to the Secretary of the branch of service in which he is serving, be released from active duty and shall not thereafter be ordered to active duty for periods in excess of 30 days without his consent except in time of war or national emergency hereafter declared by the Congress: , That the foregoing shall not apply to any member of the inactive or volunteer reserve ordered to active duty whose rating or specialty is found by the Secretary of the military department concerned to be critical and whose release to inactive duty prior to the period for which he was ordered to active duty would impair the efficiency of the military department concerned.

The President may retain the unit organizations and the equipment thereof, exclusive of the individual members thereof, in the active Federal service for a total period of five consecutive years, and upon being relieved by the appropriate Secretary from active Federal service, National Guard, or Air National Guard units, shall, insofar as practicable, be returned to their National Guard or Air National Guard status in their respective States, Territories, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, with pertinent records, colors, histories, trophies, and other historical impedimenta.

June 24, 1948, ch. 625 June 30, 1950, ch. 445, § 2 64 Stat. 318 June 19, 1951, ch. 144 65 Stat. 87 July 7, 1952, ch. 584, § 1 66 Stat. 440 (, title I, § 21, as added , ; amended , title I, § 1(x), ; , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

act June 24, 1948, ch. 625, title I 62 Stat. 605 act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 53 70A Stat. 641 act June 24, 1948, ch. 625 Section 2 of the Selective Service Act of 1948, referred to in text, is section 2 of , , now known as the Military Selective Service Act, which was classified to former section 452 of the former Appendix to this title prior to repeal by , , and omission in the editorial reclassification of title I of , as this chapter.

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 471 of the former Appendix to this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

1952—Act , authorized the President to retain unit organizations and their equipment, exclusive of individual members, for a period of five years.

1951—Act , substituted “” for “”, “twenty-four months” for “twenty-one months”, and inserted last sentence.

Executive Documents

Ex. Ord. No. 10271. Delegation of President’s Authority

Ex. Ord. No. 10271, , 16 F.R. 6661, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13286, § 80, , 68 F.R. 10631, provided:

64 Stat. 318 65 Stat. 87 ProvidedThere is hereby delegated to the Secretary of Defense the authority vested in the President by section 21 of the Universal Military Training and Service Act (), as amended by the 1951 Amendments to the Universal Military Training and Service Act (; Public Law 51, 82d Congress) [this section], to order into the active military or naval service of the United States for a period not to exceed twenty-four months, with or without their consent, any or all members and units of any or all Reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States and retired personnel of the Regular Armed Forces: , that so much of the authority of the President under the said section 21, as amended [this section], as relates to any Reserve component of the United States Coast Guard or to retired personnel of the Regular Coast Guard is hereby delegated to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The Secretary of Defense is hereby authorized to redelegate, subject to such conditions as the Secretary may deem appropriate, to the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force such functions under this order as affect their respective services.