
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 10USC777]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                    Subtitle A--General Military Law
 
                           PART II--PERSONNEL
 
                         CHAPTER 45--THE UNIFORM
 
Sec. 777. Wearing of insignia of higher grade before promotion 
        (frocking): authority; restrictions
        
    (a) Authority.--An officer who has been selected for promotion to 
the next higher grade may be authorized, under regulations and policies 
of the Department of Defense and subject to subsection (b), to wear the 
insignia for that next higher grade. An officer who is so authorized to 
wear the insignia of the next higher grade is said to be ``frocked'' to 
that grade.
    (b) Restrictions.--An officer may not be authorized to wear the 
insignia for a grade as described in subsection (a) unless--
        (1) the Senate has given its advice and consent to the 
    appointment of the officer to that grade; and
        (2) the officer is serving in, or has received orders to serve 
    in, a position for which that grade is authorized.

    (c) Benefits Not To Be Construed as Accruing.--(1) Authority 
provided to an officer as described in subsection (a) to wear the 
insignia of the next higher grade may not be construed as conferring 
authority for that officer to--
        (A) be paid the rate of pay provided for an officer in that 
    grade having the same number of years of service as that officer; or
        (B) assume any legal authority associated with that grade.

    (2) The period for which an officer wears the insignia of the next 
higher grade under such authority may not be taken into account for any 
of the following purposes:
        (A) Seniority in that grade.
        (B) Time of service in that grade.

    (d) Limitation on Number of Officers Frocked to Specified Grades.--
(1) The total number of colonels and Navy captains on the active-duty 
list who are authorized as described in subsection (a) to wear the 
insignia for the grade of brigadier general or rear admiral (lower 
half), as the case may be, may not exceed 55.
    (2) The number of officers of an armed force on the active-duty list 
who are authorized as described in subsection (a) to wear the insignia 
for a grade to which a limitation on total number applies under section 
523(a) of this title for a fiscal year may not exceed 1 percent, or, for 
the grades of colonel and Navy captain, 2 percent, of the total number 
provided for the officers in that grade in that armed force in the 
administration of the limitation under that section for that fiscal 
year.

(Added Pub. L. 104-106, div. A, title V, Sec. 503(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 
110 Stat. 294; amended Pub. L. 105-85, div. A, title V, Sec. 505, Nov. 
18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1726; Pub. L. 106-65, div. A, title V, Sec. 502, 
Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 590.)


                               Amendments

    1999--Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 106-65 substituted ``55.'' for ``the 
following:'' and struck out subpars. (A) to (C) which read as follows:
    ``(A) During fiscal years 1996 and 1997, 75.
    ``(B) During fiscal year 1998, 55.
    ``(C) After fiscal year 1998, 35.''
    1997--Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 105-85 inserted ``, or, for the grades 
of colonel and Navy captain, 2 percent,'' after ``1 percent''.


    Temporary Variation of Limitations on Numbers of Frocked Officers

    Section 503(b) of Pub. L. 104-106 provided that: ``In the 
administration of section 777(d)(2) of title 10, United States Code (as 
added by subsection (a)), the percent limitation applied under that 
section for fiscal year 1996 shall be 2 percent (instead of 1 
percent).''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 721 of this title.
