Officers to be recommended for promotion or continuation

§ 5707. Officers to be recommended for promotion or continuation (a) Of the officers considered for promotion by a selection board convened under this chapter, the board shall recommend for promotion, as appropriate— (1) those eligible male officers on the active list in the line of the Navy or on the active list of the Marine Corps whom the board considers best fitted for promotion; (2) those eligible officers on the active list of the Navy, other than women officers appointed under section 5590 of this title, under consideration for— (A) promotion to any grade in the Supply Corps or the Civil Engineer Corps; or (B) promotion to the grade of commander or above in any other staff corps; whom the board considers best fitted for promotion; (3) those eligible officers on the active list of the Navy under consideration for promotion to the grade of commander or lieutenant commander in the Nurse Corps whom the board considers best fitted for promotion; (4) those eligible officers other than women officers appointed under section 5590 of this title, on the active list of the Navy in any staff corps not otherwise provided for in this subsection, whom the board considers fitted for promotion; (5) those eligible women officers, appointed under section 5590 of this title, on the active list of the Navy in the line or a staff corps or on the active list of the Marine Corps under consideration for promotion to the grade of commander, lieutenant commander, lieutenant colonel, or major whom the board considers best fitted for promotion; (6) those eligible women officers, appointed under section 5590 of this title, on the active list of the Navy in the line or a staff corps or on the active list of the Marine Corps under consideration for promotion to the grade of lieutenant in the Navy or captain in the Marine Corps whom the board considers qualified for promotion; or (7) those eligible officers not on the active list of the Navy or the Marine Corps whom the board considers qualified for continued active duty. (b) Each selection board convened under the preceding sections of this chapter to recommend officers for continuation on the active list shall recommend those officers under consideration whom it considers best fitted for continued service on the active list. (c) From among those eligible officers on the active list of the Navy or on the active list of the Marine Corps who are junior in 342 lineal rank to the junior officer in the appropriate promotion zone in any grade below that of captain in the Navy or colonel in the Marine Corps, the board may recommend as best fitted for promotion a number of officers that does not exceed 5 percent of the total number of officers that the board is authorized to recommend for promotion to the grade concerned, unless that number is less than one, in which case it may recommend one such officer. (d) The recommendation of any selection board with respect to the promotion of officers of the Navy designated for engineering duty, aeronautical engineering duty, special duty, or limited duty, or officers of the Marine Corps designated for supply duty or limited duty shall be based upon their comparative fitness, within such categories, for the duties prescribed for them by law. (e) The recommendation of a selection board with respect to any woman officer on the active list in the line of the Navy or the active list of the Marine Corps shall be based upon her comparative fitness for the duties to which she is assigned in the line of the Navy or in the Marine Corps. The recommendation of a selection board with respect to any woman officer on the active list in any staff corps, appointed under section 5590 of this title, shall be based upon her comparative fitness for the duties to which she is assigned in her staff corps. (f) Administrative staff duty, duty in aviation, or duty in any technical specialty performed by an officer of the Marine Corps shall be given weight by the selection board in determining his fitness for promotion equal to that given to line duty equally well performed. (g) The status of having once failed of selection for promotion to a grade shall not prejudice an officer with respect to his qualifications, his fitness for the naval service, or his eligibility for selection for promotion to that grade by the next succeeding selection board. (h) The total number of officers that may be recommended for promotion in any grade may not exceed the number furnished the board concerned by the Secretary of the Navy under section 5706 of this title. The number of officers that may be recommended for continuation on the active list by a board convened under this chapter may not exceed the number furnished the board concerned by the Secretary under section 5706 of this title. (i) No officer may be recommended for promotion or for continuation on the active list unless he receives the recommendation of at least two-thirds of the acting members of the board concerned. However, a board composed of five acting members or less may so recommend an officer upon the concurrence of a majority of its members.