The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the qualifications of officers assigned to joint duty assignments are such that—

(1) officers who are serving on, or have served on, the Joint Staff are expected, as a group, to be promoted to the next higher grade at a rate not less than the rate for officers of the same armed force in the same grade and competitive category who are serving on, or have served on, the headquarters staff of their armed force; and

(2) officers in the grade of major (or in the case of the Navy, lieutenant commander) or above who have been designated as a joint qualified officer are expected, as a group, to be promoted to the next higher grade at a rate not less than the rate for all officers of the same armed force in the same grade and competitive category.

(Added Pub. L. 99–433, title IV, § 401(a), Oct. 1, 1986, 100 Stat. 1026; amended Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title V, § 513, Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 1969; Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title XIII, § 1311(3), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1669; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title V, § 510, Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2514; Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title V, § 521(b), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1097; Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title X, § 1062(a)(4), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2650; Pub. L. 108–375, div. A, title V, § 535, Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 1901; Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title V, § 517, Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2190; Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title X, § 1063(a)(3), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 321; Pub. L. 110–417, [div. A], title V, § 523, Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4446; Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title X, § 1073(c)(2), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2474; Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title V, § 505(a)(2), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3356.)