The President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint as ensigns in the Coast Guard all cadets who shall graduate from the Academy. Ensigns so commissioned on the same date shall take rank according to their proficiency as shown by the order of their merit at date of graduation.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393, 63 Stat. 508, § 185; renumbered § 1929, Pub. L. 115–282, title I, § 110(b), Dec. 4, 2018, 132 Stat. 4212.)