Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, a person, appointed as a Reserve officer, may be assigned a date of rank and precedence which reflects that person’s experience, education, or other qualifications. For the purpose of this subchapter only, a person appointed for the purpose of assignment or designation as a judge advocate in the Reserve shall be credited with a minimum of one year service in an active status. A person holding a doctor of philosophy, or a comparable degree, in medicine or in a science allied to medicine as determined by the Secretary, may be credited with a minimum of three years service in an active status if appointed for an assignment comparable to that of an officer in the Navy Medical Department.
(Added Pub. L. 96–322, § 1, Aug. 4, 1980, 94 Stat. 1009, § 727; amended Pub. L. 108–293, title II, § 208, Aug. 9, 2004, 118 Stat. 1035; Pub. L. 109–241, title II, § 218(b)(1), July 11, 2006, 120 Stat. 526; renumbered § 3738, Pub. L. 115–282, title I, § 118(b), Dec. 4, 2018, 132 Stat. 4233.)