republic-os/legal/us/code/title-37/chapter-5/section-302a.md

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LegalText	37 U.S.C. § 302a	Special pay: optometrists	us	united_states_code	code_section	37	PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES	5	SPECIAL AND INCENTIVE PAYS	302a	37 U.S.C. § 302a	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc37@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t37/s302a	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-37/usc37.xml	145b44c6c32db70bdb3caefedc052cf7e367bdab4f175432d1d92756f24a19ce	e0a35eb7ef12b7ff3b62c2d230c815f864ad090f207afa5aca869467bb414b1c	b819dbe03fa4297e79e2b57995c85775cf3406b2306446d05333de40f3617c71	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

37 U.S.C. § 302a - Special pay: optometrists

Text

(a) Regular Special Pay.— Each of the following officers is entitled to special pay at the rate of $100 a month for each month of active duty:

(1) A commissioned officer—

(A) of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, or Regular Air Force who is designated as an optometry officer; or

(B) who is an optometry officer of the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service.

(2) A commissioned officer—

(A) of a Reserve component of the Army, Navy, or Air Force who is designated as an optometry officer; or

(B) who is an optometry officer of the Reserve Corps 11 See Change of Name note below. of the Public Health Service,

who is on active duty as a result of a call or order to active duty for a period of at least one year.

(3) A general officer of the Army or the Air Force appointed, from any of the categories named in clause (1) or (2), in the Army, Air Force, or the National Guard, as the case may be.

(b) Retention Special Pay.— (1) Under regulations prescribed under section 303a(a) of this title, the Secretary concerned may pay an officer described in paragraph (2) a retention special pay of not more than $15,000 for any twelve-month period during which the officer is not undergoing an internship or initial residency training.

(2) An officer referred to in paragraph (1) is an officer of a uniformed service who—

(A) is entitled to special pay under subsection (a);

(B) has completed any initial active-duty service commitment incurred for education and training; and

(C) is determined by the Secretary concerned to be qualified as an optometrist.

(3) An officer may not be paid retention special pay under paragraph (1) for any twelve-month period unless the officer first executes a written agreement under which the officer agrees to remain on active duty for a period of not less than one year beginning on the date the officer accepts the award of such special pay.

(4) The Secretary concerned may terminate at any time the eligibility of an officer to receive retention special pay under paragraph (1). An officer who does not complete the period for which the payment was made under paragraph (1) shall be subject to the repayment provisions of section 303a(e) of this title.

(Added Pub. L. 92–129, title II, § 202(a), Sept. 28, 1971, 85 Stat. 357; amended Pub. L. 93–64, title II, § 202, July 9, 1973, 87 Stat. 149; Pub. L. 95–114, § 2, Sept. 30, 1977, 91 Stat. 1046; Pub. L. 95–485, title VIII, § 801(b), Oct. 20, 1978, 92 Stat. 1619; Pub. L. 96–284, § 4(a), June 28, 1980, 94 Stat. 591; Pub. L. 100–26, § 8(d)(2), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 285; Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title VI, § 617(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1578; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title VI, § 614(a), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2544; Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title VI, § 626(a)(1)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–153; Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title VI, § 615(d), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2568; Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title VI, § 687(b)(5), Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3328.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments2006—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 109–163 amended par. (4) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (4) read as follows: “The Secretary concerned may terminate at any time the eligibility of an officer to receive retention special pay under paragraph (1). If such eligibility is terminated, the officer concerned shall receive such special pay only for the part of the period of active duty that the officer served and may be required to refund any amount in excess of that amount.” 2002—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 107–314 substituted “$15,000” for “$6,000”. 2000—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106–398 substituted “the Secretary concerned may pay an officer described in paragraph (2) a” for “an officer described in paragraph (2) may be paid”. 1996—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 104–201, § 614(a)(1)(A), substituted “a uniformed service” for “an armed force” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(2)(C). Pub. L. 104–201, § 614(a)(1)(B), struck out “of the military department” before “concerned to be”. Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 104–201, § 614(a)(2), struck out “of the military department” before “concerned may terminate”. 1990—Pub. L. 101–510 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b). 1987—Pub. L. 100–26 substituted “A” for “a” at beginning of pars. (1) to (3), “; or” for “, or” at end of par. (1)(A), period for semicolon at end of par. (1)(B), and period for “; and” at end of par. (2). 1980—Pub. L. 96–284 substituted “Each” for “(a) In addition to any other basic pay, special pay, incentive pay or allowance to which he is entitled, each”, struck out “beginning on or after October 1, 1977” after “active duty”, struck out subsec. (b) which prohibited inclusion of active duty monthly special pay in computation of amount of increase in pay authorized in any other provision of this title or in computation of retired pay or severance pay, and struck out subsec. (c) which provided that no special pay be paid for any month after September 1980. 1978—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–485 substituted “September 1980” for “September 1978”. 1977—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–114 amended subsec. (a) to provide for the reinstatement of special pay provisions for optometrists for each month on active duty beginning on or after Oct. 1, 1977. Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 95–114 reenacted subsec. (b) without change and added subsec. (c). 1973—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 93–64 substituted “July 1, 1975” for “July 1, 1973” wherever appearing.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name Reference to Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service deemed to be a reference to the Ready Reserve Corps, see section 204(c)(3) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.

Effective Date of 1977 AmendmentPub. L. 95–114, § 4, Sept. 30, 1977, 91 Stat. 1047, provided that: “The amendments made by sections 2 and 3 of this Act [amending this section and section 303 of this title] become effective on October 1, 1977.”

Effective Date of 1973 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 93–64 effective July 1, 1973, see section 206 of Pub. L. 93–64, set out as a note under section 401 of this title.

Effective DatePub. L. 92–129, title II, § 209, Sept. 28, 1971, 85 Stat. 359, provided that: “The foregoing provisions of this title [enacting this section and section 428 of this title and amending sections 203 and 403 of this title and sections 2204 and 2207 of the former Appendix to Title 50, War and National Defense] shall become effective on October 1, 1971, except that section 203 [enacting section 308a of this title] shall become effective on such date as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, but not earlier than February 1, 1971, and section 206 [amending section 2203 of the former Appendix to Title 50] shall become effective July 1, 1971.”

Savings ProvisionFor savings provision relating to payment or repayment of any bonus, incentive pay, special pay, or similar pay obligated to be paid before Apr. 1, 2006, under a provision of this section amended by section 687(b) of Pub. L. 109–163, see section 687(f) of Pub. L. 109–163, set out as a note under section 510 of Title 10, Armed Forces.

Application of IncreaseIn case of amendment by section 615 of Pub. L. 107–314 to increase maximum amount of special pay or bonus that may be paid during any 12-month period, the amended limitation is applicable to 12-month periods beginning after Sept. 30, 2002, see section 615(i) of Pub. L. 107–314, set out as a note under section 301d of this title.

Implementation of Subsection (b)Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title VI, § 617(b), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1579, provided that the Secretary of Defense could not implement subsec. (b) of this section, unless the Secretary submitted to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report justifying the need of the military departments for the authority provided in such subsection and describing the manner in which that authority would be implemented, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title VI, § 626(a)(2)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–153.

Pay ContinuationEnactment of this section not to reduce the pay to which any member of the uniformed services was entitled on June 30, 1971, see section 210 of Pub. L. 92–129, set out as a note under section 203 of this title.