Unless retired or separated earlier, each officer on the lineal list of the commissioned corps who is serving in a grade below the grade of rear admiral (lower half) shall be retired on the first day of the month following the month in which the officer becomes 62 years of age.
Notwithstanding subsection (a), the President may defer the retirement of an officer serving in a position that carries a grade above captain for such period as the President considers advisable, but such a deferment may not extend beyond the first day of the month following the month in which the officer becomes 64 years of age.
(
Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 853k of this title prior to repeal by
Functions of President under subsec. (b) of this section delegated to Secretary of Commerce by section 1(e) of Ex. Ord. No. 11023, May 28, 1962, 27 F.R. 5131, as amended, set out as a note under section 301 of Title 3, The President.