10 U.S.C. § 8323: Officers: 20 years

An officer of the Navy or the Marine Corps who applies for retirement after completing more than 20 years of active service, of which at least 10 years was service as a commissioned officer, may, in the discretion of the President, be retired on the first day of any month designated by the President. The Secretary of Defense may authorize the Secretary of the Navy, during the period specified in subparagraph (B), to reduce the requirement under paragraph (1) for at least 10 years of active service as a commissioned officer to a period (determined by the Secretary) of not less than eight years. The period specified in this subparagraph is the period beginning on January 7, 2011 , and ending on September 30, 2018 . an officer’s years of active service are computed by adding all his active service in the armed forces; and his years of service as a commissioned officer are computed by adding all his active service in the armed forces under permanent or temporary appointments in grades above warrant officer, W–1. The retired grade of an officer retired under this section is the grade determined under section 1370 or 1370a of this title, as applicable. A warrant officer who retires under this section may elect to be placed on the retired list in the highest grade and with the highest retired pay to which he is entitled under any provision of this title. If the pay of that highest grade is less than the pay of any warrant grade satisfactorily held by him on active duty, his retired pay shall be based on the higher pay. Unless otherwise entitled to higher pay, an officer retired under this section is entitled to retired pay computed under section 8333 of this title . Officers of the Navy Reserve and the Marine Corps Reserve who were transferred to the Retired Reserve from an honorary retired list under section 213(b) of the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 ( 66 Stat. 485 ), or are transferred to the Retired Reserve under section 8327 of this title , may be retired under this section, notwithstanding their retired status, if they are otherwise eligible.