Regular Army (United States) - Post-war Years

Post-war Years

After the demobilization of the Army of the United States in 1946, the United States Army was divided into the Regular Army (RA) and the Army Reserve (USAR). During the Korean War, the Army of the United States was reinstated but had only enlisted draftees. Officers after this point held Regular Army rank only, but could hold an additional "temporary" rank in addition to their permanent rank. Temporary Regular Army ranks were not as easily revoked as the former AUS ranks.

Since the Vietnam War, officers' permanent rank is their RA rank. Active duty officers can hold an RA commission and rank and may also hold a higher rank with a USAR commission. Reserve officers hold only a USAR commission, but may serve in either the reserve component or on active duty. That is, all non-permanent ranks (including theater rank, temporary rank, battlefield promotions, etc.) are handled through USAR commissions. Those officers without RA commissions do not have a permanent rank. Enlisted ranks are all permanent RA ranks.

After Vietnam, most Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and Officer Candidate School (OCS) graduates, and those receiving direct commissions were commissioned as RA, US Army Reserve (USAR), or into the Army National Guard (ARNG) of a specific state. USAR officers could be assessed into the basic USAR component; that is, officers who served one weekend a month and two weeks a year for training, or as an Other Than Regular Army (OTRA) officer. RA and OTRA officers were those who came on active duty and were expected to serve their full commission service obligation or until retirement. At promotion to major, OTRA officers had the option of requesting integration into the RA or remaining OTRA. If not selected for promotion to lieutenant colonel, OTRA majors were required to retire at 20 years unless the Secretary of the Army authorized further service as part of the Voluntary Indefinite (VOLINDEF) program. In the late 1990s, as part of a series of officer management regulatory changes, upon promotion to major all OTRA officers were required to integrate into the RA or exit service within 90 days. Recently, OTRA is rarely used with virtually all new officers being commissioned RA, USAR, or into the National Guard as appropriate.

After the abolition of the draft, the Regular Army became the primary component of the United States Army, augmented by the Army Reserve and Army National Guard of the United States. In the early 1980s, the use of temporary Regular Army ranks was suspended.

Since passage of the 2005 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), all active duty officers are commissioned in the regular army. Eligible commissioned officers serving on active duty were automatically converted to RA on/or after Veteran's Day, 11 November 2005.