Admiral (United States) - Statutory Limits

Statutory Limits

U.S. Code of law explicitly limits the total number of four-star admirals that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty flag officers is capped at 160 for the Navy. For the Army, Navy, and Air Force, no more than about 25% of the service's active duty general or flag officers may have more than two stars, and statute sets the total number of four-star officers allowed in each service. This is set at 6 four-star Navy admirals.

Some of these slots are reserved by statute. For the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations and the Vice Chief of Naval Operations are both admirals. In addition, the Commandant of the Coast Guard is an admiral; for the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the Assistant Secretary for Health is an admiral if he or she holds an appointment to the regular corps.

There are several exceptions to these limits allowing more than allotted within the statute. A navy admiral serving as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff does not count against the navy's flag officer cap. A navy admiral serving in one of several joint positions does not count against his service's four-star limit; these positions include the commander of a unified combatant command, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, and the deputy commander of U.S. European Command but only if the commander of that command is also the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against either limit, including the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The President may also add admirals to the navy if they are offset by removing an equivalent number of four stars from other services. Finally, all statutory limits may be waived at the President's discretion during time of war or national emergency.