37 U.S.C. § 101 — Definitions

This section defines terms used in the military pay and allowances law, in addition to the general definitions in title 1, sections 1 through 5. (1)(A) "United States," in a geographic sense, means the states and the District of Columbia. (B) "Continental United States" means the 48 adjoining states and the District of Columbia. (2) "Possessions" includes Guam, American Samoa, and the guano islands. (3) "Uniformed services" means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard, NOAA, and the Public Health Service. (4) "Armed forces" means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard. (5) "Secretary concerned" means: (A) the Army Secretary for Army matters; (B) the Navy Secretary for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard-in-the-Navy matters; (C) the Air Force Secretary for Air Force and Space Force matters; (D) the Homeland Security Secretary for Coast Guard matters when it's not in the Navy; (E) the Commerce Secretary for NOAA matters; and (F) the Health and Human Services Secretary for Public Health Service matters. (6) "National Guard" means the Army National Guard and Air National Guard. (7) "Army National Guard" means the land-force part of the organized militia of the states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Canal Zone, the Virgin Islands, and D.C. that is trained and officered under the Constitution, organized and equipped wholly or partly with federal money, and federally recognized. (8) "Army National Guard of the United States" means the Army reserve component made up entirely of Army National Guard members. (9) "Air National Guard" means the same kind of organized militia, but as an air force. (10) "Air National Guard of the United States" means the Air Force reserve component made up entirely of Air National Guard members. (11) "Officer" means a commissioned or warrant officer. (12) "Commissioned officer" includes a commissioned warrant officer. (13) "Warrant officer" means someone holding a commission or warrant in a warrant officer grade. (14) "Enlisted member" means someone in an enlisted grade. (15) "Grade" means a step in a rank scale that law or regulation establishes. (16) "Rank" means the order of precedence among uniformed services members. (17) "Rating" means the name (like "boatswain's mate") for members in an occupational field; "rate" means the name (like "chief boatswain's mate") for members sharing that rating and grade. (18) "Active duty" means full-time duty in a uniformed service, including full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance at a designated service school while on active service. (19) "Active duty for a period of more than 30 days" means active duty under a call or order not limited to 30 days or less. (20) "Active service" means service on active duty. (21) "Pay" includes basic pay, special pay, retainer pay, incentive pay, retired pay, and equivalent pay, but not allowances. (22) "Inactive-duty training" means (A) part-time duty for reserve-component members, or Space Force members in active status not on sustained duty, prescribed by the Secretary concerned under section 206 or other law, and (B) voluntary extra duties tied to a unit's training or upkeep, including such duty performed as National Guard members. It generally does not include correspondence-course work. (23) "Member" means a person appointed, enlisted, or conscripted into a uniformed service. (24) "Reserve component" means the Army National Guard of the United States, the Army Reserve, the Navy Reserve, the Marine Corps Reserve, the Air National Guard of the United States, the Air Force Reserve, the Coast Guard Reserve, or the Public Health Service Reserve Corps. (25) "Regular compensation" or "regular military compensation (RMC)" means the total of basic pay, basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for subsistence, and the federal tax advantage those allowances get because they aren't taxed, all added together for each payday. (26) "Contingency operation" has the meaning given in section 101 of title 10. (27) "Space force active status" has the meaning given in section 101 of title 10. (28) "Sustained duty" has the meaning given in section 101 of title 10.