33 U.S.C. § 3079a — Treatment of commission in commissioned officer corps as employment in Administration for purposes of certain hiring decisions

(a) In general In any case in which the Secretary^* accepts an application for a position of employment with the Administration^* and limits consideration of applications for such position to applications submitted by individuals serving in a career or career-conditional position in the competitive service within the Administration, the Secretary must deem an officer^* who has served as an officer in the commissioned officer corps of the Administration for at least three years to be serving in a career or career-conditional position in the competitive service within the Administration for such limitation. (b) Career appointments If the Secretary selects an application submitted by an officer described in subsection (a) for a position described in such subsection, the Secretary must give such officer a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service, as appropriate. (c) Competitive service defined In this section, the term “competitive service” has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 5 .