The Surgeon General shall assign one commissioned officer from the Regular Corps to administer the Office of the Surgeon General, to act as Surgeon General during the absence or disability of the Surgeon General or in the event of a vacancy in that office, and to perform such other duties as the Surgeon General may prescribe, and while so assigned he shall have the title of Deputy Surgeon General.

The Surgeon General shall assign eight commissioned officers from the Regular Corps to be, respectively, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Chief of the Bureau of State Services, the Chief of the Bureau of Medical Services, the Chief Medical Officer of the United States Coast Guard, the Chief Dental Officer of the Service, the Chief Nurse Officer of the Service, the Chief Pharmacist Officer of the Service, and the Chief Sanitary Engineering Officer of the Service, and while so serving they shall each have the title of Assistant Surgeon General.

The Surgeon General, with the approval of the Secretary, is authorized to create special temporary positions in the grade of Assistant Surgeons General when necessary for the proper staffing of the Service. The Surgeon General may assign officers of either the Regular Corps or the Reserve Corps to any such temporary position, and while so serving they shall each have the title of Assistant Surgeon General.

(1) The Surgeon General, with the approval of the Secretary, is authorized to create special temporary positions in the grade of Assistant Surgeons General when necessary for the proper staffing of the Service. The Surgeon General may assign officers of either the Regular Corps or the Reserve Corps to any such temporary position, and while so serving they shall each have the title of Assistant Surgeon General.

(2) Except as provided in this paragraph, the number of special temporary positions created by the Surgeon General under paragraph (1) shall not on any day exceed 1 per centum of the highest number, during the ninety days preceding such day, of officers of the Regular Corps on active duty and officers of the Reserve Corps on active duty for more than thirty days. If on any day the number of such special temporary positions exceeds such 1 per centum limitation, for a period of not more than one year after such day, the number of such special temporary positions shall be reduced for purposes of complying with such 1 per centum limitation only by the resignation, retirement, death, or transfer to a position of a lower grade, of any officer holding any such temporary position.

The Surgeon General shall designate the Assistant Surgeon General who shall serve as Surgeon General in case of absence or disability, or vacancy in the offices, of both the Surgeon General and the Deputy Surgeon General.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title II, § 205, 58 Stat. 684; Feb. 28, 1948, ch. 83, § 3, 62 Stat. 39; June 16, 1948, ch. 481, § 6(b), 62 Stat. 469; 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 1, §§ 5, 8, eff. Apr. 11, 1953, 18 F.R. 2053, 67 Stat. 631; Pub. L. 96–76, title III, §§ 302(b), 303, Sept. 29, 1979, 93 Stat. 584.)