High Year Tenure (HYT) is a term used by the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
to describe the maximum number of years enlisted members may serve at a given rank without achieving promotion, after which they must
separate or retire. HYT is applicable to enlisted personnel of all six military branches of the United States.
Officers are not subject to HYT, but are instead limited to statutory service limits by pay grade. See
Defense Officer Personnel Management Act
The Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) () is a United States federal law passed in 1980 that for the first-time standardized officer personnel management across the United States Armed Forces. It established ceilings on the number o ...
for officer information.
In the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
, soldiers will finish their enlistment contract if they exceed HYT or RCP (retention control point), unless they are reduced in rank.
History
In January 2010, the Air Force returned HYT limits to pre-2003 levels.
On 1 August 2017, the Navy extended the HYT for active component sailors to 10 years from 8 years for third class petty officers, to 16 years from 14 years for second class petty officers, and to 22 years from 20 years for first class petty officers.
On 14 December 2017, the Navy announced that it will extend the HYT for seamen from its current five to six years on 1 February 2018.
On 1 February 2019, the Air Force increased the HYT for E-4 through E-6.
On 3 October 2022, the Coast Guard suspended HYT for enlisted active duty members until 1 January 2025.
On 22 December 2022, the Navy suspended HYT until 30 September 2024.
In December 2023, the Air Force did not increase HYT generally, but only for those with a HYT date between December 2023 and Sept 2024, which affected less than 2,000 people. Similarly, in July 2024 the USAF increased by two years the HYT for those with a HYT date between October 2024 and January 2025.
HYT dates
Extensions to the HYT date can be obtained for various reasons such as personal hardships or base closures. HYT dates vary by rank/rate, as follows:
See also
*
Up or out
Up or out, also known as a tenure or partnership system, is the requirement for members of a hierarchical organization to achieve a certain rank within a certain period of time. If they fail to do so, they must leave the organization.
Examples ...
, a similar private-sector concept
References
Uniformed services of the United States
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