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The USPHS Commissioned Corps is committed to our mission to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of the nation. Public Health Service officers are trained and equipped to provide crucial public health leadership, assist with policy development, advance innovation and science, provide essential care services and respond to national and global public health emergencies. Through our Active Duty Regular Corps, our Public Health Response Strike Team (PHERST) and our Ready Reserve Corps, we remain responsive and available to rapidly deploy in the service of health.
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Commissioned Corps BulletinDecember 4th, 2018
Revised “Involuntary Separation” Directive (CCD 123.01)
A new Involuntary Separation policy for U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers is now available. Commissioned Corps Directive 123.01 (CCD 123.01) contains regulations governing the termination of a Commissioned Corps officer without consent of the officer.
This policy only applies to Regular Commissioned Corps officers with less than 20 years of creditable service for retirement as defined in CCI 384.01.
Important Changes in the Updated Involuntary Separation Policy (CCD 123.01):
- Clarifies that the directive applies only to Regular Commissioned Corps officers.
- Specifies that, except for cases of marginal or unsatisfactory performance, an Involuntary Termination Board (ITB) is an administrative review board. This update also adds an appeals process for an ITB’s approved recommendation;
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Specifies that an officer may be referred to an ITB for:
- Refusal to undergo physical examination or furnish information;
- Failure to meet uniform wear requirements;
- Failure to obtain a suitable assignment after removal from the Temporary Disability Retirement List (TDRL);
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Failure to meet Conditions of Service:
- Failure to meet conditions of service after removal from TDRL;
- Failure to pass a background investigation or obtain a security clearance;
- Failure to meet licensure and certification requirements;
- Failure to meet force readiness requirements;
- Failure to meet Corps weight standards;
- Clarifies consequences of not disclosing a medical condition at the time of Corps appointment;
- Authorizes termination of an officer with 90 or more nonconsecutive days of Absence Without Leave (AWOL);
- Aligns failure of promotion with 42 U.S.C. §211;
CCD 123.01 is located in Book 1, Chapter 2, and Section 3, policy number 01 of the Commissioned Corps Issuances System. The policy is also listed under the Issuances section of the Commissioned Corps Management Information System homepage.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are provided below. If you have additional questions, please contact CDR Kyle Lyons, Senior Adverse Actions Officer by email at: james.lyons@hhs.gov or call 240-453-6098.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
An Involuntary Separation Policy is necessary to provide officers with guidance on the conditions under which they may be involuntarily separated from the Commissioned Corps.
No, this policy applies to officers with less than 20 years of creditable service. However, officers with over 20 years of service may be subject to involuntary retirement as described in CCI 385.01, “Involuntary Retirement (20 Years),” and involuntary termination of their commission by a Board of Inquiry (BOI) pursuant to CCD 111.02, “Disciplinary Action.”
An officer may be involuntarily separated during the probationary period (first 36 months of service), through the 3-Year File Review process (upon completion of the probationary period for officers appointed at the permanent O-3 grade or above); a Medical Review Board; failure of promotion; a Board of Inquiry (BOI) for termination of an officer’s commission when such termination would be in the best interest of the Corps; or after a review by an Involuntary Termination Board (ITB).
The recommendation for an ITB may be initiated by a Supervisor, agency leadership, or the Director of the Division of Commissioned Corps Personnel and Readiness.
Below are just a few examples of why an officer may be subject to an ITB:
- Refusal to undergo a physical examination or furnish medical information;
- Substandard performance;
- Licensure and certification noncompliance;
- Force readiness non-compliance;
- Lack of a suitable Assignment after completing a detail from a non-HHS agency;
- Non-compliance with the weight standards;
- Refusal to wear the prescribed uniform of the day on a daily basis.
All officers are entitled to due process. For an Involuntary Termination Board (ITB), officers may submit written statements, review their service record, and secure representation at the officer’s expense. If the ITB is convened for marginal or substandard performance, the officer may request a hearing and present witnesses.
An ITB may recommend any of the following:
- Retention with/without demotion;
- Retention with/without reassignment;
- Disciplinary action; and/or
- Termination of commission.
If the final recommendation of the board is termination of the officer’s commission, the Surgeon General (SG) may order further investigation by the board; may approve and adopt the board findings in whole or in part; or may disapprove the boards’ recommendations. An officer may appeal the SG’s decision to the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH).
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