In the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, and the United States Maritime Service

United States Maritime Service

The United States Maritime Service, abbreviated as USMS, was established in 1938 under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. The mission of the organization is to train people to become officers and crewmembers on merchant ships that form the United States Merchant Marine...

, vice admiral (VADM) is a three-star

3 star rank

An officer of three-star rank is a very senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-8. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members...

 flag officer, with the pay grade of O-9. Vice admiral ranks above rear admiral and below admiral

Admiral (United States)

In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...

. Vice admiral is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general

Lieutenant General (United States)

In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...

 in the other uniformed services

Uniformed services of the United States

The United States has seven federal uniformed services that commission officers as defined by Title 10, and subsequently structured and organized by Title 10, Title 14, Title 33 and Title 42 of the United States Code.-Uniformed services:...

.

Statutory limits

U.S. Code of law explicitly limits the total number of vice admirals that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active-duty flag officers is capped at 160 for the Navy. For the Navy, no more than about 25% of the service's active-duty flag officers may have more than two stars. Some of these slots are reserved by statute. For example the Surgeon General of the United States Navy

Surgeon General of the United States Navy

The Surgeon General of the United States Navy is the senior-most medical corps officer in the United States Navy.- Establishment of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery :...

  is a vice admiral. The Judge Advocate General of the Navy

Judge Advocate General of the Navy

The Judge Advocate General of the Navy is the highest ranking uniformed lawyer in the United States Department of the Navy. The Judge Advocate General is the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations on legal matters pertaining to the Navy...

  is a vice admiral in the Navy or a lieutenant general in the Marine Corps; the Surgeon General of the United States

Surgeon General of the United States

The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...

  is also vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against either limit, including the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

The Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is a senior United States government official in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency...

. The President may also add vice admirals to the Navy if they are offset by removing an equivalent number of three-star officers from other services. Finally, all statutory limits may be waived at the President's discretion during time of war or national emergency.

Appointment and tour length

The three-star grade goes hand-in-hand with the position of office it is linked to, so the rank is temporary. Officers may only achieve three-star grade if they are appointed to positions that require the officer to hold such a rank. Their rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, which is usually set by statute. Vice admirals are nominated for appointment by the President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 from any eligible officers holding the rank of rear admiral (lower half) or above, who also meet the requirements for the position, under the advice and/or suggestion of their respective department secretary, service secretary, and if applicable, the Joint Chiefs

Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...

. The nominee must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank. The standard tour length for most vice admiral positions is three years but some are set four or more years by statute.

Extensions of the standard tour length can be approved, within statutory limits, by their respective service secretaries, the Secretary of Defense, the President, and/or Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 but these are rare, as they block other officers from being promoted. Some statutory limits under the U.S. Code can be waived in times of national emergency or war. Three-star ranks may also be given by act of Congress but this is extremely rare.

Retirement

Other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement. Three-star officers must retire after 38 years of service unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer. Otherwise all flag officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday. The Secretary of Defense, however, can defer a three-star officer's retirement until the officer's 66th birthday and the President can defer it until the officer's 68th birthday.

Flag officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors. Since there are a finite number of three-star slots available to each service, typically one officer must leave office before another can be promoted. Maintaining a three-star rank is a game of musical chairs; once an officer vacates a position bearing that rank, he or she has no more than 60 days to be appointed or reappointed to a job of equal or higher importance before he or she must involuntarily retire. Historically, officers leaving three-star positions were allowed to revert to their permanent two-star ranks to mark time in lesser jobs until statutory retirement, but now such officers are expected to retire immediately to avoid obstructing the promotion flow.

United States Maritime Service

Although it exists only as an auxiliary, the United States Maritime Service

United States Maritime Service

The United States Maritime Service, abbreviated as USMS, was established in 1938 under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. The mission of the organization is to train people to become officers and crewmembers on merchant ships that form the United States Merchant Marine...

 does maintain the rank of vice admiral. No USMS officer is currently commissioned at this rank. The last USMS officer to hold the grade was Joseph D. Stewart, who retired in 2008. Even though the Martime Service is an auxiliary service, the grade is appointed by the President via the Secretary of Transportation

United States Secretary of Transportation

The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fourteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Transportation on October 15, 1966,...

, with the consent of the Senate, making it a federally recognized rank with corresponding paygrade. However, their pay differs from the other federal uniformed service pay scale.