[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 32, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 32CFR104.3]

[Page 478]
 
                       TITLE 32--NATIONAL DEFENSE
 
              CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
 
PART 104_CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF APPLICANTS FOR, AND SERVICE MEMBERS AND FORMER SERVICE MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  104.3  Definitions.

    Critical mission. An operational mission that requires the skills or 
resources available in a Reserve component or components.
    Critical requirement. A requirement in which the incumbent possesses 
unique knowledge, extensive experience, and specialty skill training to 
successfully fulfill the duties or responsibilities in support of the 
mission, operation or exercise. Also, a requirement in which the 
incumbent must gain the necessary experience to qualify for key senior 
leadership positions within his or her Reserve component.
    Escalator position. This is established by the principle that the 
returning Service member is entitled to the position of civilian 
employment that he or she would have attained had he or she remained 
continuously employed by that civilian employer. This may be a position 
of greater or lesser responsibilities, to include a layoff status, when 
compared to the employees of the same seniority and status employed by 
the company.
    Impossible or unreasonable. For the purpose of determining when 
providing advance notice of uniformed service to an employer is 
impossible or unreasonable, the unavailability of an employer or 
employer representative to whom notification can be given, an order by 
competent military authority to report for uniformed service within 
forty-eight hours of notification, or other circumstances that the 
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs may 
determine are impossible or unreasonable are sufficient justification 
for not providing advance notice of pending uniformed service to an 
employer.
    Military necessity. For the purpose of determining when providing 
advance notice of uniformed service is not required, a mission, 
operation, exercise or requirement that is classified, or a pending or 
ongoing mission, operation, exercise or requirement that may be 
compromised or otherwise adversely affected by public knowledge is 
sufficient justification for not providing advance notice to an 
employer.
    Non-career service. The period of active uniformed service required 
to complete the initial uniformed service obligation; a period of active 
duty or full-time National Guard duty that is for a specified purpose 
and duration with no expressed or implied commitment for continued 
active duty; or participation in a Reserve component as a member of the 
Ready Reserve performing annual training, active duty for training or 
inactive duty training. Continuous or repeated active uniformed service 
or full-time National Guard duty that results in eligibility for a 
regular retirement from the Armed Forces is not considered non-career 
service.
    Officer. For determining those Service officials authorized to 
provide advance notice to a civilian employer of pending uniformed 
service by a Service member or an individual who has applied for 
uniformed service, an officer shall include all commissioned officers, 
warrant officers, and non-commissioned officers authorized by the 
Secretary concerned to act in this capacity.
    Uniformed service. Performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary 
basis in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps or the 
Coast Guard, including their Reserve components, when the Service member 
is engaged in active duty, active duty for special work, active duty for 
training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, 
annual training or full-time National Guard duty, and, for purposes of 
this part, a period for which a person is absent from a position of 
employment for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of 
the person to perform such duty.

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