SES Precedence Changes

The following information is taken from the DoD Order of Precedence. It says that, effective January 22, 2004, unless an SES position is specifically listed on the Order of Precedence, all SES members precedence will be either at the Code 5 (2-star) or Code 6 (1-star) levels (see text in red below):

9. Effective with this update, previous guidance pertaining to determining the precedence for members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) had to be revised due to the implementation of the New Performance-Based Pay System for the SES. The provisions for the new pay system were included in the National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 108-136, November 24, 2003). Among the changes, this new system eliminates the six Executive Schedule pay levels in favor of one pay range. Implementation regulations are forthcoming. These changes took effect January 11, 2004. The revised guidance is as follows:

Precedence for members of the SES is established by the position held. The SES includes various executive and managerial positions and excludes non-managerial, Senior Level (SL) and Scientific and Professional (ST) positions as well as SES-type systems authorized by law for certain law enforcement or intelligence programs. The following general guidance pertains to members of the SES whose positions are not specifically listed in this DoD Order of Precedence list; their precedence will be in either Code 5 or 6. To determine if the SES is a Code 5 or 6, contact the member’s office or the service office responsible for SES matters.

Note: A few 3-star level SES employees remain as they were filling positions at the 3-star level at the time the New Performance-Based Pay System was implemented.