Executive Order 13120: Ordering the Selected Reserve and Certain Individual Ready Reserve Members of the Armed Forces to Active Duty
President: Bill Clinton
Authorized activation of Selected Reserve units and designated essential Individual Ready Reserve members for Kosovo operations.
Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 13120 still in effect? Yes. Executive Order 13120 remains in effect. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 13120 do?
EO 13120 determined that additional forces were needed for operations in and around the former Yugoslavia related to Kosovo. It authorized the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Transportation for the Coast Guard as then organized, to order Selected Reserve units and individually assigned Selected Reserve members, plus Individual Ready Reserve members designated essential under agency regulations, to active duty and later terminate that service. Contemporary military reporting described the Kosovo call-up as affecting up to 33,102 reservists for periods of up to 270 days; those implementation figures are not stated in the order itself. This was operation-specific reserve authority, not a draft or standing authorization for current deployments.
Before and after
Before the order
Additional reserve authority was sought to augment active forces for Kosovo-related operations.
After the order
The responsible secretaries could call eligible units and essential IRR members and later terminate their service.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| Secretary of Defense | Order covered reserve units and individuals to active duty | For the specified Kosovo operations |
| Secretary of Transportation | Exercise corresponding Coast Guard authority as then organized | For the specified operations |
| Secretaries | End service of members ordered under this authority | As operationally appropriate |
What happened next
EO 13120 signed.
Order published in the Federal Register.
EO 13286 updated agency references after the creation of DHS.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The order invoked the then-applicable 10 U.S.C. section 12304 authority and did not create an individual right to be activated or a current call-up. The 33,102 and 270-day details come from contemporaneous implementation reporting, not the order’s text.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
- GovInfo — EO 13286 (opens in a new tab) Order text
Background sources
Independent reporting or analysis used only for context.
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on October 1, 2026. How we research →