Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§1181 Authority to Establish Procedures to Consider the Separation of Officers for Substandard Performance of Duty and for Certain Other Reasons
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 60 — SEPARATION OF REGULAR OFFICERS FOR SUBSTANDARD PERFORMANCE OF DUTY OR FOR CERTAIN OTHER REASONS › § 1181
Summary
Each military department must make rules, within limits the Secretary of Defense sets, to review at any time the records of commissioned officers in the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, Regular Marine Corps, and Regular Space Force. Under those rules, an officer (not a commissioned warrant officer or a retired officer) can be required to explain why they should remain on active duty if their job performance is below the standards, if they committed misconduct or serious moral or professional failures, or if keeping them may not clearly serve national security.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §1181
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Subject to such limitations as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe, the Secretary of the military department concerned shall prescribe, by regulation, procedures for the review at any time of the record of any commissioned officer (other than a commissioned warrant officer or a retired officer) of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, Regular Marine Corps, or Regular Space Force to determine whether such officer shall be required, because his performance of duty has fallen below standards prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, to show cause for his retention on active duty.
(b)Subject to such limitations as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe, the Secretary of the military department concerned shall prescribe, by regulation, procedures for the review at any time of the record of any commissioned officer (other than a commissioned warrant officer or a retired officer) of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, Regular Marine Corps, or Regular Space Force to determine whether such officer should be required, because of misconduct, because of moral or professional dereliction, or because his retention is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security, to show cause for his retention on active duty.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “Regular Marine Corps, or Regular Space Force” for “or Regular Marine Corps” in subsecs. (a) and (b). 1984—Pub. L. 98–525 substituted “Authority to establish procedures to consider the separation of officers for substandard performance of duty and for certain other reasons” for “Authority to convene boards of officers to consider separation of officers for substandard performance of duty or for certain other reasons” in section catchline. Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 98–525 amended subsecs. (a) and (b) generally, substituting “Subject to such limitations as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe, the Secretary of the military department concerned shall prescribe, by regulation, procedures for the review at any time of the record” for “Under
Regulations
prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the military department concerned may at any time convene a board of officers to review the record”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1984 Amendment Pub. L. 98–525, title V, § 524(b)(3), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2524, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by paragraphs (1) and (2) [amending this section and the analysis to this chapter] shall take effect on the first day of the first month that begins more than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 19, 1984], but shall not apply to any case in which, before that date, a board of officers has been ordered to convene under the provisions of section 1181 of title 10, United States Code, as in effect before that date.”
Effective Date
Section effective Sept. 15, 1981, but the authority to prescribe
Regulations
under this chapter effective on Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701 of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as an
Effective Date
of 1980 Amendment note under section 101 of this title. Transition Provisions Under Defense Officer Personnel Management ActFor provisions to prevent extinction or premature termination of rights, duties, penalties, or proceedings that existed or were begun prior to the
Effective Date
of Pub. L. 96–513 and otherwise to allow for an orderly transition to the system of officer personnel management put in place under Pub. L. 96–513, see section 601 et seq. of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 611 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 1181
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102