Title 10 › Subtitle F — Alternative Military Personnel Systems › PART I — SPACE FORCE › CHAPTER 2005 — OFFICERS › SUBCHAPTER I — ORIGINAL APPOINTMENTS › § 20203
Gives people credit for earlier commissioned service when they get their first Space Force officer appointment. If someone before their appointment served as a Space Force officer on active duty or active status, or as a regular or reserve officer on active status in any uniformed service, that prior commissioned service (not service as a commissioned warrant officer) counts toward their initial grade and rank. Department of Defense rules can limit how much prior service is counted. The Secretary of the Air Force may also give constructive credit for advanced education, training, or special experience that directly meets Space Force needs. The Secretary can credit each relevant instance, even if they overlap, but no more than 20 people may get this constructive credit in any year. The credit cannot exceed what is needed to be eligible for an original appointment as a colonel. Constructive credit is added when the officer is appointed and is used only to set initial grade, rank in grade, and time in grade for promotion purposes. Service Academy graduates get no credit for things done before graduation. The Secretary must report by December 1 each year on the constructive credit given the prior year. Existing presidential delegation rules under Executive Order 13384 apply the same way for related appointment functions.
Full Legal Text
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 20203
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110