Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110

§20232 Authority to Allow Officers to Opt Out of Selection Board Consideration

Title 10 › Subtitle F — Alternative Military Personnel Systems › PART I — SPACE FORCE › CHAPTER 2005 — OFFICERS › SUBCHAPTER III — PROMOTIONS › § 20232

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Air Force can let a Space Force officer ask to be left off a promotion selection board. The officer must request it, and the Secretary must approve it. The Secretary may approve only if it helps the Space Force and one of these is true: the officer needs more time to finish a broadening or advanced-education assignment, another important Department assignment, or a delayed career step and the officer has not failed promotion to that grade before; the officer is finishing advanced or professional military education and has not opted out before; or the officer is in a critical-skill job that no same-grade Space Force officer can fill and has not opted out before.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §20232

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Authority.—

The Secretary of the Air Force may provide that an officer on the Space Force officer list may, upon the officer’s request and with the approval of the Secretary, be excluded from consideration by a selection board convened under section 20211 of this title to consider officers for promotion to the next higher grade.

(b)Criteria.—

The Secretary may only approve a request under subsection (a) as follows:

(1)Completion of certain assignments.—

If—

(A)the basis for the request is to allow an officer to complete a broadening assignment, an advanced education assignment, another assignment of significant value to the Department, or a career progression requirement delayed by such an assignment;

(B)the Secretary determines the exclusion from consideration is in the best interest of the Space Force; and

(C)the officer has not previously failed of selection for promotion to the grade for which the officer requests the exclusion from consideration.

(2)Completion of certain education.—

If—

(A)the basis for the request is to allow an officer to complete advanced education or professional military education;

(B)the Secretary determines that it is in the best interests of the Space Force for the officer to continue to serve in current position and grade; and

(C)the officer has not previously opted out of a promotion board under this section.

(3)Service in critical skill position.—

If—

(A)the officer is serving in a critical skill position that cannot be filled by another Space Force officer serving in the same grade;

(B)the Secretary determines that it is in the best interests of the Space Force for the officer to continue to serve in their current position and grade; and

(C)the officer has not previously opted out of a promotion board under this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 20232

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110