---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 20402"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "20402"
heading: "Enlisted members: standards and qualifications for retention"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/20402"
units:
  - "Subtitle F — Alternative Military Personnel Systems"
  - "Part I — Space Force"
  - "Chapter 2009 — Retention and Separation Generally"
---

# §20402. Enlisted members: standards and qualifications for retention

- (a) **Standards and Qualifications for Retention.—** The Secretary of the Air Force shall, by regulation, prescribe—
  - (1) standards and qualifications for the retention of [enlisted members](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-6) of the Space Force; and
  - (2) equitable procedures for the periodic determination of the compliance of each such member with those standards and qualifications.
- (b) **Effect of Failure to Comply With Standards and Qualifications.—** If an [enlisted member](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-6) serving in [Space Force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) fails to comply with the standards and qualifications prescribed under [subsection (a)](#a), the member shall—
  - (1) if qualified, be transferred to [Space Force inactive status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-2);
  - (2) if qualified, be retired in accordance with [section 20603 of this title](/usc/10/20603.md); or
  - (3) have the member’s enlistment terminated.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1718(a), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 656.)