--- kind: "section" citation: "10 U.S.C. § 20502" title: "10" title_heading: "Armed Forces" number: "20502" heading: "Retention boards" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/20502" units: - "Subtitle F — Alternative Military Personnel Systems" - "Part I — Space Force" - "Chapter 2011 — Separation of Officers for Substandard Performance of Duty or for Certain Other Reasons" --- # §20502. Retention boards - (a) **Convening of Boards to Consider Officers Required to Show Cause.—** The Secretary of the Air Force shall convene retention boards at such times and places as the Secretary may prescribe to receive evidence and make findings and recommendations as to whether an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) who is required under [section 20501 of this title](/usc/10/20501.md) to show cause for retention in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) should be retained in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1). Each retention board shall be composed of not less than three [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) having the qualifications prescribed by [section 20506 of this title](/usc/10/20506.md). - (b) **Fair and Impartial Hearing.—** A retention board shall give a fair and impartial hearing to each [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) required under [section 20501 of this title](/usc/10/20501.md) to show cause for retention in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1). - (c) **Effect of Board Determination That an Officer Has Failed to Establish That the Officer Should Be Retained.—** - (1) If a retention board determines that the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) has failed to establish that the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) should be retained in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1), the board shall recommend to the Secretary of the Air Force one of the following: - (A) That the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) be transferred to an inactive status. - (B) That the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1), if qualified under any provision of law, be retired. - (C) That the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) be discharged from the Space Force. - (2) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Air Force, an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) as to whom a retention board makes a recommendation under [paragraph (1)](#c-1) that the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) not be retained in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) may be required to take leave pending the completion of the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s case under this chapter. The [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) may be required to begin such leave at any time following the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s receipt of the report of the retention board, including the board’s recommendation for removal from a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1), and the expiration of any period allowed for submission by the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) of a rebuttal to that report. The leave may be continued until the date on which action by the Secretary of the Air Force on the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s case is completed or may be terminated at any earlier time. - (d) **Effect of Board Determination That an Officer Has Established That the Officer Should Be Retained.—** - (1) If a retention board determines that the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) has established that the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) should be retained in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1), the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s case is closed. - (2) An [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) who is required to show cause for retention in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) under subsection (a) of [section 20501 of this title](/usc/10/20501.md) and who is determined under [paragraph (1)](#d-1) to have established that the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) should be retained in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) may not again be required to show cause for retention in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) under such subsection within the one-year period beginning on the date of that determination. - (3) - (A) Subject to [subparagraph (B)](#d-3-B), an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) who is required to show cause for retention in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) under subsection (b) of [section 20501 of this title](/usc/10/20501.md) and who is determined under [paragraph (1)](#d-1) to have established that the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) should be retained in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) may again be required to show cause for retention at any time. - (B) An [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) who has been required to show cause for retention in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) under subsection (b) of [section 20501 of this title](/usc/10/20501.md) and who is thereafter retained in an [active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-4) may not again be required to show cause for retention in a [space force active status](/usc/10/101.md?p=e-1) under such subsection solely because of conduct which was the subject of the previous proceedings, unless the findings or recommendations of the retention board that considered the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s previous case are determined to have been obtained by fraud or collusion. - (4) In the case of an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) described in [paragraph (2)](#d-2) or [paragraph (3)(A)](#d-3-A), the retention board may recommend that the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) be required to complete additional training, professional education, or such other developmental programs as may be available to correct any identified deficiencies and improve the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s performance within the Space Force. ## Source credit (Added Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1719, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 659; amended Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title V, § 521(x), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 1883.) ## Notes ### Editorial Notes ### Amendments 2024—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 118–159, § 521(x)(1), substituted “That an Officer Has Failed to Establish That the Officer Should Be Retained” for “Than an Officer Has Failed to Establish That the Officer Should Be Retained” in heading and realigned margins. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 118–159, § 521(x)(2), substituted “That” for “Than” in heading.