---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 9151"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "9151"
heading: "Commissioned officer grades"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/9151"
units:
  - "Subtitle D — Air Force and Space Force"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 915 — Appointments in the Regular Air Force and in the Space Force"
---

# §9151. Commissioned officer grades


The commissioned [grades](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) in the [Regular](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-12) Air Force and in the Space Force are:

- (1) Major general.
- (2) Brigadier general.
- (3) Colonel.
- (4) Lieutenant colonel.
- (5) Major.
- (6) Captain.
- (7) First lieutenant.
- (8) Second lieutenant.

## Source credit

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 507, § 8281; renumbered § 9151, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 806(b)(3), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1832; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1741(a)(1), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 679.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 8281 | 10:506(a) (last 24 words). | Aug. 7, 1947, ch. 512, § 502(a) (last 24 words), 61 Stat. 884. |

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2023—Pub. L. 118–31 inserted “and in the Space Force” after “in the Regular Air Force” in introductory provisions.

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 8281 of this title as this section.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.