---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 9203"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "9203"
heading: "Retired commissioned officers: status"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/9203"
units:
  - "Subtitle D — Air Force and Space Force"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 921 — Active Duty"
---

# §9203. Retired commissioned officers: status


A retired [commissioned officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-2) of the Air Force or the Space Force who is on [active duty](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-1) is considered, for all purposes except promotion, to be an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) of the organization to which he is assigned.


## Source credit

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 526, § 8503; renumbered § 9203, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 806(b)(5), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1832; amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title IX, § 923(c)(4), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3810.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 8503 | 10:999. | July 9, 1918, ch. 143, subch. XX (2d par.), 40 Stat. 893. |

The words “and shall be an extra number therein” are omitted, since, in the opinion of the Judge Advocate General of the Army (JAG 210.85, Feb. 21, 1923), they were repealed by the Act of July 31, 1935, ch. 422, 49 Stat. 505. The words “in the discretion of the President, employed * * * assigned to duty” are omitted as surplusage. The words “arms, corps, department” are omitted, since the Air Force does not have organic corps created by statute.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 116–283 inserted “or the Space Force” after “the Air Force”.

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 8503 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.