10 U.S.C. § 20215 — Recommendations for promotion by selection boards

(a) Board to Recommend Officers Best Qualified for Promotion. A selection board must recommend, for promotion to the next grade, the officers it considers best qualified within each competitive category, weighing the Space Force's need for officers with particular skills, as noted in the guidance given to the board under section 615(b). (b) Number to Be Recommended. The Secretary of the Air Force sets how many officers a board may recommend. (c) Board Procedures for Recommendations; Limitations. A board can only recommend an officer if a majority of the board's members vote for the officer; a majority finds the officer fully qualified; and, after weighing any adverse information given to the board under section 615, a majority finds the officer is among the best qualified to meet the Space Force's needs, consistent with the exemplary-conduct standard in section 9233. (d) Limitation on Promotions Under Other Authority. Unless another law says otherwise, a Space Force officer can only be promoted under this chapter if a selection board convened under this chapter, or, for an officer transferring in from another service, under chapter 36 or chapter 1403, considers and recommends them. (e) Disclosure of Board Recommendations. A board's recommendations can only be shared as the Secretary of Defense's regulations allow. They can't be shared with anyone outside the board, or its designated staff, until the board's written report is signed by every member, as required by section 617. (f) Prohibition on Attempting to Influence Members of a Board. The Secretary of the Air Force, and anyone with authority over a board member, can't scold or reprimand the board or any member over its recommendations or lawful decisions, and can't try to pressure or improperly influence the board or any member while it forms its recommendations. (g) Higher Placement on Promotion List of Officer of Particular Merit. When the Secretary of the Air Force authorizes it, a board can, under the Secretary's guidelines, recommend that officers of particular merit, from among those it's already selecting, be placed higher on the promotion list set under section 624(a)(1). An officer can only get this higher placement if at least a majority of the board recommends it, unless the Secretary sets a different requirement, which must be included in the board's guidance under section 615. For officers recommended this way, the board also recommends the order they should appear on the list, following the Secretary's guidelines.