10 U.S. Code § 9348 - Cadets: agreement to serve as officer

(a) Each cadet shall sign an agreement with respect to the cadet’s length of service in the armed forces. The agreement shall provide that the cadet agrees to the following:

(1)

That the cadet will complete the course of instruction at the Academy.

(2) That upon graduation from the Academy the cadet—

(A)

will accept an appointment, if tendered, as a commissioned officer of the Regular Air Force; and

(B)

will serve on active duty for at least five years immediately after such appointment.

(3) That if an appointment described in paragraph (2) is not tendered or if the cadet is permitted to resign as a regular officer before completion of the commissioned service obligation of the cadet, the cadet—

(A)

will accept an appointment as a commissioned officer as a Reserve in the Air Force for service in the Air Force Reserve; and

(B)

will remain in that reserve component until completion of the commissioned service obligation of the cadet.

(4)

That if an appointment described in paragraph (2) or (3) is tendered and the cadet participates in a program under section 2121 of this title, the cadet will fulfill any unserved obligation incurred under this section on active duty, regardless of the type of appointment held, upon completion of, and in addition to, any service obligation incurred under section 2123 of this title for participation in such program.

(b)

(1)

The Secretary of the Air Force may transfer to the Air Force Reserve, and may order to active duty for such period of time as the Secretary prescribes (but not to exceed four years), a cadet who breaches an agreement under subsection (a). The period of time for which a cadet is ordered to active duty under this paragraph may be determined without regard to section 651(a) of this title.

(2)

A cadet who is transferred to the Air Force Reserve under paragraph (1) shall be transferred in an appropriate enlisted grade or rating, as determined by the Secretary.

(3)

For the purposes of paragraph (1), a cadet shall be considered to have breached an agreement under subsection (a) if the cadet is separated from the Academy under circumstances which the Secretary determines constitute a breach by the cadet of the cadet’s agreement to complete the course of instruction at the Academy and accept an appointment as a commissioned officer upon graduation from the Academy.

(c) The Secretary of the Air Force shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. Those regulations shall include—

(1)

standards for determining what constitutes, for the purpose of subsection (b), a breach of an agreement under subsection (a);

(2)

procedures for determining whether such a breach has occurred; and

(3)

standards for determining the period of time for which a person may be ordered to serve on active duty under subsection(b).

(d)

In this section, the term “commissioned service obligation”, with respect to an officer who is a graduate of the Academy, means the period beginning on the date of the officer’s appointment as a commissioned officer and ending on the sixth anniversary of such appointment or, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, any later date up to the eighth anniversary of such appointment.

(e)

(1)

This section does not apply to a cadet who is not a citizen or national of the United States.

(2)

In the case of a cadet who is a minor and who has parents or a guardian, the cadet may sign the agreement required by subsection (a) only with the consent of a parent or guardian.

(f)

A cadet or former cadet who does not fulfill the terms of the agreement as specified under subsection (a), or the alternative obligation imposed under subsection (b), shall be subject to the repayment provisions of section 303a(e) of title 37.

The word “agreement” is substituted for the word “articles”. The words “Hereafter”, “appointed to the United States Military Academy”, “engage”, and 10: 1092c (1st 25 words of clause (2) are omitted as surplusage. The word “separated” is substituted for the words “discharged by competent authority”. The words “if he is permitted to resign” are substituted for the words “in the event of the acceptance of his resignation”, since a resignation is effective only when accepted. The first 32 words of clause (3) are substituted for 10:1092c (last 29 words of clause (3)). The last sentence is substituted for the words “with the consent of his parents or guardian if he be a minor, and if any he have”.

“(a) Each cadet who is a citizen or national of the United States shall sign an agreement that he will—

“(1) unless sooner separated from the Academy, complete the course of instruction at the Academy;

“(2) accept an appointment and, unless sooner separated from the service, serve as a commissioned officer of the Regular Air Force for at least the five years immediately after graduation; and

“(3) accept an appointment as a commissioned officer as a Reserve for service in the Air Force Reserve and, unless sooner separated from the service, remain therein until at least the sixth anniversary and, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense, up to the eighth anniversary of his graduation, if an appointment in the Regular Air Force is not tendered to him, or if he is permitted to resign as a commissioned officer of that component before that anniversary.

If the cadet is a minor and has parents or a guardian, he may sign the agreement only with the consent of the parents or guardian.

“(b) A cadet who does not fulfill his agreement under subsection (a) may be transferred by the Secretary of the Air Force to the Air Force Reserve in an appropriate enlisted grade and, notwithstanding section 651 of this title, may be ordered to active duty to serve in that grade for such period of time as the Secretary prescribes but not for more than four years.”

Amendment by Pub. L. 99–145 (other than with respect to the authority of the Secretary of the Air Force to prescribe regulations) effective on the date on which regulations prescribed by the Secretary take effect and applicable to agreements entered into under this section on or after the effective date of such regulations and also with respect to each such agreement that was entered into before the effective date of such regulations by an individual who is a cadet on such date, see section 512(e) of Pub. L. 99–145, set out as a note under section 4348 of this title.

Department of Defense Policy on Service Academy and ROTC Graduates Seeking To Participate in Professional Sports Before Completion of Their Active-Duty Service Obligations

Secretary of Defense to prescribe, not later than July 1, 2007, Department of Defense policy on whether to authorize service academy and ROTC graduates to participate in professional sports before the completion of their obligations for service on active duty, see section 533 of Pub. L. 109–364, set out as a note under section 4348 of this title.