
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 10USC4348]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                            Subtitle B--Army
 
                           PART III--TRAINING
 
               CHAPTER 403--UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY
 
Sec. 4348. 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 Army or 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 for service in the Army Reserve or the Air Force 
        Reserve; and
            (B) will remain in that reserve component until completion 
        of the commissioned service obligation of the cadet.

    (b)(1) The Secretary of the Army may transfer to the Army 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 Army 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 Army 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.

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 243; Pub. L. 88-276, Sec. 5(a), Mar. 
3, 1964, 78 Stat. 153; Pub. L. 88-647, title III, Sec. 301(9), Oct. 13, 
1964, 78 Stat. 1072; Pub. L. 98-525, title V, Secs. 541(a), 542(b), Oct. 
19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2529; Pub. L. 99-145, title V, Sec. 512(a), Nov. 8, 
1985, 99 Stat. 623; Pub. L. 101-189, div. A, title V, Sec. 511(b), title 
XVI, Sec. 1622(e)(5), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1439, 1605; Pub. L. 104-
106, div. A, title V, Sec. 531(a), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 314.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
            Revised section                      Source (U.S. Code)            
   Source (Statutes at Large)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
4348..................................  10:1092c.                            Ju
ne 30, 1950, ch. 421, Sec.  3, 64
                                                                              S
tat. 304.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------

    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 31 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''.


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Pub. L. 104-106 substituted ``five years'' 
for ``six years''.
    1989--Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Pub. L. 101-189, Sec. 511(b), substituted 
``six years'' for ``five years''.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 101-189, Sec. 1622(e)(5), inserted ``the term'' 
after ``In this section,''.
    1985--Pub. L. 99-145 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, 
section read as follows:
    ``(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 Army or 
    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 Army Reserve or 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 component of that armed 
    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 Army to the Army 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.''
    1984--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98-525, Sec. 541(a), struck out ``, 
unless sooner separated,'' in introductory text before ``he will''; 
inserted in cl. (1) ``unless sooner separated from the Academy,''; and 
inserted ``, unless sooner separated from the service,'' in cls. (2) and 
(3).
    Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 98-525, Sec. 524(b), substituted ``at least 
the sixth anniversary and, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense, 
up to the eighth anniversary'' for ``the sixth anniversary''.
    1964--Pub. L. 88-647 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) 
and added subsec. (b).
    Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 88-276 substituted ``five'' for ``three''.


                    Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

    Section 531(e) of Pub. L. 104-106 provided that: ``The amendments 
made by this section [amending this section and sections 6959 and 9348 
of this title] apply to persons first admitted to the United States 
Military Academy, United States Naval Academy, and United States Air 
Force Academy after December 31, 1991.''


                    Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

    Amendment by section 511(b) of Pub. L. 101-189 applicable to persons 
who are first admitted to one of the military service academies after 
Dec. 31, 1991, see section 511(e) of Pub. L. 101-189, as amended, set 
out as a note under section 2114 of this title.


                    Effective Date of 1985 Amendment

    Section 512(e) of Pub. L. 99-145 provided that: ``The amendments 
made by subsections (a), (b), and (c) [amending this section and 
sections 6959 and 9348 of this title] (other than with respect to the 
authority of the Secretary of a military department to prescribe 
regulations)--
        ``(1) shall take effect with respect to each military department 
    on the date on which regulations prescribed by the Secretary of that 
    military department in accordance with subsection (d) [set out 
    below] take effect; and
        ``(2) shall apply with respect to each agreement entered into 
    under sections 4348, 6959, and 9348, respectively, of title 10, 
    United States Code, that is entered into on or after the effective 
    date of such regulations and shall apply with respect to each such 
    agreement that was entered into before the effective date of such 
    regulations by an individual who is a cadet or midshipman on such 
    date.''


                    Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

    Section 541(d) of Pub. L. 98-525 provided that: ``The amendments 
made by this section [amending this section and sections 6959 and 9348 
of this title] shall apply with respect to agreements entered into under 
section 4348, 6959, or 9348 of title 10, United States Code, before, on, 
or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 19, 1984].''


      Effective Date of 1964 Amendment; Obligated Period of Service

    Section 5(c) of Pub. L. 88-276 provided that: ``The amendments made 
by this section [amending this section, sections 6959 and 9348 of this 
title, and section 182 of Title 14, Coast Guard] shall apply only with 
respect to cadets and midshipmen appointed to the service academies and 
the Coast Guard Academy after the date of enactment of this Act [Mar. 3, 
1964], and shall not affect the obligated period of service of any cadet 
or midshipman appointed to one of the service academies or the Coast 
Guard Academy on or before the date of enactment of this Act.''


                 Regulations Implementing 1985 Amendment

    Section 512(d) of Pub. L. 99-145 provided that: ``The Secretary of 
each military department shall prescribe the regulations required by 
section 4348(c), 6959(c), or 9348(c), as appropriate, of title 10, 
United States Code (as added by the amendments made by subsections (a), 
(b), and (c)) not later than the end of the 90-day period beginning on 
the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 8, 1985].''
