
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 10USC532]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                    Subtitle A--General Military Law
 
                           PART II--PERSONNEL
 
 CHAPTER 33--ORIGINAL APPOINTMENTS OF REGULAR OFFICERS IN GRADES ABOVE 
                         WARRANT OFFICER GRADES
 
Sec. 532. Qualifications for original appointment as a 
        commissioned officer
        
    (a) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, an 
original appointment as a commissioned officer (other than as a 
commissioned warrant officer) in the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular 
Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps may be given only to a person who--
        (1) is a citizen of the United States;
        (2) is able to complete 20 years of active commissioned service 
    before his fifty-fifth birthday;
        (3) is of good moral character;
        (4) is physically qualified for active service; and
        (5) has such other special qualifications as the Secretary of 
    the military department concerned may prescribe by regulation.

    (b)(1) Original appointments in the Regular Army in the Medical 
Corps or Dental Corps, and original appointments in the Regular Air 
Force with a view to designation of an officer as a medical or dental 
officer, may be made in the grades of first lieutenant through colonel. 
Original appointments in the Regular Navy in the Medical Corps or Dental 
Corps may be made in the grades of lieutenant (junior grade) through 
captain. Such appointments may be made only from persons who are 
qualified doctors of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry.
    (2) To be eligible for an original appointment as a medical officer, 
a doctor of osteopathy must--
        (A) be a graduate of a college of osteopathy whose graduates are 
    eligible to be licensed to practice medicine or surgery in a 
    majority of the States;
        (B) be licensed to practice medicine, surgery, or osteopathy in 
    a State or in the District of Columbia;
        (C) under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, 
    have completed a number of years of osteopathic and preosteopathic 
    education equal to the number of years of medical and premedical 
    education prescribed for persons entering recognized schools of 
    medicine who become doctors of medicine and who would be qualified 
    for an original appointment in the grade for which that person is 
    being considered for appointment; and
        (D) have such other qualifications as the Secretary of the 
    military department concerned prescribes after considering the 
    recommendations, if any, of the Surgeon General of the armed force 
    concerned.

    (c) Original appointments in the Regular Navy or Regular Marine 
Corps of officers designated for limited duty shall be made under 
section 5589 or 5596 of this title.
    (d)(1) A person receiving an original appointment as a medical or 
dental officer, as a chaplain, or as an officer designated for limited 
duty in the Regular Navy or Regular Marine Corps is not subject to 
clause (2) of subsection (a).
    (2) A reserve commissioned officer appointed in a medical skill 
other than as a medical officer or dental officer (as defined in 
regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense) is not subject to 
clause (2) of subsection (a).
    (e) After September 30, 1996, no person may receive an original 
appointment as a commissioned officer in the Regular Army, Regular Navy, 
Regular Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps until that person has 
completed one year of service on active duty as a commissioned officer 
(other than a warrant officer) of a reserve component.

(Added Pub. L. 96-513, title I, Sec. 104(a), Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 
2845; amended Pub. L. 97-22, Sec. 3(b), July 10, 1981, 95 Stat. 124; 
Pub. L. 97-295, Sec. 1(7), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1289; Pub. L. 102-
190, div. A, title V, Sec. 501, Dec. 5, 1991, 105 Stat. 1354; Pub. L. 
103-160, div. A, title V, Sec. 510, Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1648.)


                               Amendments

    1993--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103-160 designated existing provisions as 
par. (1) and added par. (2).
    1991--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102-190 added subsec. (e).
    1982--Pub. L. 97-295 inserted ``a'' after ``original appointment 
as'' in section catchline.
    1981--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 97-22 substituted ``medical or dental 
officer, as a chaplain, or as an officer designated for limited duty in 
the Regular Navy or Regular Marine Corps'' for ``medical officer or 
dental officer or as a chaplain''.


  Appointment of Citizens of Northern Mariana Islands as Commissioned 
                                Officers

    Pub. L. 98-94, title X, Sec. 1006, Sept. 24, 1983, 97 Stat. 661, 
provided that a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands who indicates in 
writing to a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces of the United 
States an intent to become a citizen, and not a national, of the United 
States, and who is otherwise qualified for military service under 
applicable laws and regulations, may be appointed as an officer in the 
Armed Forces of the United States, may be appointed or enrolled in the 
Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program of any of the Armed 
Forces under chapter 103 of title 10, United States Code, and may be 
selected to be a participant in the Armed Forces Health Professions 
Scholarship program under chapter 105 of such title, and that this 
section shall expire upon the establishment of the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands. The Commonwealth was established as of 12:01 
a.m., Nov. 4, 1986, see section 2(a), (b) of Proc. No. 5564, set out as 
a note under section 1801 of Title 48, Territories and Insular 
Possessions.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 5589, 16401 of this title.
