
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: 10USC6959]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                    Subtitle C--Navy and Marine Corps
 
                    PART III--EDUCATION AND TRAINING
 
                CHAPTER 603--UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY
 
Sec. 6959. Midshipmen: agreement for length of service

    (a) Each midshipman shall sign an agreement with respect to the 
midshipman's length of service in the armed forces. The agreement shall 
provide that the midshipman agrees to the following:
        (1) That the midshipman will complete the course of instruction 
    at the Naval Academy.
        (2) That upon graduation from the Naval Academy the midshipman--
            (A) will accept an appointment, if tendered, as a 
        commissioned officer of the Regular Navy, the Regular Marine 
        Corps, 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 midshipman is permitted to resign as a regular 
    officer before completion of the commissioned service obligation of 
    the midshipman, the midshipman--
            (A) will accept an appointment as a commissioned officer in 
        the Naval Reserve or the Marine Corps Reserve or 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 midshipman.

    (b)(1) The Secretary of the Navy may transfer to the Naval Reserve 
or the Marine Corps Reserve, and may order to active duty for such 
period of time as the Secretary prescribes (but not to exceed four 
years), a midshipman who breaches an agreement under subsection (a). The 
period of time for which a midshipman is ordered to active duty under 
this paragraph may be determined without regard to section 651(a) of 
this title.
    (2) A midshipman who is transferred to the Naval Reserve or Marine 
Corps 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 midshipman shall be 
considered to have breached an agreement under subsection (a) if the 
midshipman is separated from the Naval Academy under circumstances which 
the Secretary determines constitute a breach by the midshipman of the 
midshipman's agreement to complete the course of instruction at the 
Naval Academy and accept an appointment as a commissioned officer upon 
graduation from the Naval Academy.
    (c) The Secretary of the Navy 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, ``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 midshipman who is not a 
citizen or national of the United States.
    (2) In the case of a midshipman who is a minor and who has parents 
or a guardian, the midshipman may sign the agreement required by 
subsection (a) only with the consent of a parent or guardian.

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 432; Pub. L. 88-276, Sec. 5(a), Mar. 
3, 1964, 78 Stat. 153; Pub. L. 88-647, title III, Sec. 301(19), Oct. 13, 
1964, 78 Stat. 1072; Pub. L. 98-525, title V, Secs. 541(b), 542(c), Oct. 
19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2529; Pub. L. 99-145, title V, Sec. 512(b), Nov. 8, 
1985, 99 Stat. 624; Pub. L. 101-189, div. A, title V, Sec. 511(c), Nov. 
29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1439; Pub. L. 104-106, div. A, title V, Sec. 531(b), 
Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 314.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
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---------------------------------
            Revised section                      Source (U.S. Code)            
   Source (Statutes at Large)
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---------------------------------
6959..................................  34 U.S.C. 1048.                      Ju
ne 30, 1950, ch. 421, Sec.  3, 64
                                                                              S
tat. 304.
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---------------------------------

    The words ``Hereafter'' and ``appointed to the United States Naval 
Academy'' are omitted as surplusage. The words ``an agreement that * * * 
he will'' are substituted for the words ``articles * * * by which he 
shall engage''. The word ``separated'' is substituted for the words 
``discharged by competent authority''. The words ``if tendered an 
appointment'', ``upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy'', 
and ``consecutive'' are omitted as surplusage. 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 if accepted. The first 43 words of clause (3) are substituted for 
34 U.S.C. 1048 (last 30 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 substituted ``six years'' 
for ``five years''.
    1985--Pub. L. 99-145 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, 
section read as follows:
    ``(a) Each midshipman who is a citizen or national of the United 
States shall sign an agreement that he will--
        ``(1) unless sooner separated from the Naval Academy, complete 
    the course of instruction at the Naval Academy;
        ``(2) accept an appointment and, unless sooner separated from 
    the naval service, serve as a commissioned officer of the Regular 
    Navy, the Regular Marine Corps, or the Regular Air Force for at 
    least five years immediately after graduation; and
        ``(3) accept an appointment as a commissioned officer in the 
    reserve component of the Navy or the Marine Corps or as a Reserve in 
    the Air Force for service in the Air Force Reserve and, unless 
    sooner separated from the naval 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 midshipman 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 midshipman who does not fulfill his agreement under 
subsection (a) may be transferred by the Secretary of the Navy to the 
Naval Reserve or the Marine Corps Reserve in an appropriate enlisted 
grade or rating, and, notwithstanding section 651 of this title, may be 
ordered to active duty to serve in that grade or rating 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(b), struck out ``, 
unless sooner separated,'' in introductory text preceding ``he will''; 
inserted in cl. (1) ``unless sooner separated from the Naval Academy,''; 
and inserted ``, unless sooner separated from the naval service,'' in 
cls. (2) and (3).
    Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 98-525, Sec. 542(c), 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

    Amendment by Pub. L. 104-106 applicable to persons first admitted to 
United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy, and United 
States Air Force Academy after Dec. 31, 1991, see section 531(e) of Pub. 
L. 104-106, set out as a note under section 4348 of this title.


                    Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

    Amendment by 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

    Amendment by Pub. L. 99-145 (other than with respect to the 
authority of the Secretary of the Navy 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 midshipman on such date, 
see section 512(e) of Pub. L. 99-145, set out as a note under section 
4348 of this title.


                    Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

    Amendment by section 541(b) of Pub. L. 98-525 applicable with 
respect to agreements entered into under this section before, on, or 
after Oct. 19, 1984, see section 541(d) of Pub. L. 98-525, set out as a 
note under section 4348 of this title.


      Effective Date of 1964 Amendment; Obligated Period of Service

    For effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 88-276, see section 5(c) 
of Pub. L. 88-276, set out as a note under section 4348 of this title.


                 Regulations Implementing 1985 Amendment

    Secretary of the Navy to prescribe regulations required by subsec. 
(c) of this section as added by Pub. L. 99-145 not later than the end of 
the 90-day period beginning on Nov. 8, 1985, see section 512(d) of Pub. 
L. 99-145, set out as a note under section 4348 of this title.
