§ 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:
(2)
That upon graduation from the Academy the cadet—
(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—
(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 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—
(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.
(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.