CHAPTER 37 - GENERAL SERVICE REQUIREMENTS
Title 10 > CHAPTER 37
Sections (8)
§ 651 Members: required service
(a) Each person who becomes a member of an armed force, other than a person deferred under the next to the last sentence of section 6(d)(1) of the Military Selective Service Act ( 50 U.S.C. 3806(d)(1) ), shall serve in the armed forces for a total initial period of not less than six years nor more than eight years, as provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for the armed forces under his jurisdiction and by the Secretary of Homeland Security for the Coast Guard when it is not operating as service in the Navy, unless such person is sooner discharged under such regulations because of personal hardship. Any part of such service that is not active duty or that is active duty for training shall be performed in a reserve component.
(b) Each person covered by subsection (a) who is not a Reserve, and who is qualified, shall, upon his release from active duty, be transferred to a reserve component to complete the service required by subsection (a).
(c) For the armed forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary may waive the initial period of required service otherwise established pursuant to subsection (a) in the case of the initial appointment of a commissioned officer in a critically short health professional specialty specified by the Secretary for purposes of this subsection or in the case of an unrestricted officer designated within a cyberspace occupational specialty. The minimum period of obligated service for an officer under a waiver under this subsection shall be the greater of— two years; in the case of an officer who has accepted an accession bonus or executed a contract or agreement for the multiyear receipt of special pay for service in the armed forces, the period of obligated service specified in such contract or agreement; or in the case of an unrestricted officer designated within a cyberspace occupational specialty, the period of obligated service specified in the enlistment agreement of such officer.
§ 652 Notice to Congress of proposed changes in units, assignments, etc. to which female members may be assigned
(a) Rule for Ground Combat Personnel Policy.— If the Secretary of Defense proposes to make any change described in paragraph (2)(A) or (2)(B) to the ground combat exclusion policy or proposes to make a change described in paragraph (2)(C), the Secretary shall, not less than 30 calendar days before such change is implemented, submit to Congress a report providing notice of the proposed change. A change referred to in paragraph (1) is a change that— closes to female members of the armed forces any category of unit or position that at that time is open to service by such members; opens to service by female members of the armed forces any category of unit or position that at that time is closed to service by such members; or opens or closes to the assignment of female members of the armed forces any military career designator as described in paragraph (6). The Secretary shall include in any report under paragraph (1)— a detailed description of, and justification for, the proposed change; and a detailed analysis of legal implication of the proposed change with respect to the constitutionality of the application of the Military Selective Service Act (50 App. U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 1 to males only. In this subsection, the term “ground combat exclusion policy” means the military personnel policies of the Department of Defense and the military departments, as in effect on October 1, 1994 , by which female members of the armed forces are restricted from assignment to units and positions below brigade level whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground. Repealed. Pub. L. 114–92, div. A, title V, § 524(a)(2) , Nov. 25, 2015 , 129 Stat. 813 .] For purposes of this subsection, a military career designator is one that is related to military operations on the ground as of May 18, 2005 , and applies— for enlisted members and warrant officers, to military occupational specialties, specialty codes, enlisted designators, enlisted classification codes, additional skill identifiers, and special qualification identifiers; and for officers (other than warrant officers), to officer areas of concentration, occupational specialties, specialty codes, designators, additional skill identifiers, and special qualification identifiers.
(b) Other Personnel Policy Changes.— Except in a case covered by section 8225 of this title or by subsection (a), whenever the Secretary of Defense proposes to make a change to military personnel policies described in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall, not less than 30 calendar days before such change is implemented, submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives notice, in writing, of the proposed change. Paragraph (1) applies to a proposed military personnel policy change, other than a policy change covered by subsection (a), that would make available to female members of the armed forces assignment to any of the following that, as of the date of the proposed change, is closed to such assignment: Any type of unit not covered by subsection (a). Any class of combat vessel. Any type of combat platform.
§ 653 Minimum service requirement for certain flight crew positions
(a) Pilots.— The minimum service obligation of any member who successfully completes training in the armed forces as a pilot shall be 8 years, if the member is trained to fly fixed-wing jet aircraft, or 6 years, if the member is trained to fly any other type of aircraft.
(b) Navigators and Naval Flight Officers.— The minimum service obligation of any member who successfully completes training in the armed forces as a navigator or naval flight officer shall be 6 years.
(c) Definition.— In this section, the term “service obligation” means the period of active duty or, in the case of a member of a reserve component who completed flight training in an active duty for training status as a member of a reserve component, the period of service in an active status in the Selected Reserve required to be served after— completion of undergraduate pilot training, in the case of training as a pilot; completion of undergraduate navigator training, in the case of training as a navigator; or completion of undergraduate training as a naval flight officer, in the case of training as a naval flight officer.
§ 654 Minimum service requirement for certain cyberspace occupational specialties
(a) Cyberspace Operations Officer.— The minimum service obligation for any member who successfully completes training in the armed forces in direct accession to the cyberspace operations officer occupational specialty of the Marine Corps shall be eight years.
(b) Service Obligation Defined.— In this section, the term “service obligation” means the period of active duty or, in the case of a member of a reserve component who completed cyberspace operations training in an active duty for training status as a member of a reserve component, the period of service in an active status in the Selected Reserve, required to be served after completion of cyberspace operations training.
§ 655 Designation of persons having interest in status of a missing member
(a) The Secretary concerned shall, upon the enlistment or appointment of a person in the armed forces, require that the person specify in writing the person or persons, if any, other than that person’s primary next of kin or immediate family, to whom information on the whereabouts and status of the member shall be provided if such whereabouts and status are investigated under chapter 76 of this title. The Secretary shall periodically, and whenever the member is deployed as part of a contingency operation or in other circumstances specified by the Secretary, require that such designation be reconfirmed, or modified, by the member.
(b) The Secretary concerned shall, upon the request of a member, permit the member to revise the person or persons specified by the member under subsection (a) at any time. Any such revision shall be in writing.
[§ 656 Repealed. Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title IX, § 901(c), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1007]
§ 657 Prohibition on service in the armed forces by individuals convicted of certain sexual offenses
(a) Prohibition on Commissioning or Enlistment.— A person who has been convicted of an offense specified in subsection (b) under Federal or State law may not be processed for commissioning or permitted to enlist in the armed forces.
(b) Covered Offenses.— An offense specified in this subsection is any felony offense as follows: Rape or sexual assault. Forcible sodomy. Incest. An attempt to commit an offense specified in paragraph (1) through (3), as punishable under applicable Federal or State law.
§ 658 Medical accession standards for members of the armed forces
(a) Establishment of Standards.— The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe uniform medical accession standards for the appointment, enlistment, or induction of individuals into the armed forces. The Secretary of Defense shall make readily available and understandable to applicants for military service the medical accession standards established under paragraph (1), including an explanation of the process for a review or waiver of a medical disqualification under subsection (b).
(b) Process for Review or Waiver of Medical Disqualifications.— The Secretary of Defense shall establish a process for the review of medical disqualifications of persons seeking to become a member of the armed forces and for granting waivers of those medical disqualifications. Determinations shall be based on all available information regarding the medical condition and the operational needs of the military service concerned. The waiver process shall include criteria permitting waivers when such action is in the interests of national security, defined as a compelling governmental interest in accessing an individual whose service would directly support the Department’s warfighting capabilities.
(c) Reports.— The Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives an annual report identifying— the number of persons disqualified from service as a member of the armed forces during the preceding calendar year due to medical history; the number and type of approvals granted under subsection (b) during the preceding calendar year; and any revisions to the medical accession standards established under subsection (a) or the waiver process established under subsection (b) since the preceding report. In any fiscal year in which the accession of a person into the Coast Guard is approved under the process established under subsection (b), the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report identifying the information required under paragraph (1)(B) with respect to such member.