(a)(1) The Secretary of the Army may appoint as a cadet in the Army Reserve or Army National Guard of the United States any eligible member of the program who is enrolled in the Advanced Course of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at a military college, military junior college, or civilian institution and who will be under 31 years of age on December 31 of the calendar year in which he is eligible under this section for appointment as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve or Army National Guard.

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(2) To be considered a military college or military junior college for the purposes of this section, a school must be a civilian postsecondary educational institution essentially military in nature and meet such other requirements as the Secretary of the Army may prescribe. For purposes of this section, a military junior college does not confer a baccalaureate degree.

(b)(1) To be eligible for appointment as a cadet under this section, a member of the program must—

(A) be a citizen or national of the United States;

(B) be specially selected for the financial assistance program under this section under procedures prescribed by the Secretary of the Army;

(C) enlist in a reserve component of the Army for the period prescribed by the Secretary of the Army;

(D) contract, with the consent of his parent or guardian if he is a minor, with the Secretary of the Army to serve for the period required by the program;

(E) agree in writing that he will accept an appointment, if offered, as a commissioned officer in the Army Reserve or the Army National Guard of the United States; and

(F) agree in writing that he will serve in a troop program unit of the Army Reserve or Army National Guard for not less than eight years.

(2) Performance of duty under an agreement under this subsection shall be under such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Army may prescribe and may include periods of active duty, active duty for training, and other service in an active or inactive status in the reserve component in which appointed.

(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), in the case of a person described in subparagraph (B), the Secretary may, at any time and with the consent of the person, modify an agreement described in paragraph (1)(F) submitted by the person for the purpose of reducing or eliminating the troop program unit service obligation specified in the agreement and to establish, in lieu of that obligation, an active duty service obligation.

(B) Subparagraph (A) applies with respect to the following persons:

(i) A cadet under this section at a military junior college.

(ii) A cadet or former cadet under this section who is selected under section 2114 of this title to be a medical student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

(iii) A cadet or former cadet under this section who signs an agreement under section 2122 of this title for participation in the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship and Financial Assistance program.

(C) The modification of an agreement described in paragraph (1)(F) may be made only if the Secretary determines that it is in the best interests of the United States to do so.

(c)(1) The Secretary of the Army shall provide for the payment of all expenses of the Department of the Army in administering the financial assistance program under this section, including the cost of tuition, fees, books, and laboratory expenses which are incurred by members of the program appointed as cadets under this section while such members are students at a military junior college.

(2) In the case of a cadet eligible to receive financial assistance under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the military department concerned may, in lieu of all or part of the financial assistance described in paragraph (1), provide financial assistance in the form of room and board expenses for such cadet and other expenses required by the educational institution.

[(3) Repealed. Pub. L. 109-163, div. A, title V, §531(b), Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3247.]

(4)(A) The Secretary of the Army may provide an individual who received a commission as a Reserve officer in the Army from a military junior college through a program under this chapter and who does not have a baccalaureate degree with financial assistance for pursuit of a baccalaureate degree.

(B) Such assistance is in addition to any provided under paragraph (1) or (2).

(C) The agreement and reimbursement requirements established in section 2005 of this title are applicable to financial assistance under this paragraph.

(D) An officer receiving financial assistance under this paragraph shall be attached to a unit of the Army as determined by the Secretary and shall be considered to be a member of the Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps on inactive duty for training, as defined in section 101(23) of title 38.

(E) A qualified officer who did not previously receive financial assistance under this section is eligible to receive educational assistance under this paragraph.

(F) A Reserve officer may not be called or ordered to active duty for a deployment while participating in the program under this paragraph.

(G) Any service obligation incurred by an officer under an agreement entered into under this paragraph shall be in addition to any service obligation incurred by that officer under any other provision of law or agreement.

(d) Upon satisfactorily completing the academic and military requirements of the program, a cadet may be appointed as a reserve officer in the Army in the grade of second lieutenant, even though he is under 21 years of age.

(e) The date of rank of officers appointed under this section in May or June of any year is the date of graduation of cadets from the United States Military Academy in that year. The Secretary of the Army shall establish the date of rank of all other officers appointed under this section.

(f) A cadet who does not complete the course of instruction, or who completes the course but declines to accept a commission when offered, or who does not complete a baccalaureate degree within five years after appointment as a cadet under this section, may be ordered to active duty by the Secretary of the Army to serve in his enlisted grade for such period of time as the Secretary prescribes but not for more than four years.

(g) In computing length of service for any purpose, an officer appointed under this section may not be credited with service as a cadet or with concurrent enlisted service, other than enlisted service performed after August 1, 1979, as a member of the Selected Reserve.

(h) The Secretary of the Army shall appoint each year under this section not less than 22 cadets at each military junior college at which there are not less than 22 members of the program eligible under subsection (b) for such an appointment. At any military junior college at which in any year there are fewer than 22 such members, the Secretary shall appoint each such member as a cadet under this section.

(i) Cadets appointed under this section are in addition to the number appointed under section 2107 of this title.

(j) Financial assistance provided under this section to a cadet appointed at a military junior college is designated as, and shall be known as, an “Ike Skelton Early Commissioning Program Scholarship”.