§511 — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

Summary

The head of each military branch may set up a program to get more and better qualified people by encouraging recruits to go to college or a vocational or technical school before starting active duty. Under the program, a recruit can be accepted into a Reserve slot (including the Selected Reserve or Individual Ready Reserve) or into the Space Force, and the start of their regular active-duty enlistment can be delayed while they attend school full time. That delay can last no more than 30 months from the date their Reserve enlistment was accepted. The branch can pay a monthly allowance during the school period to those accepted for enlistment, with rules and limits. The monthly payment will match the ROTC subsistence amount for the person’s years of participation and the branch may add up to $225 more per month. Payments cannot be made for more than 24 months. A Reserve member only gets the allowance for months when they train and perform satisfactorily as required by law. The allowance is extra to any other Reserve pay. If someone gets the allowance but then fails to finish the required service, they must repay a portion of the money equal to the part of service they did not do. That repayment is a debt to the United States and a bankruptcy discharge entered less than five years after the enlistment date does not wipe it out. The branch head may waive the debt for fairness or the nation’s interest. After joining the regular force, a person may, at the branch head’s discretion, become eligible for the usual special pays, bonuses, education benefits, and loan repayment programs.

Title 10, §511

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of each military department may establish a program to increase the number of, and the level of the qualifications of, persons entering the armed forces as enlisted members by encouraging recruits to pursue higher education or vocational or technical training before entry into active service.

(b)The Secretary concerned may—

(1)exercise the authority under section 513 of this title—

(A)to accept the enlistment of a person as a Reserve for service in the Selected Reserve or Individual Ready Reserve of a reserve component, or as a member of the Space Force, notwithstanding the scope of the authority under subsection (a) of that section, in the case of the Army National Guard of the United States or Air National Guard of the United States; and

(B)to authorize, notwithstanding the period limitation in subsection (b) of that section, a delay of the enlistment of any such person in a regular component under that subsection for the period during which the person is enrolled in, and pursuing a program of education at, an institution of higher education, or a program of vocational or technical training, on a full-time basis that is to be completed within the maximum period of delay determined for that person under subsection (c); and

(2)subject to paragraph (2) of subsection (d) and except as provided in paragraph (3) of that subsection, pay an allowance to a person accepted for enlistment under paragraph (1)(A) for each month of the period during which that person is enrolled in and pursuing a program described in paragraph (1)(B).

(c)The period of delay authorized a person under paragraph (1)(B) of subsection (b) may not exceed the 30-month period beginning on the date of the person’s enlistment accepted under paragraph (1)(A) of such subsection.

(d)(1)The monthly allowance paid under subsection (b)(2) shall be equal to the amount of the subsistence allowance provided for certain members of the Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps with the corresponding number of years of participation under section 209(a) of title 37. The Secretary concerned may supplement that stipend by an amount not to exceed $225 per month.

(2)An allowance may not be paid to a person under this section for more than 24 months.

(3)A member of the Selected Reserve of a reserve component may be paid an allowance under this section only for months during which the member performs satisfactorily as a member of a unit of the reserve component that trains as prescribed in section 10147(a)(1) of this title or section 502(a) of title 32. Satisfactory performance shall be determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned.

(4)An allowance under this section is in addition to any other pay or allowance to which a member of a reserve component is entitled by reason of participation in the Ready Reserve of that component.

(e)(1)A person who, after receiving an allowance under this section, fails to complete the total period of service required of that person in connection with delayed entry authorized for the person under section 513 shall repay the United States the amount which bears the same ratio to the total amount of that allowance paid to the person as the unserved part of the total required period of service bears to the total period.

(2)An obligation to repay the United States imposed under paragraph (1) is for all purposes a debt owed to the United States.

(3)A discharge of a person in bankruptcy under title 11 that is entered less than five years after the date on which the person was, or was to be, enlisted in the regular Army pursuant to the delayed entry authority under section 513 does not discharge that person from a debt arising under paragraph (1).

(4)The Secretary concerned may waive, in whole or in part, a debt arising under paragraph (1) in any case for which the Secretary determines that recovery would be against equity and good conscience or would be contrary to the best interests of the United States.

(f)Upon enlisting in the regular component of the member’s armed force, a person who initially enlisted as a Reserve under this section may, at the discretion of the Secretary concerned, be eligible for all regular special pays, bonuses, education benefits, and loan repayment programs.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 511 was renumbered section 12103 of this title.

Amendments

2023—Subsec. (b)(1)(A). Pub. L. 118–31 inserted “or as a member of the Space Force,” after “reserve component,”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Continuation for Army of Prior Army College First Program Pub. L. 108–375, div. A, title V, § 551(b), Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 1911, provided that: “The Secretary of the Army shall treat the program under section 511 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), as a continuation of the program under section 573 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 [Pub. L. 106–65] ([formerly] 10 U.S.C. 513 note), and for such purpose the Secretary may treat such section 511 as having been enacted on October 1, 2004.”

§511 College First Program