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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§702 Cadets and midshipmen

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 40— - LEAVE › § 702

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Graduates of the Military, Naval, Air Force, or Coast Guard Academy who are appointed into a military component may be given up to 60 days of graduation leave by the Secretary or a representative. That leave is extra and not taken from other leave. It must be used within three months after graduation and cannot be carried past the date the graduate reports to their first permanent duty station or to a port of embarkation for permanent duty outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii. The Secretary may also place a cadet or midshipman on involuntary leave while a Superintendent has suspended them (for example, pending separation, to repeat a term, or for other good cause). Cadets on involuntary leave do not get pay for that leave, and later returning to pay status does not restore pay for the leave period. Cadets with a medical diagnosis may take convalescent (medical recovery) leave. The Secretary or a designated representative may write rules about cadet and midshipman leave. The term "academy cadet or midshipman" means a cadet or midshipman at the United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Air Force Academy, or United States Coast Guard Academy. Certain other leave rules do not apply to these cadets or midshipmen except for the medical recovery leave rule.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §702

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Graduates of the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, or the Coast Guard Academy who, upon graduation, are appointed in a component of an armed force, may, in the discretion of the Secretary concerned or his designated representative, be granted graduation leave of not more than 60 days. Leave granted under this subsection is in addition to any other leave and may not be deducted from or charged against other leave authorized by this chapter, and must be completed within three months of the date of graduation. Leave under this subsection may not be carried forward as credit beyond the date of reporting to the first permanent duty station or to a port of embarkation for permanent duty outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii.
(b)(1)Under regulations prescribed under subsection (d), the Secretary concerned may place an academy cadet or midshipman on involuntary leave for any period during which the Superintendent of the Academy at which the cadet or midshipman is admitted has suspended the cadet or midshipman from duty at the Academy—
(A)pending separation from the Academy;
(B)pending return to the Academy to repeat an academic semester or year; or
(C)for other good cause.
(2)A cadet or midshipman placed on involuntary leave under paragraph (1) is not entitled to any pay under section 203(c) of title 37 for the period of the leave.
(3)Return of an academy cadet or midshipman to a pay status at the Academy concerned from involuntary leave status under paragraph (1) does not restore any entitlement of the cadet or midshipman to pay for the period of the involuntary leave.
(c)An academy cadet or midshipman diagnosed with a medical condition is allowed convalescent leave under section 701(m) of this title.
(d)Except as provided by subsection (c), section 701, 703, and 704 of this title and subsection (a) do not apply to academy cadets or midshipmen or cadets or midshipmen serving elsewhere in the armed forces.
(e)The Secretary concerned, or his designated representative, may prescribe regulations relating to leave for cadets and midshipmen.
(f)In this section, the term “academy cadet or midshipman” means—
(1)a cadet of the United States Military Academy;
(2)a midshipman of the United States Naval Academy;
(3)a cadet of the United States Air Force Academy; or
(4)a cadet of the United States Coast Guard Academy.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 702(a)37:31a(c).Aug. 9, 1946, ch. 931, § 3(c); added June 2, 1950, ch. 217, § 1, 64 Stat. 194. 37:32(f) (last 8 words).Aug. 9, 1946, ch. 931, § 2(f) (last 8 words), 60 Stat. 963. 702(b)37:38 (less applicability to payment for leave).Aug. 9, 1946, ch. 931, § 10 (less applicability to payment for leave); added Aug. 4, 1947, ch. 475, § 3 (less applicability to payment for leave), 61 Stat. 749. 37:32(f) (last 8 words).Aug. 9, 1946, ch. 931, § 2(f) (last 8 words), 60 Stat. 963. In subsection (a), the words “outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii” are substituted for the words “outside the continental limits of the United States” to conform to the interpretation of those words in other sections of title 10 and revised title 37. In subsections (a) and (b), the words “, or his designated representative,” are substituted for the last 8 words of section 32(f) of existing title 37.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 119–60, § 632(2), added subsec. (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (d). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 119–60, § 632(1), (3), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d) and substituted “Except as provided by subsection (c), section 701” for “section 701”. Former subsec. (d) redesignated (e). Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 119–60, § 632(1), redesignated subsecs. (d) and (e) as (e) and (f), respectively. 2000—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 106–398 substituted “section 203(c)” for “section 230(c)”. 1998—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–261, § 562(c)(1), inserted heading. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–261, § 562(a)(3), added subsec. (b). Former first and second sentences of subsec. (b) redesignated subsecs. (c) and (d), respectively. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–261, § 562(a)(2), (b)(1), (c)(2), redesignated first sentence of subsec. (b) as subsec. (c), inserted heading, and substituted “academy cadets or midshipmen” for “cadets at the United States Military Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, or the Coast Guard Academy, midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy,”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 105–261, § 562(a)(1), (c)(3), redesignated second sentence of subsec. (b) as subsec. (d) and inserted heading. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105–261, § 562(b)(2), added subsec. (e). 1993—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–160 struck out “regular” before “component” in first sentence. 1980—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–513 substituted “section 701, 703, and 704 of this title and subsection (a)” for “section 701, 702(a), 703, and 704 of this chapter”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701(b)(3) of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective Nov. 1, 1962, see section 15 of Pub. L. 87–649, set out as a note preceding section 101 of Title 37, Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services.

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 702

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73