Title 14 — Coast GuardRelease 119-73

§1925 Agreement

Title 14 › Subtitle SUBTITLE II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 19— - COAST GUARD ACADEMY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - CADETS › § 1925

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Cadets must sign an agreement about how long they will serve. The agreement says the cadet will finish Academy training. After graduation the cadet must accept a Coast Guard officer job if offered and serve at least five years on active duty. If no officer job is offered or the cadet is allowed to leave before finishing that officer service time, the cadet must take a commission in the Coast Guard Reserve and stay in the Reserve until the officer service time is complete. If a cadet breaks the agreement, the Secretary may transfer the cadet to the Reserve and can order them to active duty for up to four years. The Secretary decides the enlisted grade or rating for the transfer. The Secretary must create rules that say what counts as a breach, how to decide it, and how long active-duty orders can be. Commissioned service obligation means the time from appointment as an officer until the sixth anniversary of that appointment, or up to the eighth anniversary if the Secretary chooses. Non-U.S. citizens are excluded. Minors need parent or guardian permission to sign. Failure to meet the service terms can trigger repayment under section 303a(e) of title 37.

Full Legal Text

Title 14, §1925

Coast Guard — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Each cadet shall sign an agreement with respect to the cadet’s length of service in the Coast Guard. The agreement shall provide that the cadet agrees to the following:

(1)That the cadet will complete the course of instruction at the Coast Guard Academy.

(2)That upon graduation from the Coast Guard Academy the cadet—

(A)will accept an appointment, if tendered, as a commissioned officer of the Coast Guard; and

(B)will serve on active duty for at least five years immediately after such appointment.

(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 the completion of the commissioned service obligation of the cadet, the cadet—

(A)will accept an appointment as a commissioned officer in the Coast Guard Reserve; and

(B)will remain in that reserve component until completion of the commissioned service obligation of the cadet.

(b)(1)The Secretary may transfer to the Coast Guard 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 title 10.

(2)A cadet who is transferred to the Coast Guard 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 Coast Guard 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 Coast Guard Academy and accept an appointment as a commissioned officer upon graduation from the Coast Guard Academy.

(c)The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. Those regulations shall include—

(1)standards for determining what constitutes, for the purpose of subsection (b), a breach of an agreement under subsection (a);

(2)procedures for determining whether such a breach has occurred; and

(3)standards for determining the period of time for which a person may be ordered to serve on active duty under subsection (b).

(d)In this section, “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, any later date up to the eighth anniversary of such appointment.

(e)(1)This section does not apply to a cadet who is not a citizen or national of the United States.

(2)In the case of a cadet who is a minor and who has parents or a guardian, the cadet may sign the agreement required by subsection (a) only with the consent of the parent or guardian.

(f)A cadet or former cadet who does not fulfill the terms of the obligation to serve as specified under section (a), or the alternative obligation imposed under subsection (b), shall be subject to the repayment provisions of section 303a(e) of title 37.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

14 U.S.C. § 1925

Title 14 — Coast Guard

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73