§2004b Detail of Commissioned Officers as Students at Schools of Psychology

Summary

Each military department may send commissioned officers to U.S. accredited psychology schools to train for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. No more than 25 officers from each department may start this training in any one fiscal year. To qualify, an officer must be a U.S. citizen, have served on active duty between 2 and 6 years, be O–3 or below when training starts, and sign an agreement to finish the training, accept transfer or reassignment afterward, and serve the required time afterward. Normally the officer must serve 2 years on active duty for each year (or part of a year) of training. The officer may instead split time between active duty and the Selected Reserve; any training time not finished on active duty requires 3 years in the Selected Reserve for each year (or part) left. Officers are chosen by competition. Service obligations add to any other obligations the officer already has. The military department pays training costs. If an officer is dropped for poor conduct, poor study, or other reasons, the officer may be required to serve in a suitable military role under Department of Defense rules, but never more than 1 year of active duty for each year (or part) the officer was in the program. Agreements cannot be made while the President is legally authorized to call people into the military involuntarily; that rule does not change agreements already made when the President did not have that authority.