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

Summary

Each military department secretary may let people from other countries study at that service academy. Those foreign students are extra and do not count against the academy’s normal size. No more than 80 foreign students may be at an academy at one time. The defense secretary must approve which countries can send students and how many from each country. The military secretaries set entry rules and pick the students, and they should favor applicants who must serve their own country after graduation. Foreign students under this rule get the same pay and allowances as U.S. cadets, and the foreign country must pay the United States back for those costs. The payment rates are set by the military secretaries and cannot be lower than the actual cost, though the Secretary of Defense can waive all or part of the payment. These foreign students follow the same academy rules as U.S. cadets unless the secretary decides otherwise, may have different rules for access to classified information, and they do not get a U.S. military appointment just because they graduate. Each military secretary may also run a one-for-one student exchange with a foreign military academy. Exchanges are additional to the 80 and may not involve more than 100 cadets or midshipmen from each U.S. academy (and a similar number from foreign academies) in any fiscal year. An exchange cannot last longer than one academy semester. Exchange students do not get U.S. pay or U.S. international travel paid by the Department of Defense, though the secretary can provide local support if the foreign country gives comparable support to exchanged U.S. students. Each academy must pay exchange costs from its own funds, and may not spend more than $1,000,000 of appropriated funds per year on exchanges. Short visits of up to four weeks for foreign students, officers, or representatives are also allowed for language and cultural training; those visits are extra, can be supported by the academy, and may not use more than $40,000 of appropriated funds per academy in a fiscal year. Service Academy means the United States Military Academy (West Point), the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis), and the United States Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs).

Title 10, §347

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)(A)The Secretary of each military department may permit persons from foreign countries to receive instruction at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Such persons shall be in addition to—

(i)in the case of the United States Military Academy, the authorized strength of the Corps of the Cadets of the Academy under section 7442 of this title;

(ii)in the case of the United States Naval Academy, the authorized strength of the Brigade of Midshipmen of the Academy under section 8454 of this title; and

(iii)in the case of the United States Air Force Academy, the authorized strength of the Cadet Wing of the Academy under section 9442 of this title.

(B)The number of persons permitted to receive instruction at each Service Academy under this subsection may not be more than 80 at any one time.

(2)The Secretary of a military department, upon approval by the Secretary of Defense, shall determine—

(A)the countries from which persons may be selected for appointment under this subsection to the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary; and

(B)the number of persons that may be selected from each country.

(3)The Secretary of each military department—

(A)may establish entrance qualifications and methods of competition for selection among individual applicants under this subsection; and

(B)shall select those persons who will be permitted to receive instruction at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of the Secretary under this subsection.

(4)In selecting persons to receive instruction under this subsection from among applicants from the countries approved under paragraph (2), the Secretary of the military department concerned shall give a priority to persons who have a national service obligation to their countries upon graduation from the Service Academy concerned.

(5)A person receiving instruction under this subsection is entitled to the pay, allowances, and emoluments of a cadet or midshipman appointed from the United States, and from the same appropriations.

(6)(A)Each foreign country from which a cadet or midshipman is permitted to receive instruction at one of the Service Academies under this subsection shall reimburse the United States for the cost of providing such instruction, including the cost of pay, allowances, and emoluments provided under paragraph (5). The Secretaries of the military departments shall prescribe the rates for reimbursement under this paragraph, except that the reimbursement rates may not be less than the cost to the United States of providing such instruction, including pay, allowances, and emoluments, to a cadet or midshipman appointed from the United States.

(B)The Secretary of Defense may waive, in whole or in part, the requirement for reimbursement of the cost of instruction for a cadet or midshipman under subparagraph (A). In the case of a partial waiver, the Secretary of Defense shall establish the amount waived.

(7)(A)Except as the Secretary of the military department concerned determines, a person receiving instruction under this subsection at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary is subject to the same regulations governing admission, attendance, discipline, resignation, discharge, dismissal, and graduation as a cadet or midshipman at that Academy appointed from the United States.

(B)The Secretary of the military department concerned may prescribe regulations with respect to access to classified information by a person receiving instruction under this subsection at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary that differ from the regulations that apply to a cadet or midshipman at that Academy appointed from the United States.

(8)A person receiving instruction at a Service Academy under this subsection is not entitled to an appointment in an armed force of the United States by reason of graduation from the Academy.

(9)A person receiving instruction under this subsection is not subject to section 7446(d), 8458(d), or 9446(d) of this title, as the case may be.

(b)(1)The Secretary of a military department may permit a student enrolled at a military academy of a foreign country to receive instruction at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary in exchange for a cadet or midshipman receiving instruction at that foreign military academy pursuant to an exchange agreement entered into between the Secretary and appropriate officials of the foreign country. A student receiving instruction at a Service Academy under the exchange program under this subsection shall be in addition to persons receiving instruction at the Academy under subsection (a).

(2)An exchange agreement under this subsection between the Secretary and a foreign country shall provide for the exchange of students on a one-for-one basis each fiscal year. Not more than 100 cadets or midshipmen from each Service Academy and a comparable number of students from foreign military academies participating in the exchange program may be exchanged during any fiscal year. The duration of an exchange may not exceed the equivalent of one academic semester at a Service Academy.

(3)(A)A student from a military academy of a foreign country is not entitled to the pay, allowances, and emoluments of a cadet or midshipman by reason of attendance at a Service Academy under the exchange program, and the Department of Defense may not incur any cost of international travel required for transportation of such a student to and from the sponsoring foreign country.

(B)The Secretary of the military department concerned may provide a student from a foreign country under the exchange program, during the period of the exchange, with subsistence, transportation within the continental United States, clothing, health care, and other services to the same extent that the foreign country provides comparable support and services to the exchanged cadet or midshipman in that foreign country.

(C)A Service Academy shall bear all costs of the exchange program from funds appropriated for that Academy and from such additional funds as may be available to that Academy from a source, other than appropriated funds, to support cultural immersion, regional awareness, or foreign language training activities in connection with the exchange program.

(D)Expenditures in support of the exchange program from funds appropriated for each Academy may not exceed $1,000,000 during any fiscal year.

(4)Paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) of subsection (a) shall apply with respect to a student enrolled at a military academy of a foreign country while attending a Service Academy under the exchange program.

(5)The Secretary of the military department concerned shall prescribe regulations to implement this subsection. Such regulations may include qualification criteria and methods of selection for students of foreign military academies to participate in the exchange program.

(c)(1)The Secretary of a military department may authorize the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary to permit students, officers, and other representatives of a foreign country to attend that Academy for periods of not more than four weeks if the Secretary determines that the attendance of such persons contributes significantly to the development of foreign language, cross-cultural interactions and understanding, and cultural immersion of cadets or midshipmen, as the case may be.

(2)Persons attending a Service Academy under paragraph (1) are not considered to be students enrolled at that Academy and are in addition to persons receiving instruction at that Academy under subsection (a) or (b).

(3)(A)The Secretary of a military department may pay the travel, subsistence, and similar personal expenses of persons incurred to attend the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary under paragraph (1).

(B)Each Service Academy shall bear the costs of the attendance of persons at that Academy under paragraph (1) from funds appropriated for that Academy and from such additional funds as may be available to that Academy from a source, other than appropriated funds, to support cultural immersion, regional awareness, or foreign language training activities in connection with their attendance.

(C)Expenditures from appropriated funds in support of activities under this subsection for any Service Academy may not exceed $40,000 during any fiscal year.

(d)In this section, the term “Service Academy” means the following:

(1)The United States Military Academy.

(2)The United States Naval Academy.

(3)The United States Air Force Academy.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in sections 4344 to 4345a, 6957 to 6957b, and 9344 to 9345a, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 114–328.

Amendments

2024—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 118–159 substituted “80” for “60”. 2018—Subsec. (a)(1)(A)(i). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 7442” for “section 4342”. Subsec. (a)(1)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 8454” for “section 6954”. Subsec. (a)(1)(A)(iii). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 9442” for “section 9342”. Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 115–232, § 1204(c)(1)(D)(i), substituted “etc.” for “etc..” in heading. Subsec. (a)(9). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 7446(d), 8458(d), or 9446(d)” for “section 4346(d), 6958(d), or 9346(d)”. Subsec. (b)(3)(B). Pub. L. 115–232, § 1204(c)(1)(D)(ii), substituted “etc” for “etc.” in heading. 2017—Subsec. (a)(1)(A)(i), (iii). Pub. L. 115–91 inserted “section” after “Academy under”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by section 809(a) of Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of

Amendments

and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

§347 International Engagement Authorities for Service Academies

Summary

Title 10, §347

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Amendments

Citations & Metadata