33 U.S.C. § 3006: Obligated service requirement

Summary

The Secretary sets the required service time for officers when they are hired, trained, promoted, separated, kept on, or retired. Officers must sign a written agreement that explains how long they must serve in return for those actions or for training the Secretary gives them. If an officer leaves before serving the agreed time, the Secretary can make them pay back part or all of the training costs. The payback is the training cost multiplied by the fraction of the agreed active-duty time the officer did not serve. That obligation is a debt to the United States, and a bankruptcy discharge entered less than five years after the agreement ends does not cancel it. The Secretary can waive the service or repayment if the officer becomes unfit to serve for reasons beyond their control or has a medical condition not caused by willful misconduct.

Title 33, §3006

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(a)In general

(1)Regulations

The Secretary shall prescribe the obligated service requirements for appointments, training, promotions, separations, continuations, and retirements of officers not otherwise covered by law.

(2)Written agreements

The Secretary and officers shall enter into written agreements that describe the officers’ obligated service requirements prescribed under paragraph (1) in return for such appointments, training, promotions, separations, continuations, and retirements as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(b)Repayment for failure to satisfy requirements

(1)In general

The Secretary may require an officer who fails to meet the service requirements prescribed under subsection (a)(1) to reimburse the Secretary in an amount that bears the same ratio to the total costs of the training provided to that officer by the Secretary as the unserved portion of active duty bears to the total period of active duty the officer agreed to serve.

(2)Obligation as debt to United States

An obligation to reimburse the Secretary under paragraph (1) is, for all purposes, a debt owed to the United States.

(3)Discharge in bankruptcy

A discharge in bankruptcy under title 11 that is entered less than five years after the termination of a written agreement entered into under subsection (a)(2) does not discharge the individual signing the agreement from a debt arising under such agreement.

(c)Waiver or suspension of compliance

The Secretary may waive the service obligation of an officer who—

(1)becomes unqualified to serve on active duty in the commissioned officer corps of the Administration because of a circumstance not within the control of that officer; or

(2)is—

(A)not physically qualified for appointment; and

(B)determined to be unqualified for service in the commissioned officer corps of the Administration because of a physical or medical condition that was not the result of the officer’s own willful misconduct.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (c)(2)(B). Pub. L. 119–60 substituted “willful misconduct” for “misconduct or grossly negligent conduct”.

§3006 Obligated Service Requirement

Summary

Title 33, §3006

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata