10 U.S.C. § 710 — Career flexibility to enhance retention of members

(a) Programs Authorized. (1) Each Secretary of a military department may create programs allowing members of the regular components, the Space Force, or the armed forces’ Active Guard and Reserve duty under that Secretary to be inactivated from active service for personal or professional needs and returned to active service afterward. (2) Despite subsection (b)(1), if a Secretary creates such a program, the Secretary must inactivate, under this section, a member who completes a detail under section 2004c when that detail ends, for the period the Secretary considers appropriate, so the member can perform religious ministry meeting the professional requirements for appointment as a chaplain in that military department. (b) Period of Inactivation From Active Service; Effect of Inactivation. (1) The period must be the period the military department Secretary specifies in the member’s subsection (c) agreement, but it may not exceed three years. (2) Service by a Reserve officer, or by a Space Force officer in space-force active status who is not on active duty under section 20105(b), while in the program is excluded when calculating that officer’s total years of service under section 14706(a). (3) Time in the program does not count toward: (A) eligibility for retirement or transfer to the Ready Reserve under chapter 571 or 1223; or (B) calculating retired or retainer pay under chapter 71 or 1223. (c) Agreement. Each participating member must sign a written agreement with the military department Secretary. The member must agree: (1) to accept an appointment or enlist, as applicable, and serve in the Ready Reserve during inactivation, or, if a Space Force member on sustained duty, accept release from sustained-duty orders and serve in space-force active status; (2) to complete whatever inactive-service training the Secretary requires so the member keeps sufficient proficiency in military skills, professional qualifications, and physical readiness; and (3) after inactivation ends, serve on active service one month for each month of inactivation. (d) Conditions of Release. The Secretary of Defense must issue regulations stating guidelines for conditions of release that must be considered and addressed in the agreement. At minimum, the regulations must state procedures and standards for instructing the member about the obligations under subsection (c)(2) while released from active service. (e) Order to Active Service. Under regulations of the military department Secretary, the Secretary may require a participating member to end participation and order the member to active service. (f) Pay and Allowances. (1) For each month in the program, the member must receive basic pay equal to two-thirtieths of the monthly basic pay the member would otherwise receive under section 204 of title 37 as an active uniformed-service member at the grade and years of service held when participation began. (2)(A) During participation, the member may not receive special or incentive pay or a bonus otherwise owed under an agreement under chapter 5 of title 37 that was in force when participation began. (B) Inactivation is not treated as failure to perform required service under such an agreement. (3)(A) Subject to (B), when the member returns to active service, the chapter 5 agreement is revived for the part that remained when participation began, and the related pay or bonus is payable under that agreement for that remaining period. (B)(i) This does not apply if, on return, the pay or bonus is no longer authorized by law or the member no longer meets the eligibility rules then in effect. (ii) It stops applying if the pay or bonus becomes unauthorized during the revived agreement. (C) A member ineligible because of (B)(i)(II) must repay the pay or bonus as the applicable agreement requires. (D) Service required after return under this paragraph is additional to service required under subsection (c). (4)(A) Subject to (B), while participating, the member is entitled under section 452 of title 37 to travel and transportation allowances for travel from the residence at release to a single United States residence designated by the member as the member’s residence during the program, and for travel to the member’s residence upon return to active service. (B) The allowance covers travel to and from only one residence. (5) The member may carry forward the leave balance existing when participation begins and accumulated under section 701, up to 60 days. (g) Promotion. (1)(A) An officer in the program may not be considered for promotion under chapter 36, 1405, or 2005 while participating. (B) On return, the military department Secretary must adjust the officer’s date of rank as Defense Department regulations require, and the officer may be considered for promotion when officers in the same competitive category, grade, and seniority may be considered. (2) An enlisted member may not be considered for promotion from the date of inactivation until after return when the member is treated as eligible based on time in grade and other program requirements set by regulation. (h) Continued Entitlements. During participation, the member is treated as an active-duty member for more than 30 days for: (1) the member’s and dependents’ medical and dental care under chapter 55; (2) retirement or separation for physical disability under chapters 55 and 61; (3) the member’s and survivors’ death benefits under chapter 75; (4) travel and transportation allowances for survivors attending burial ceremonies under section 453(f) of title 37; and (5) eligibility for general benefits under part II of title 38.