---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 671"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "671"
heading: "Members not to be assigned outside United States before completing training"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/671"
units:
  - "Subtitle A — General Military Law"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 39 — Active Duty"
---

# §671. Members not to be assigned outside United States before completing training

- (a) A member of the [armed forces](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-4) may not be assigned to [active duty](/usc/10/101.md?p=d-1) on land outside the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) and its territories and [possessions](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-3) until the member has completed the basic [training](/usc/10/301.md?p=9) requirements of the armed force of which he is a member.
- (b) In time of war or a national emergency declared by Congress or the President, the period of required basic [training](/usc/10/301.md?p=9) (or its equivalent) may not (except as provided in [subsection (c)](#c)) be less than 12 weeks.
- (c)
  - (1) A period of basic [training](/usc/10/301.md?p=9) (or equivalent [training](/usc/10/301.md?p=9)) shorter than 12 weeks may be established by the [Secretary concerned](/usc/10/2801.md?p=c-5) for members of the [armed forces](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-4) who have been credentialed in a medical profession or occupation and are serving in a health-care occupational specialty, as determined under regulations prescribed under [paragraph (2)](#c-2). Any such period shall be established under regulations prescribed under [paragraph (2)](#c-2) and may be established notwithstanding section 4(a) of the [Military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) Selective Service Act ([50 U.S.C. 3803(a)](/usc/50/3803.md?p=a)).
  - (2) The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense, and the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, shall prescribe regulations for the purposes of [paragraph (1)](#c-1). The regulations prescribed by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense shall apply uniformly to the [military departments](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-8).

## Source credit

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 27; Pub. L. 94–106, title VIII, § 802(b), Oct. 7, 1975, 89 Stat. 537; Pub. L. 99–661, div. A, title V, § 501, Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3863; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title V, § 511, Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1648; Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314; Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title X, § 1081(b)(1)(A)(v), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2418.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 671 | 50 App.:454(a) (words between semicolon and proviso of 6th par.). | June 24, 1948, ch. 625, § 4(a) (words between semicolon and proviso of 6th par.); restated June 19, 1951, ch. 144, § 1(d) (words between semicolon and proviso of 6th par.), 65 Stat. 78. |

The words “four months of basic training or its equivalent” are substituted for the words “the equivalent of at least four months of basic training”. The words “who is enlisted, inducted, appointed, or ordered to active duty after the date of enactment of the 1951 Amendments to the Universal Military Training and Service Act [June 19, 1951]” and “at any installation located” are omitted as surplusage.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2016—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 114–328 substituted “(50 U.S.C. 3803(a))” for “(50 U.S.C. App. 454(a))”.

2002—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 107–296 substituted “of Homeland Security” for “of Transportation”.

1993—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–160, § 511(1), inserted “(except as provided in subsection (c))” after “may not”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–160, § 511(2), added subsec. (c).

1986—Pub. L. 99–661 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: “No member of an armed force may be assigned to active duty on land outside the United States and its Territories and possessions, until he has had twelve weeks of basic training or its equivalent.”

1975—Pub. L. 94–106 reduced minimum period of basic training from four months to twelve weeks.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2002 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 107–296 effective on the date of transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, see section 1704(g) of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.