---
kind: "section"
citation: "32 U.S.C. § 312"
title: "32"
title_heading: "National Guard"
number: "312"
heading: "Appointment oath"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/32/312"
units:
  - "Chapter 3 — Personnel"
---

# §312. Appointment oath


Each person who is appointed as an [officer](/usc/32/101.md?p=8) of the [National Guard](/usc/32/101.md?p=3) shall subscribe to the following oath:

“I, ______, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of ______ against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and of the Governor of the State of ______, that I make this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of ____ in the [National Guard](/usc/32/101.md?p=3) of the State of ______ upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.”


## Source credit

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 603.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 312 | 32:112. | June 3, 1916, ch. 134, § 73 (1st par.); restated June 15, 1933, ch. 87, § 11 (1st par.), 48 Stat. 157; July 9, 1952, ch. 608, § 806(c), 66 Stat. 507. |

The words “Each person who is appointed as an” are inserted for clarity.