Cadets: appointment; numbers, territorial distribution

§ 9342. Cadets: appointment; numbers, territorial distribution (a) The authorized strength of Air Force Cadets of the Academy is as follows— (1) eight cadets from each State, four nominated by each Senator from the State; (2) four cadets from each congressional district, nominated by the Representative from the district; (3) four cadets from each Territory, nominated by the Delegate in Congress from the Territory; (4) four cadets from Puerto Rico, nominated by its Resident Commissioner; (5) six cadets from the District of Columbia, nominated by its Commissioners; (6) two cadets nominated by the Governor of the Canal Zone; (7) 172 cadets from the United States at large, selected or nominated under subsection (e); (8) 180 cadets from enlisted members of the Air Force, appointed under subsection (g); and (9) in addition to the cadets authorized in clauses (1)–(8), any cadets appointed under subsection (h). (b) All cadets are appointed by the President. An appointment is conditional until the cadet is admitted. (c) No person may be nominated under clauses (1)–(5) of subsection (a), unless he is domiciled in the State or Territory, or in the congressional district, from which he is nominated, or in the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico, if nominated from one of those places. (d) To be eligible for nomination by the Governor of the Canal Zone, a person must be the son of a civilian residing in the Canal Zone, or of a civilian officer or employee of the United States or the Panama Canal Company residing in the Republic of Panama. (e) Of the 172 cadets authorized to be appointed from the United States at large— (1) 89 may be personally selected by the President; (2) 3 may be nominated by the Vice President; (3) 40 shall be nominated under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Air Force, from honor graduates of the schools designated by the Department of the Army or the Department of the Air Force as honor military schools or by the Department of the Navy as honor naval schools; and (4) 40, otherwise qualified for admission, may be selected in order of merit as established by competitive examination, from the sons of members of the armed forces who were killed in action or died of wounds or injuries received or diseases contracted in, or preexisting injury or disease aggravated by, active service (A) 564during World War I or World War II, as defined by laws providing service-connected compensation or pension benefits for veterans of those wars and their dependents, or (B) after June 26, 1950, and before February 1, 1955. (f) For the purposes of subsection (e) (4), a determination by the Veterans’ Administration whether a death is service-connected is binding upon the Secretary of the Air Force. (g) Of the 180 cadets authorized to be appointed from the enlisted members of the Army and the Air Force, 90 may be appointed from the Regular Army and the Regular Air Force, and 90 from the reserve components of the Army and the Air Force. For each vacancy to be filled from one of those categories, there may be selected to compete at an annual examination three candidates from that category who have served at least one year on active duty or in an active-duty training status, including training performed under sections 502, 503, 504, and 505 of title 32. Appointments to fill vacancies from those categories shall be made from candidates, in order of their merit, making the highest grades on the examination. The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for the selection of candidates under this subsection. (h) If he is otherwise qualified for admission, the son of a person to whom the Medal of Honor has been awarded for an act performed while in the armed forces may be appointed a cadet from the United States at large.