(a) Authority and Eligibility Requirements. -

(1)

A person who is a former enlisted member of an armed force who enlists in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve of an armed force for a period of three or six years in a critical military skill designated for such a bonus by the Secretary concerned and who meets the requirements of paragraph (2) may be paid a bonus as prescribed in subsection (b).

(2)

A bonus may only be paid under this section to a person who meets each of the following requirements:

(A)

The person has completed a military service obligation, but has less than 14 years of total military service, and received an honorable discharge at the conclusion of that military service obligation.

(B)

The person was not released, or is not being released, from active service for the purpose of enlistment in a reserve component.

(C)

The person is projected to occupy, or is occupying, a position as a member of the Selected Reserve in a specialty in which the person -

(i)

successfully served while a member on active duty and attained a level of qualification while on active duty commensurate with the grade and years of service of the member; or

(ii)

has completed training or retraining in the specialty skill that is designated as critically short and attained a level of qualification in the specialty skill that is commensurate with the grade and years of service of the member.

(D)

The person has not previously been paid a bonus (except under this section) for enlistment, reenlistment, or extension of enlistment in a reserve component.

(b) Bonus Amounts; Payment. -

(1)

The amount of a bonus under this section may not exceed -

(A)

$5,000, in the case of a person who enlists for a period of six years;

(B)

$2,500, in the case of a person who, having never received a bonus under this section, enlists for a period of three years; and

(C)

$2,000, in the case of a person who, having received a bonus under this section for a previous three-year enlistment, reenlists or extends the enlistment for an additional period of three years.

(2)

Any bonus payable under this section shall be disbursed in one initial payment of an amount not to exceed one-half of the total amount of the bonus and subsequent periodic partial payments of the balance of the bonus. The Secretary concerned shall prescribe the amount of each partial payment and the schedule for making the partial payments.

(c) Condition on Eligibility; Limitation on Number of Bonuses. -

(1)

To be eligible for a second bonus under this section in the amount specified in subsection (b)(1)(C), a person must -

(A)

enter into a reenlistment or extension of an enlistment for a period of three years not later than the date on which the enlistment for which the first bonus was paid would expire; and

(B)

still satisfy the eligibility requirements under subsection (a).

(2)

A person may not be paid more than one six-year bonus or two three-year bonuses under this section.

(d) Repayment of Bonus. -

(1)

A person who receives a bonus payment under this section and who fails during the period for which the bonus was paid to serve satisfactorily in the element of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve with respect to which the bonus was paid shall refund to the United States an amount that bears the same relation to the amount of the bonus paid to such person as the period that such person failed to serve satisfactorily bears to the total period for which the bonus was paid.

(2)

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

(3)

Under regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary concerned may remit or cancel the whole or any part of an obligation to reimburse the United States imposed under paragraph (1).

(4)

A discharge in bankruptcy under title 11 that is entered less than five years after the termination of an enlistment for which a bonus was paid under this section shall not discharge the person receiving such bonus payment from the debt arising under paragraph (1). This subsection ^[1] applies to any case commenced under title 11 after September 30, 1985.

(e) Regulations. -

This section shall be administered under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for the armed forces under his jurisdiction and by the Secretary of Transportation for the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Navy.

(f) Termination of Authority. -

No bonus may be paid under this section to any person for an enlistment after December 31, 2001.