Right on signing the contract. The Army paid for his degree, therefore, he has a commitment that he can not terminate. If he does get "kicked out" he will have to pay back all that the Army spent on his education. It is not easy to get out of the military early, whether officer or enlisted, without getting a bad conduct, dishonorable or undesirable discharge. Even though we have an all-volunteer military, one can not opt out because they do not like the military or they oppose what is going on in the military. It is a lot different than a civilian job. The officer involved in the shooting had hired a lawyer to try to get out of the Army, but he was unsuccessful in winning his case. Don in AZ