§ 247. Militia duty: exemptions

• (a) The following persons are exempt from militia duty:
  • (1) The Vice President.
  • (2) The judicial and executive officers of the United States, the several States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
  • (3) Members of the armed forces, except members who are not on active duty.
  • (4) Customhouse clerks.
  • (5) Persons employed by the United States in the transmission of mail.
  • (6) Workmen employed in armories, arsenals, and naval shipyards of the United States.
  • (7) Pilots on navigable waters.
  • (8) Mariners in the sea service of a citizen of, or a merchant in, the United States.
• (b) A person who claims exemption because of religious belief is exempt from militia duty in a combatant capacity, if the conscientious holding of that belief is established under such regulations as the President may prescribe. However, such a person is not exempt from militia duty that the President determines to be noncombatant.