They shift their status from Active Duty to the Reserve Component. During the NFL offseason they are part of the Active Reserve Component and they work essentially full time for the Army. During the NFL season they are not obligated to make their weekend Reserve rotation. I believe there is no adjustment to the Mandatory Service Obligation (MSO) of 5 years although only part of the year is full time or reflective of an Active Duty commitment.

I believe they also shift most of those who play in the NFL to Recruting Command or some type of work that is desk job related. If the graduate was commissioned into a combat arms branch like most West Point football players go into such as Field Artillery or Air Defense Artillery they usually change the officer’s branch to fit a more desk friendly branch-as being an effective platoon leader in a real Army unit, even just a Reserve component, requires a time commitment the graduate cannot make during the NFL season. Most of the West Point graduates who went into the NFL have been moved to Recruiting Command and they use the prestige of the NFL player as a spokesperson/marketing source for Army Recruiting.

I don’t know what the Air Force does-I went to a real US service Academy.