A service officer shall be assigned to each field office

All service officers and any supervisors, including the field manager, within the field division must be an honorably discharged veteran from service in the Armed Forces of the United States. They must have served during a time of hostilities with a foreign country, and must meet one or more of the following conditions: (i) The veteran served a total of at least 6 months. (ii) The veteran served for the duration of hostilities regardless of the length of engagement. (iii) The veteran was discharged on the basis of hardship. (iv) The veteran was released from active duty because of a service-connected disability and was discharged under honorable conditions. As used in this Section, "time of hostilities with a foreign country" means any period of time in the past, present, or future during which a declaration of war by the United States Congress has been or is in effect or during which an emergency condition has been or is in effect that is recognized by the issuance of a Presidential proclamation or a Presidential executive order and in which the armed forces expeditionary medal or other campaign service medals are awarded according to Presidential executive order. (Source: P.A. 102-467, eff. 1-1-22 .)