Branch selection is a key decision in a cadet's military career. Cadets at USMA can increase their branch priorities at a fraction of slots by extending their service agreement. This real-life matching problem fills an important gap in market design literature.Although priorities fail a key substitutes condition, the agent-optimal stable mechanism is well-defined, and in contrast to the current USMA mechanism it is fair, stable, and strategy-proof. Adoption of this mechanism benefits cadets and the Army. This new application shows that matching with contracts model is practically relevant beyond traditional domains that satisfy the substitutes condition. JEL Classification Numbers: C78, D63, D78
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