END STRENGTH FLEXIBILITY

SEC. 1117. END STRENGTH FLEXIBILITY (a) Authority.— If the Secretary of Defense determines that the operational requirements of Operation Desert Shield require an increase in the end strengths of active duty personnel for fiscal year 1991 prescribed by section 401 in excess of the increases authorized under section 115(c)(1) of title 10, United States Code (as amended by section 1483 of this Act), the Secretary may (subject to subsection (b)) increase the total end strength authorized for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps by section 401 by an amount not greater than 0.5 percent of the total end strengths authorized by that section. The authority under the preceding sentence is in addition to the authority under section 115(c)(1) of title 10, United States Code (as amended by section 1483 of this Act). (b) Certification.— The Secretary of Defense may not exercise the authority provided in subsection (a) until after the Secretary certifies in writing to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives that the exercise of that authority is necessary because of the operational requirements of Operation Desert Shield.