ESTABLISHMENT OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT SECTION IN ARMY MEDICAL SPECIALIST CORPS.

SEC. 551. ESTABLISHMENT OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT SECTION IN ARMY MEDICAL SPECIALIST CORPS. (a) Establishment.—(1) Subsection (a) of section 3070 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(4) The Physician Assistant Section.”. (2) Such subsection is further amended— (A) by striking out “sections—” and inserting in lieu thereof “sections:”; (B) by striking out “the” at the beginning of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and inserting in lieu thereof “The”; (C) by striking out the semicolon at the end of paragraph (1) and inserting in lieu thereof a period; and (D) by striking out and” at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting in lieu thereof a period. (3) Subsection (c) of such section is amended by striking out “three assistant chiefs” in the first sentence and inserting in lieu thereof “four assistant chiefs”. (b) Appointment of Assistant Chief.—Notwithstanding the requirement in subsection (c) of section 3070 of title 10, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), with respect to the appointment of officers of the Regular Army as chiefs of sections of the Army Medical Specialist Corps, a warrant officer of the Army who is appointed as a reserve commissioned officer and assigned to the Army Medical Specialist Corps for service in the Physician Assistant Section of that Corps during the five-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act may be appointed as an assistant chief of that Corps and chief of the Physician Assistant Section. (c) Retirement.—A member of the Army who on the date of the enactment of this Act is a warrant officer serving on active duty (other than for training) as a physician assistant and who is subsequently appointed as a commissioned officer in, or is assigned to, the Physician Assistant Section of the Army Medical Specialist Corps 105 STAT. 1371 may elect at the time of the officer’s retirement after 20 years or more of active service that could be credited to the officer under section 511 of the Career Compensation Act of 1949, as amended— (1) to revert to the highest warrant officer grade in which the officer served on active duty (other than for training) satisfactorily (as determined by the Secretary of the Army) for a period of more than 30 days; and (2) to be retired under chapter 65 of title 10, United States Code. (d) Constructive Credit for Determination of Grade and Rank.—(1) For the purpose of determining the grade and rank within grade of a person who is appointed as a commissioned officer in the Army Medical Specialist Corps for service in the Physician Assistant Section, or who is assigned to the Army Medical Specialist Corps for service as a physician assistant, and who on the date of the enactment of this Act is a warrant officer and a physician assistant on active duty or in an active reserve status, the Secretary of the Army shall credit that person at the time of such appointment with any service on active duty, or in an active reserve status, as a physician assistant performed as a member of the Armed Forces before that appointment. (2) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to carry out this subsection.