TRANSITION OF ACTIVE-DUTY LIST OFFICER FORCE TO A FORCE OF ALL REGULAR OFFICERS.

SEC. 501. TRANSITION OF ACTIVE-DUTY LIST OFFICER FORCE TO A FORCE OF ALL REGULAR OFFICERS.(a) Original Appointments as Commissioned Officers.—(1) Section 532 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking subsection (e). (2) Subsection (a)(2) of such section is amended by striking “fifty-fifth birthday” and inserting “sixty-second birthday”.(3)(A) Such section is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:118 STAT. 1873 “(f) The Secretary of Defense may waive the requirement of paragraph (1) of subsection (a) with respect to a person who has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence when the Secretary determines that the national security so requires, but only for an original appointment in a grade below the grade of major or lieutenant commander.”. (B) Section 619(d) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:“(5) An officer in the grade of captain or, in the case of the Navy, lieutenant who is not a citizen of the United States.”.(4) Section 531(a) of such title is amended to read as follows:“(a)(1) Original appointments in the grades of second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain in the Regular Army, Regular Air Force, and Regular Marine Corps and in the grades of ensign, lieutenant (junior grade), and lieutenant in the Regular Navy shall be made by the President alone.“(2) Original appointments in the grades of major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel in the Regular Army, Regular Air Force, and Regular Marine Corps and in the grades of lieutenant commander, commander, and captain in the Regular Navy shall be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.”.(b) Repeal of Total Strength Limitations for Active-Duty Regular Commissioned Officers.—(1) Section 522 of such title is repealed.(2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 32 of such title is amended by striking the item relating to section 522.(c) Force Shaping Authority.—(1)(A) Subchapter V of chapter 36 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new section:“§ 647. Force shaping authority“(a) Authority.—The Secretary concerned may, solely for the purpose of restructuring an armed force under the jurisdiction of that Secretary—“(1) discharge an officer described in subsection (b); or“(2) transfer such an officer from the active-duty list of that armed force to the reserve active-status list of a reserve component of that armed force.“(b) Covered Officers.—(1) The authority under this section may be exercised in the case of an officer who—“(A) has completed not more than 5 years of service as a commissioned officer in the armed forces; or“(B) has completed more than 5 years of service as a commissioned officer in the armed forces, but has not completed a minimum service obligation applicable to that member.“(2) In this subsection, the term ‘minimum service obligation’ means the initial period of required active duty service together with any additional period of required active duty service incurred during the initial period of required active duty service.“(c) Appointment of Transferred Officers.—An officer of the Regular Army, Regular Air Force, Regular Navy, or Regular Marine Corps who is transferred to a reserve active-status list under this section shall be discharged from the regular component concerned and appointed as a reserve commissioned officer under section 12203 of this title.118 STAT. 1874“(d) Regulations.—The Secretary concerned shall prescribe regulations for the exercise of the Secretary’s authority under this section.” .(B) The table of sections at the beginning of such subchapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item: “647. Force shaping authority.”. (2) Section 1174(e)(2)(B) of such title is amended by inserting after “obligated service” the following: “, unless the member is an officer discharged or released under the authority of section 647 of this title”.(3) Section 12201(a) of such title is amended—(A) by inserting “(1)” after “(a)”;(B) in the first sentence, by inserting “, except as provided in paragraph (2),” after “the armed force concerned and”; and(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:“(2) An officer transferred from the active-duty list of an armed force to a reserve active-status list of an armed force under section 647 of this title is not required to subscribe to the oath referred to in paragraph (1) in order to qualify for an appointment under that paragraph.”.(4) Section 12203 of such title is amended—(A) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new subsection (b):“(b) Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the President, the Secretary concerned may appoint as a reserve commissioned officer any regular officer transferred from the active-duty list of an armed force to the reserve active-status list of a reserve component under section 647 of this title, notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (a).”.(5) Section 531 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:“(c) Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the President, an original appointment as a commissioned officer in the Regular Army, Regular Air Force, Regular Navy, or Regular Marine Corps may be made by the Secretary concerned in the case of a reserve commissioned officer upon the transfer of such officer from the reserve active-status list of a reserve component of the armed forces to the active-duty list of an armed force, notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (a).”.(d) Active-Duty Ready Reserve Officers Not on Active-Duty List.—Section 641(1)(F) of such title is amended by striking “section 12304” and inserting “sections 12302 and 12304”.(e) All Regular Officer Appointments for Students of the University of Health Sciences.—Section 2114(b) of such title is amended by striking “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, they shall serve” in the second sentence and all that follows through “if qualified,” in the third sentence and inserting “They shall be appointed as regular officers in the grade of second lieutenant or ensign and shall serve on active duty in that grade. Upon graduation they shall be required to serve on active duty”.(f) Termination of Requirement of 6 Years Service in a Reserve Component for Nonregular Service Retirement Eligibility.—Section 12731(a)(3) of such title is amended by inserting after “(3)” the following: “in the case of a person who completed the service requirements of paragraph (2) before the 118 STAT. 1875 end of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005,”.(g) Effective Date.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendments made by this section shall take effect on the first day of the first month beginning more than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.(2) The amendment made by subsection (a)(1) shall take effect on May 1, 2005.