IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR ACCESSION OF PERSONS WITH SPECIALIZED SKILLS.

SEC. 592. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR ACCESSION OF PERSONS WITH SPECIALIZED SKILLS.(a) Plan for Accession of Persons With Specialized Skills.—(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a plan for implementation of authority, if subsequently provided by law, to allow for accession into the Armed Forces, on a special or lateral-entry basis, of persons with specialized skills, for duty involving the use of such skills.(2) The plan under paragraph (1) shall address matters such as projected numbers of enlistments and appointments, initial rank or grade, projected enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses and pays, projected length of service obligation (if any), minimum time of active duty requirements, the potential effect the use of such authority would have on other special or lateral-entry programs (such as those applicable to physicians), and such other matters as the Secretary considers appropriate.(3) The Secretary shall include with the plan submitted under paragraph (1) a comparison of that plan with an alternative for meeting the specialized skills required by the Armed Forces through the use of civilain contractor personnel.(b) Civilian Skills Corps Feasibility Study.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a feasibility study of how to implement a system that would make civilian volunteers, with skills determined by the Secretary to be critical, rapidly available for use in, or in support of, units of the Armed Force on a temporary basis to meet no-notice, or short-notice, operational requirements. In conducting the study, the Secretary shall examine a range of options, including—(A) a system that would embed on short notice in military units civilian volunteers who were not part of the military, but who possessed highly required skills that were in short supply in the Armed Forces; and(B) a system to provide for the accession into the active or reserve components of persons with critical skills required by the Armed Forces for whom the Secretary could prescribe varying lengths of service and training requirements.(2) The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report on the results of the study under paragraph (1) not later than March 31, 2005.