LENGTH OF JOINT DUTY ASSIGNMENTS

SEC. 1303. LENGTH OF JOINT DUTY ASSIGNMENTS (a) Revision and Clarification.—Section 664 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking out subsections (b), (c), and (d) and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “(b) Waiver Authority.—The Secretary of Defense may waive subsection (a) in the case of any officer. “(c) Initial Assignment of Officers With Critical Occupational Specialties.—The Secretary may for purposes of section 661(c)(2) of this title authorize a joint duty assignment of less than the period prescribed by subsection (a), but not less than two years, without the requirement for a waiver under subsection (b) in the case of an officer— “(1) who has been nominated for the joint specialty before such assignment begins; “(2) who has a military occupational specialty designated under section 661(c)(2) of this title as a critical occupational specialty; “(3) for whom such joint duty assignment is the initial joint duty assignment. “(d) Exclusions From Tour Length.—The Secretary of Defense may exclude the following service from the standards prescribed in subsection (a): “(1) Service in a joint duty assignment in which the full tour of duty in the assignment is not completed by the officer because of— “(A) retirement; “(B) release from active duty; “(C) suspension from duty under section 155(f)(2) or 164(g) of this title; or “(D) a qualifying reassignment (as described in subsection (g)(4)). “(2) Service in a joint duty assignment outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii. “(3) Service in a joint duty assignment in a case in which— “(A) the officer’s tour of duty in that assignment brings the officer’s cumulative service for purposes of subsection (f)(3) to the applicable standard prescribed in subsection (a); and 101 STAT. 1171 “(B) the length of time served in that assignment (in any case other than an assignment which is described in subsection (g)(4)(B)) was not less than two years. “(e) Average Tour Lengths.—(1) The Secretary shall ensure that the average length of joint duty assignments during any fiscal year (after fiscal year 1990), measured by the lengths of the joint duty assignments ending during that fiscal year, meets the standards prescribed in subsection (a). “(2) In computing the average length of joint duty assignments for purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary may exclude the following service: “(A) Service described in subsection (c), except that not more than 10 percent of all joint duty assignments shown on the list published pursuant to section 668(b)(2)(A) of this title may be so excluded in any year. “(B) Service described in subsection (d). “(f) Full Tour of Duty.—An officer shall be considered to have completed a full tour of duty in a joint duty assignment upon completion of— “(1) a joint duty assignment that meets the standards prescribed in subsection (a); “(2) a joint duty assignment under the circumstances described in subsection (c); or “(3) cumulative service in joint duty assignments as described in subsection (g). “(g) Cumulative Credit.—(1) Cumulative service for purposes of subsection (f)(3) is service in joint duty assignments which totals in length not less than the applicable standard prescribed in subsection (a) and which includes at least one tour of duty in a joint duty assignment that— “(A) was performed outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii; or “(B) was terminated because of a qualifying reassignment (as described in paragraph (4)). “(2) In computing cumulative service of an officer in joint duty assignments for purposes of paragraph (1), a tour of duty of the officer in a joint duty assignment other than a tour of duty specified in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) may not be counted unless the officer served at least two years in the assignment. The prohibition on counting certain tours of duty in the preceding sentence does not apply to a joint duty assignment which follows a reassignment described in paragraph (4)(B). “(3) In computing the cumulative service of an officer in joint duty assignments for purposes of paragraph (1), a tour of duty in a joint duty assignment shall be excluded— “(A) if the officer served less than 10 months in that assignment; and “(B) to the extent that the assignment was served more than eight years before the date of computation of the cumulative service. “(4) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), a qualifying reassignment is a reassignment of an officer from a joint duty assignment— “(A) for unusual personal reasons (including extreme hardship and medical conditions) beyond the control of the officer or the armed forces; or “(B) to another joint duty assignment immediately after— 101 STAT. 1172 “(i) the officer was promoted to a higher grade if the reassignment was made because no joint duty assignment was available within the same organization that was commensurate with the officer’s new grade; or “(ii) the officer’s position was eliminated in a reorganization.” (b) Consecutive Assignments Within Same Organization.—Section 668 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(f) Clarification of ‘Tour of Duty’.—For purposes of this chapter, a tour of duty in which an officer serves in more than one joint duty assignment within the same organization without a break between such assignments shall be considered to be a single tour of duty in a joint duty assignment.”.