MODIFICATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF GENERAL AUTHORITIES ON MANAGEMENT OF OFFICERS WHO ARE JOINT QUALIFIED.

SEC. 516. MODIFICATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF GENERAL AUTHORITIES ON MANAGEMENT OF OFFICERS WHO ARE JOINT QUALIFIED.(a) Redesignation of Applicability of Policies Toward Joint Qualification.—Subsection (a) of section 661 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking the last sentence.(b) Revision to General Authorities.—Subsections (b), (c), and (d) of such section are amended to read as follows:“(b) Levels, Designation, and Numbers.—(1)(A) The Secretary of Defense shall establish different levels of joint qualification, as well as the criteria for qualification at each level. Such levels of joint qualification shall be established by the Secretary with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Each level shall, as a minimum, have both joint education criteria and joint experience criteria. The purpose of establishing such qualification levels is to ensure a systematic, progressive, career-long development of officers in joint matters and to ensure that officers serving as general and flag officers have the requisite experience and education to be highly proficient in joint matters.“(B) The number of officers who are joint qualified shall be determined by the Secretary of Defense, with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Such number shall be large enough to meet the requirements of subsection (d).“(2) Certain officers shall be designated as joint qualified by the Secretary of Defense with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.“(3) An officer may be designated as joint qualified under paragraph (2) only if the officer—“(A) meets the education and experience criteria of subsection (c);“(B) meets such additional criteria as prescribed by the Secretary of Defense; and“(C) holds the grade of captain or, in the case of the Navy, lieutenant or a higher grade.“(4) The authority of the Secretary of Defense under paragraph (2) to designate officers as joint qualified may be delegated only to the Deputy Secretary of Defense or an Under Secretary of Defense.“(c) Education and Experience Requirements.—(1) An officer may not be designated as joint qualified until the officer—“(A) successfully completes an appropriate program of joint professional military education, as described in subsections (b) and (c) of section 2155 of this title, at a joint professional military education school; and“(B) successfully completes—“(i) a full tour of duty in a joint assignment, as described in section 664(f) of this title; or“(ii) such other assignments and experiences in a manner that demonstrate the officer’s mastery of knowledge, skills, and abilities in joint matters, as determined 120 STAT. 2188 under such regulations and policy as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe.“(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) through (6), the Secretary of Defense may waive the requirement under paragraph (1)(A) that an officer has successfully completed a program of education, as described in subsections (b) and (c) of section 2155 of this title.“(3) In the case of an officer in a grade below brigadier general or rear admiral (lower half), a waiver under paragraph (2) may be granted only if—“(A) the officer has completed two full tours of duty in a joint duty assignment, as described in section 664(f) of this title, in such a manner as to demonstrate the officer’s mastery of knowledge, skills, and abilities on joint matters; and“(B) the Secretary of Defense determines that the types of joint duty experiences completed by the officer have been of sufficient breadth to prepare the officer adequately for service as a general or flag officer in a joint duty assignment position.“(4) In the case of a general or flag officer, a waiver under paragraph (2) may be granted only—“(A) under unusual circumstances justifying the variation from the education requirement under paragraph (1)(A); and“(B) under circumstances in which the waiver is necessary to meet a critical need of the armed forces, as determined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.“(5) In the case of officers in grades below brigadier general or rear admiral (lower half), the total number of waivers granted under paragraph (2) for officers in the same pay grade during a fiscal year may not exceed 10 percent of the total number of officers in that pay grade designated as joint qualified during that fiscal year.“(6) There may not be more than 32 general and flag officers on active duty at the same time who, while holding a general or flag officer position, were designated joint qualified (or were selected for the joint specialty before October 1, 2007) and for whom a waiver was granted under paragraph (2).“(d) Number of Joint Duty Assignments.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that approximately one-half of the joint duty assignment positions in grades above major or, in the case of the Navy, lieutenant commander are filled at any time by officers who have the appropriate level of joint qualification.“(2) The Secretary of Defense, with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall designate an appropriate number of joint duty assignment positions as critical joint duty assignment positions. A position may be designated as a critical joint duty assignment position only if the duties and responsibilities of the position make it important that the occupant be particularly trained in, and oriented toward, joint matters.“(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), a position designated under paragraph (2) may be held only by an officer who—“(i) was designated as joint qualified in accordance with this chapter; or“(ii) was selected for the joint specialty before October 1, 2007.“(B) The Secretary of Defense may waive the requirement in subparagraph (A) with respect to the assignment of an officer to a position designated under paragraph (2). Any such waiver shall be granted on a case-by-case basis. The authority of the 120 STAT. 2189 Secretary to grant such a waiver may be delegated only to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.“(4) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that, of those joint duty assignment positions that are filled by general or flag officers, a substantial portion are among those positions that are designated under paragraph (2) as critical joint duty assignment positions.”.(c) Career Guidelines.—Subsection (e) of such section is amended by striking “officers with the joint specialty” and inserting “officers to achieve joint qualification and for officers who have been designated as joint qualified”.(d) Technical Amendment Regarding Treatment of Certain Service.—Subsection (f) of such section is amended by striking “section 619(e)(1)” and inserting “section 619a”.(e) Clerical Amendments.—(1) Section heading.—The heading of such section is amended to read as follows:“§ 661. Management policies for officers who are joint qualified” .(2) Table of sections.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 38 of such title is amended by striking the item relating to section 661 and inserting the following new item: “661. Management policies for officers who are joint qualified.”. (f) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect on October 1, 2007.(g) Treatment of Current Joint Specialty Officers.—For the purposes of chapter 38 of title 10, United States Code, and sections 154, 164, and 619a of such title, an officer who, as of September 30, 2007, has been selected for or has the joint specialty under section 661 of such title, as in effect on that date, shall be considered after that date to be an officer designated as joint qualified by the Secretary of Defense under section 661(b)(2) of such title, as amended by this section.(h) Implementation Plan.—(1) Plan required.—Not later than March 31, 2007, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a plan for the implementation of the joint officer management system, which will take effect on October 1, 2007, as provided in subsection (f), as a result of the amendments made by this section and other provisions of this Act to provisions of chapter 38 of title 10, United States Code.(2) Elements of plan.—In developing the plan required by this subsection, the Secretary shall pay particular attention to matters related to the transition of officers from the joint specialty system in effect before October 1, 2007, to the joint officer management system in effect after that date. At a minimum, the plan shall include the following:(A) The policies and criteria to be used for designating officers as joint qualified on the basis of service performed by such officers before that date, had the amendments made by this section and other provisions of this Act to provisions of chapter 38 of title 10, United States Code, taken effect before the date of the enactment of this Act.120 STAT. 2190(B) The policies and criteria prescribed by the Secretary of Defense to be used in making determinations under section 661(c)(1)(B)(ii) of such title, as amended by this section.(C) The recommendations of the Secretary for any legislative changes that may be necessary to effectuate the joint officer management system.