INTERAGENCY POLICY COORDINATION.

SEC. 952. INTERAGENCY POLICY COORDINATION.(a) Plan Required.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall develop and submit to Congress a plan to improve and reform the Department of Defense’s participation in and contribution to the interagency coordination process on national security issues.(b) Elements.—The elements of the plan shall include the following:(1) Assigning either the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy or another official to be the lead policy official for improving and reforming the interagency coordination process on national security issues for the Department of Defense, with an explanation of any decision to name an official other than the Under Secretary and the relative advantages and disadvantages of such decision.(2) Giving the official assigned under paragraph (1) the following responsibilities:(A) To be the lead person at the Department of Defense for the development of policy affecting the national security interagency process.(B) To serve, or designate a person to serve, as the representative of the Department of Defense in Federal Government forums established to address interagency policy, planning, or reforms.(C) To advocate, on behalf of the Secretary, for greater interagency coordination and contributions in the execution of the National Security Strategy and particularly specific operational objectives undertaken pursuant to that strategy.(D) To make recommendations to the Secretary of Defense on changes to existing Department of Defense regulations or laws to improve the interagency process.(E) To serve as the coordinator for all planning and training assistance that is—(i) designed to improve the interagency process or the capabilities of other agencies to work with the Department of Defense; and(ii) provided by the Department of Defense at the request of other agencies.(F) To serve as the lead official in Department of Defense for the development of deployable joint interagency task forces.(c) Factors To Be Considered.—In drafting the plan, the Secretary of Defense shall also consider the following factors:(1) How the official assigned under subsection (b)(1) shall provide input to the Secretary of Defense on an ongoing basis on how to incorporate the need to coordinate with other agencies into the establishment and reform of combatant commands.(2) How such official shall develop and make recommendations to the Secretary of Defense on a regular or an ongoing 122 STAT. 292 basis on changes to military and civilian personnel to improve interagency coordination.(3) How such official shall work with the combatant command that has the mission for joint warfighting experimentation and other interested agencies to develop exercises to test and validate interagency planning and capabilities.(4) How such official shall lead, coordinate, or participate in after-action reviews of operations, tests, and exercises to capture lessons learned regarding the functioning of the interagency process and how those lessons learned will be disseminated.(5) The role of such official in ensuring that future defense planning guidance takes into account the capabilities and needs of other agencies.(d) Recommendation on Changes in Law.—The Secretary of Defense may submit with the plan or with any future budget submissions recommendations for any changes to law that are required to enhance the ability of the official assigned under subsection (b)(1) in the Department of Defense to coordinate defense interagency efforts or to improve the ability of the Department of Defense to work with other agencies.(e) Annual Report.—If an official is named by the Secretary of Defense under subsection (b)(1), the official shall annually submit to Congress a report, beginning in the fiscal year following the naming of the official, on those actions taken by the Department of Defense to enhance national security interagency coordination, the views of the Department of Defense on efforts and challenges in improving the ability of agencies to work together, and suggestions on changes needed to laws or regulations that would enhance the coordination of efforts of agencies.(f) Definition.—In this section, the term “interagency coordination”, within the context of Department of Defense involvement, means the coordination that occurs between elements of the Department of Defense and engaged Federal Government agencies for the purpose of achieving an objective.(g) Construction.—Nothing in this provision shall be construed as preventing the Secretary of Defense from naming an official with the responsibilities listed in subsection (b) before the submission of the report required under this section.