TITLE 10 - US CODE - CHAPTER 38 - JOINT OFFICER MANAGEMENT

10 USC 661 - Management policies for joint qualified officers

(a) Establishment.—
The Secretary of Defense shall establish policies, procedures, and practices for the effective management of officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps on the active-duty list who are particularly trained in, and oriented toward, joint matters (as defined in section 668 of this title). Such officers shall be identified or designated (in addition to their principal military occupational specialty) as a joint qualified officer or in such other manner as the Secretary of Defense directs.

(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

(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.

(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 officers mastery of knowledge, skills, and abilities in joint matters, as determined 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 officers 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 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.

(e) Career Guidelines.—
The Secretary, with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall establish career guidelines for officers to achieve joint qualification and for officers who have been designated as joint qualified. Such guidelines shall include guidelines for

(1) selection;

(2) military education;

(3) training;

(4) types of duty assignments; and

(5) such other matters as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(f) Treatment of Certain Service.—
Any service by an officer in the grade of captain or, in the case of the Navy, lieutenant in a joint duty assignment shall be considered to be service in a joint duty assignment for purposes of all laws (including section 619a of this title) establishing a requirement or condition with respect to an officers service in a joint duty assignment.

10 USC 662 - Promotion policy objectives for joint officers

(a) Qualifications.—
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the qualifications of officers assigned to joint duty assignments are such that

(1) officers who are serving on, or have served on, the Joint Staff are expected, as a group, to be promoted to the next higher grade at a rate not less than the rate for officers of the same armed force in the same grade and competitive category who are serving on, or have served on, the headquarters staff of their armed force; and

(2) officers in the grade of major (or in the case of the Navy, lieutenant commander) or above who have been designated as a joint qualified officer are expected, as a group, to be promoted to the next higher grade at a rate not less than the rate for all officers of the same armed force in the same grade and competitive category.

(b) Annual Report.—
Not later than January 1 of each year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the promotion rates during the preceding fiscal year of officers who are serving in, or have served in, joint duty assignments or on the Joint Staff, and officers who have been designated as a joint qualified officer in the grades of major (or in the case of the Navy, lieutenant commander) through colonel (or in the case of the Navy, captain), especially with respect to the record of officer selection boards in meeting the objectives of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a). If such promotion rates fail to meet such objectives for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall include in the report for that fiscal year information on such failure and on what action the Secretary has taken or plans to take to prevent further failures.

10 USC 663 - Joint duty assignments after completion of joint professional military education

(a) Joint Qualified Officers.—
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each officer designated as a joint qualified officer who graduates from a school within the National Defense University specified in subsection (c) shall be assigned to a joint duty assignment for that officers next duty assignment after such graduation (unless the officer receives a waiver of that requirement by the Secretary in an individual case).

(b) Other Officers.—

(1) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that a high proportion (which shall be greater than 50 percent) of the officers graduating from a school within the National Defense University specified in subsection (c) who are not designated as a joint qualified officer shall receive assignments to a joint duty assignment as their next duty assignment after such graduation or, to the extent authorized in paragraph (2), as their second duty assignment after such graduation.

(2) The Secretary may, if the Secretary determines that it is necessary to do so for the efficient management of officer personnel, establish procedures to allow up to one-half of the officers subject to the joint duty assignment requirement in paragraph (1) to be assigned to a joint duty assignment as their second (rather than first) assignment after such graduation from a school referred to in paragraph (1).

(c) Covered Schools Within the National Defense University.—
For purposes of this section, a school within the National Defense University specified in this subsection is one of the following:

(1) The National War College.

(2) The Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

(3) The Joint Forces Staff College.

10 USC 664 - Length of joint duty assignments

(a) General Rule.—
The length of a joint duty assignment

(1) for general and flag officers shall be not less than two years; and

(2) for other officers shall be not less than three years.

(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)(1)(B) 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 a military occupational specialty designated under section 668 (d) of this title as a critical occupational specialty; and

(2) 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;

(D) a qualifying reassignment from a joint duty assignment

(i) for unusual personal reasons, including extreme hardship and medical conditions, beyond the control of the officer or the armed forces; or

(ii) to another joint duty assignment immediately after

(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 officers new grade; or

(II) the officers position was eliminated in a reorganization.

(2) Service in a joint duty assignment outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii which is less than the applicable standard prescribed in subsection (a).

(3) Service in a joint duty assignment in a case in which the officers tour of duty in that assignment brings the officers accrued service for purposes of subsection (f)(3) to the applicable standard prescribed in subsection (a).

(e) Average Tour Lengths.—

(1) The Secretary shall ensure that the average length of joint duty assignments during any fiscal year, 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).

(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 any of the following:

(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).

(3) Accrued joint experience in joint duty assignments as described in subsection (g).

(4) A joint duty assignment outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii for which the normal accompanied-by-dependents tour of duty is prescribed by regulation to be at least two years in length, if the officer serves in the assignment for a period equivalent to the accompanied-by-dependents tour length.

(5) A joint duty assignment with respect to which the Secretary of Defense has granted a waiver under subsection (b), but only in a case in which the Secretary determines that the service completed by that officer in that duty assignment shall be considered to be a full tour of duty in a joint duty assignment.

(6) A second and subsequent joint duty assignment that is less than the period required under subsection (a), but not less than two years.

(g) Accrued Joint Experience.—
For the purposes of subsection (f)(3), the Secretary of Defense may prescribe, by regulation, certain joint experience, such as temporary duty in joint assignments, joint individual training, and participation in joint exercises, that may be aggregated to equal a full tour of duty. The Secretary shall prescribe the regulations with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

(h) Constructive Credit.—

(1) The Secretary of Defense may accord constructive credit in the case of an officer (other than a general or flag officer) who, for reasons of military necessity, is reassigned from a joint duty assignment within 60 days of meeting the tour length criteria prescribed in paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of subsection (f). The amount of constructive service that may be credited to such officer shall be the amount sufficient for the completion of the applicable tour of duty requirement, but in no case more than 60 days.

(2) For the purpose of computing under subsection (e) the average length of joint duty assignments during a fiscal year, the amount of any constructive service credited under this subsection with respect to a joint duty assignment to be counted in that computation shall be excluded.

10 USC 665 - Procedures for monitoring careers of joint qualified officers

(a) Procedures.—

(1) The Secretary of Defense, with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall establish procedures for overseeing the careers of

(A) officers designated as a joint qualified officer; and

(B) other officers who serve in joint duty assignments.

(2) Such oversight shall include monitoring of the implementation of the career guidelines established under section 661 (e) of this title.

(b) Function of Joint Staff.—
The Secretary shall take such action as necessary to enhance the capabilities of the Joint Staff so that it can

(1) monitor the promotions and career assignments of officers designated as a joint qualified officer and of other officers who have served in joint duty assignments; and

(2) otherwise advise the Chairman on joint personnel matters.

10 USC 666 - Reserve officers not on the active-duty list

The Secretary of Defense shall establish personnel policies emphasizing education and experience in joint matters for reserve officers not on the active-duty list. Such policies shall, to the extent practicable for the reserve components, be similar to the policies provided by this chapter.

10 USC 667 - Annual report to Congress

The Secretary of Defense shall include in the annual report of the Secretary to Congress under section 113 (c) of this title, for the period covered by the report, the following information (which shall be shown for the Department of Defense as a whole and separately for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps):

(1)

(A) The number of officers designated as a joint qualified officer and their education and experience.

(B) The number of officers who meet the criteria for designation as a joint qualified officer, but were not selected, together with the reasons why.

(2) The number of officers designated as a joint qualified officer, shown by grade and branch or specialty and by education.

(3) The number of officers on the active-duty list with a military occupational specialty designated under section 668 (d) of this title as a critical occupational specialty who

(A) have been designated as a joint qualified officer;

(B) have been designated as a joint qualified officer and are serving in a joint duty assignment;

(C) have completed a joint duty assignment and are attending an appropriate program at a joint professional military education school;

(D) have completed an appropriate program at a joint professional military education school; and

(E) have served, or are serving in, a second joint duty assignment after being designated as a joint qualified officer, with the number of such officers who have served, or are serving, in a critical joint duty assignment shown separately for general and flag officers, and for all other officers.

(4) For each fiscal year

(A) the number of officers designated as a joint qualified officer and, of those, the number who have a military occupational specialty designated as a critical occupational specialty; and

(B) a comparison of the number of officers who were designated as a joint qualified officer who had served in a Joint Duty Assignment List billet and completed Joint Professional Military Education Phase II, with the number designated as a joint qualified officer based on their aggregated joint experiences and completion of Joint Professional Military Education Phase II.

(5) The promotion rate for officers designated as a joint qualified officer, compared with the promotion rate for other officers considered for promotion from within the promotion zone in the same pay grade and the same competitive category. A similar comparison will be made for officers both below the promotion zone and above the promotion zone.

(6) An analysis of assignments of officers after their designation as a joint qualified officer.

(7) The average length of tours of duty in joint duty assignments

(A) for general and flag officers, shown separately for assignments to the Joint Staff and other joint duty assignments; and

(B) for other officers, shown separately for assignments to the Joint Staff and other joint duty assignments.

(8) The number of times, in the case of each category of exclusion, that service in a joint duty assignment was excluded in computing the average length of joint duty assignments.

(9)

(A) An analysis of the extent to which the Secretary of each military department is providing officers to fill that departments share (as determined by law or by the Secretary of Defense) of Joint Staff and other joint duty assignments, including the reason for any significant failure by a military department to fill its share of such positions and a discussion of the actions being taken to correct the shortfall.

(B) An assessment of the extent to which the Secretary of each military department is assigning personnel to joint duty assignments in accordance with this chapter and the policies, procedures, and practices established by the Secretary of Defense under section 661 (a) of this title.

(10) The number of times a waiver authority was exercised under this chapter (or under any other provision of law which permits the waiver of any requirement relating to joint duty assignments) and in the case of each such authority

(A) whether the authority was exercised for a general or flag officer;

(B) an analysis of the reasons for exercising the authority; and

(C) the number of times in which action was taken without exercise of the waiver authority compared with the number of times waiver authority was exercised (in the case of each waiver authority under this chapter or under any other provision of law which permits the waiver of any requirement relating to joint duty assignments).

(11) The number of officers in the grade of captain (or in the case of the Navy, lieutenant) and above certified at each level of joint qualification as established in regulation and policy by the Secretary of Defense with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Such numbers shall be reported by service and grade of the officer.

(12) With regard to each time the principal course of instruction at the Joint Forces Staff College is offered

(A) the number of officers selected to attend that course who did not first complete while in residence at a professional military education school operated by a military department the principal course of instruction offered at that school;

(B) the number of those officers as a percentage of all officers who attended that course of instruction at the Joint Forces Staff College;

(C) a description of the different reasons why officers were selected to attend that course without first attending the principal course of instruction offered at a professional military education school operated by a military department; and

(D) the number of officers so selected for each such reason.

(13) Such other information and comparative data as the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate to demonstrate the performance of the Department of Defense and the performance of each military department in carrying out this chapter.

10 USC 668 - Definitions

(a) Joint Matters.—

(1) In this chapter, the term joint matters means matters related to the achievement of unified action by multiple military forces in operations conducted across domains such as land, sea, or air, in space, or in the information environment, including matters relating to

(A) national military strategy;

(B) strategic planning and contingency planning;

(D) national security planning with other departments and agencies of the United States; and

(E) combined operations with military forces of allied nations.

(2) In the context of joint matters, the term multiple military forces refers to forces that involve participants from the armed forces and one or more of the following:

(A) Other departments and agencies of the United States.

(B) The military forces or agencies of other countries.

(b) Joint Duty Assignment.—

(1) The Secretary of Defense shall by regulation define the term joint duty assignment for the purposes of this chapter. That definition

(A) shall be limited to assignments in which the officer gains significant experience in joint matters; and

(B) shall exclude assignments for joint training and education, except an assignment as an instructor responsible for preparing and presenting courses in areas of the curricula designated in section 2155 (c) of this title as part of a program designated by the Secretary of Defense as joint professional military education Phase II.

(2) The Secretary shall publish a joint duty assignment list showing

(A) the positions that are joint duty assignment positions under such regulation and the number of such positions and, of those positions, those that are positions held by general or flag officers and the number of such positions; and

(B) of the positions listed under subparagraph (A), those that are critical joint duty assignment positions and the number of such positions and, of those positions, those that are positions held by general or flag officers and the number of such positions.

(c) 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 without a break between such assignments shall be considered to be a single tour of duty in a joint duty assignment.

(d) Critical Occupational Specialty.—

(1) In this chapter, the term critical occupational specialty means a military occupational specialty involving combat operations within the combat arms, in the case of the Army, or the equivalent arms, in the case of the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, that the Secretary of Defense designates as critical.

(2) At a minimum, the Secretary of Defense shall designate as a critical occupational specialty under paragraph (1) any military occupational specialty within a combat arms (or the equivalent) that is experiencing a severe shortage of trained officers in that specialty, as determined by the Secretary.