I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5353 

To establish a policy to promote and maintain digital and software 

development expertise in the workforce of the Department of Defense. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2019 

Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself and Mr. MEADOWS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To establish a policy to promote and maintain digital and 

software development expertise in the workforce of the 

Department of Defense. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Armed Forces Digital 

5 Advantage Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. POLICY ON THE TALENT MANAGEMENT OF DIGITAL 

7 EXPERTISE AND SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS. 

8 (a) POLICY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be a policy of the 

10 Department of Defense to promote and maintain 


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1 digital expertise and software development as core 

2 competencies of civilian and military workforces of 

3 the Department, and as a capability to support the 

4 National Defense Strategy, which policy shall be 

5 achieved by— 

6 (A) the recruitment, development, and 

7 incentivization of retention in and to the civilian 

8 and military workforce of the Department of in9 dividuals with aptitude, experience, proficient 

10 expertise, or a combination thereof in digital ex11 pertise and software development; 

12 (B) at the discretion of the Secretaries of 

13 the military departments, the development and 

14 maintenance of civilian and military career 

15 tracks related to digital expertise, and related 

16 digital competencies for members of the Armed 

17 Forces, including the development and mainte18 nance of training, education, talent manage19 ment, incentives, and promotion policies in sup20 port of members at all levels of such career 

21 tracks; and 

22 (C) the development and application of ap23 propriate readiness standards and metrics to 

24 measure and report on the overall capability, 

25 capacity, utilization, and readiness of digital enVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5353.IH H5353

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1 gineering professionals to develop and deliver 

2 operational capabilities and employ modern 

3 business practices. 

4 (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec5 tion, ‘‘digital engineering’’ is the discipline and set 

6 of skills involved in the creation, processing, trans7 mission, integration, and storage of digital data (in8 cluding but not limited to data science, machine 

9 learning, software engineering, software product 

10 management, and artificial intelligence product man11 agement). 

12 (b) RESPONSIBILITY.— 

13 (1) APPOINTMENT OF OFFICER.—Not later 

14 than 270 days after the date of enactment of this 

15 Act, the Secretary of Defense shall appoint a civilian 

16 official responsible for the development and imple17 mentation of the policy set forth in subsection (a). 

18 The official shall be known as the ‘‘Chief Digital En19 gineering Recruitment and Management Officer of 

20 the Department of Defense’’ (in this section referred 

21 to as the ‘‘Officer’’). 

22 (2) EXPIRATION OF APPOINTMENT.—The ap23 pointment of the Officer under paragraph (1) shall 

24 expire on September 30, 2029. 


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1 (c) DUTIES.—In developing and providing for the dis2 charge of the policy set forth in subsection (a), the Officer 

3 shall work with the Assistant Secretaries of the military 

4 departments for Manpower and Reserve Affairs to carry 

5 out the following: 

6 (1) Develop for, and enhance within, the re7 cruitment programs of each Armed Force various 

8 core initiatives, programs, activities, and mecha9 nisms, tailored to the unique needs of each Armed 

10 Force, to identify and recruit civilian employees and 

11 members of the Armed Forces with demonstrated 

12 aptitude, interest, and proficiency in digital engi13 neering, and in science, technology, engineering, and 

14 mathematics (STEM) generally, including initiatives, 

15 programs, activities, and mechanisms to target pop16 ulations of individuals not typically aware of oppor17 tunities in the Department of Defense for a digital 

18 engineering career. 

19 (2) Identify and share with the military depart20 ments best practices around the development of 

21 flexible career tracks and identifiers for digital engi22 neering and related digital competencies and mean23 ingful opportunities for career development, talent 

24 management, and promotion within such career 

25 tracks. 


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1 (3) Develop and maintain education, training, 

2 doctrine, rotational opportunities, and professional 

3 development activities to support the civilian and 

4 military digital engineering workforce. 

5 (4) Coordinate and synchronize digital force 

6 management activities throughout the Department 

7 of Defense, advise the Secretary of Defense on all 

8 matters pertaining to the health and readiness of 

9 digital forces, convene a Department-wide executive 

10 steering group, and submit to Congress an annual 

11 report on the readiness of digital forces and progress 

12 toward achieving the policy set forth in subsection 

13 (a). 

14 (5) Create a Department-wide mechanism to 

15 track digital expertise in the workforce, develop and 

16 maintain organizational policies, strategies, and 

17 plans sufficient to build, maintain, and refresh inter18 nal capacity at scale, and report to the Secretary 

19 quarterly on the health and readiness the digital en20 gineering workforce. 

21 (6) Assist the military departments in design22 ing, developing, and executing programs and incen23 tives to retain, track, and oversee digital expertise 

24 among civilian employees of the Department and 

25 members of the Armed Forces on active duty. 


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1 (7) At the request of the Chief of Staff of an 

2 Armed Force, or the head of another component or 

3 element of the Department, undertake an executive 

4 search for key leadership positions in digital engi5 neering in such Armed Force, component, or ele6 ment, and develop and deploy agile hiring processes 

7 to fill such positions. 

8 (8) Identify necessary changes in authorities, 

9 policies, resources, or a combination thereof to fur10 ther the policy set forth in subsection (a), and sub11 mit to Congress a report on such changes. 

12 (d) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than May 1, 

13 2020, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Com14 mittees on Armed Services of the House of Representa15 tives and the Senate a plan to carry out the requirements 

16 of this section. The plan shall include the following: 

17 (1) An assessment of progress of the Secretary 

18 in recruiting an individual to serve as the Officer re19 quired to be appointed under subsection (b). 

20 (2) A timeline for implementation of the re21 quirements of this section, including input from each 

22 military department on its unique timeline. 


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1 (3) Recommendations for any legislative or ad2 ministrative action required to meet the require3 ments of this section. 

Æ 


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