I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9947 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to design and implement a foreign military 

officer subject matter expert exchange program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2024 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. NUNN of Iowa, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. TRONE, 

Mrs. WAGNER, and Mrs. RODGERS of Washington) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to design and implement 

a foreign military officer subject matter expert exchange 

program. 

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 ‘‘Learning Integrated 

5 National Knowledge for the Abraham Accords Act of 

6 2024’’ or the ‘‘LINK Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. KEY PARTNERS FOR MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL INTE2 GRATION MILITARY SUBJECT MATTER EX3 PERT EXCHANGE PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, using 

5 existing authorities, including section 311 of title 10, 

6 United States Code, as applicable, and in consultation 

7 with the head of any other Federal agency, as appropriate, 

8 shall design and implement a foreign military officer sub9 ject matter expert exchange program to be known as the 

10 ‘‘ Middle East Regional Integration Military Subject Mat11 ter Expert Exchange Program’’ (referred to in this section 

12 as the ‘‘exchange program’’). 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the exchange pro14 gram shall be to facilitate interaction, cultural exchange, 

15 and mutual learning of members of participating militaries 

16 in support of Middle East regional integration in order 

17 to deepen and expand such integration. 

18 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 (1) COMPOSITION.—The exchange program 

20 shall be composed of members of the Armed Forces 

21 of participating militaries in support of Middle East 

22 regional integration and members of the Armed 

23 Forces of the United States. 

24 (2) SUBJECT MATTER.— 

25 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of De26 fense shall select exchange program participants 


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1 with a wide range of experiences collectively 

2 covering the tactical, operational, and strategic 

3 levels. 

4 (B) PARTICIPANT PAY GRADE LEVELS.— 

5 The Secretary of Defense shall include in the 

6 exchange program participants at each of the 

7 following military pay grades, or equivalent for8 eign military pay grades: 

9 (i) E–7 through E–9. 

10 (ii) CW–3 through CW–5. 

11 (iii) O–3 through O–9. 

12 (iv) Such other pay grade levels at the 

13 discretion of the Secretary of Defense. 

14 (C) EXPERTISE.—A participant in the ex15 change program shall have expertise in one or 

16 more of the following subject matter areas: 

17 (i) Strategic doctrine. 

18 (ii) Defense planning. 

19 (iii) Civilian and military relations. 

20 (iv) Military law. 

21 (v) Public affairs. 

22 (vi) Civil affairs. 

23 (vii) Military budgeting and acquisi24 tion. 


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1 (viii) Integrated air and missile de2 fense. 

3 (ix) Integrated maritime domain 

4 awareness and interdiction. 

5 (x) Cyber resilience and defense. 

6 (xi) Counterterrorism. 

7 (xii) Defense information sharing. 

8 (xiii) Any other subject matter area 

9 that the Secretary of Defense determines 

10 to be appropriate. 

11 (d) EXCHANGE PROGRAM CONTENT.—The exchange 

12 program— 

13 (1) shall include learning modalities and meth14 ods, as determined by the Exchange Program Coor15 dinator; 

16 (2) may include separate agendas and experi17 ences for participants in order to— 

18 (A) facilitate interaction on particular top19 ics; 

20 (B) cater to participant backgrounds or 

21 rank levels; or 

22 (C) achieve other pedagogical ends as de23 termined by the Exchange Program Coordi24 nator; and 


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1 (3) may include discussion, comparison, and in2 formation regarding the development of— 

3 (A) defense doctrine; 

4 (B) exercise development; 

5 (C) budget planning; 

6 (D) military law and law of armed conflict; 

7 (E) military cooperation with civilian agen8 cies; 

9 (F) standard operating procedures; 

10 (G) operational plans and the operational 

11 art; 

12 (H) gaps and opportunities for improve13 ment in existing procedures and plans; 

14 (I) existing technical challenges; 

15 (J) emerging technical challenges; 

16 (K) the current and future threat environ17 ment; 

18 (L) trust and capacity for multilateral 

19 sharing of information; 

20 (M) additional mechanisms and ideas for 

21 integrated cooperation; 

22 (N) ways to promote the meaningful par23 ticipation of women in matters of peace and se24 curity; and 


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1 (O) other content, as appropriate, devel2 oped to advance integration and tactical, oper3 ational, and strategic proficiency. 

4 (e) MEETINGS.—Participants in the exchange pro5 gram shall meet in-person not less frequently than quar6 terly. 

7 (f) EXCHANGE PROGRAM COORDINATOR.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

9 shall designate an Exchange Program Coordinator, 

10 who shall be assigned to a Department of Defense 

11 School, to oversee the exchange program. 

12 (2) DUTIES.—(2) The Exchange Program Co13 ordinator shall— 

14 (A) design the exchange program; 

15 (B) ensure that the exchange program 

16 complies with the requirements of this section; 

17 (C) provide to the Secretary of Defense re18 ports on developments, insights, and progress of 

19 the exchange program; and 

20 (D) notify the Secretary of Defense of any 

21 failures of the exchange program to comply 

22 with the in-person requirements of subsection 

23 (e). 

24 (3) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

25 than 15 days after receiving a notification under 


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1 paragraph (2)(D), the Secretary of Defense shall 

2 submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the 

3 Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

4 House of Representatives a report describing— 

5 (A) the reasons an in-person meeting did 

6 not occur during such quarter; and 

7 (B) any measures taken to ensure that an 

8 in-person meeting occurs during the following 

9 quarter. 

10 (g) REPORT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

13 thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of Defense shall 

14 submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the 

15 Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

16 House of Representatives a report that includes— 

17 (A) a summary of the activities of the ex18 change program during the prior year, includ19 ing— 

20 (i) the countries participating; 

21 (ii) the subject matter covered; 

22 (iii) developments, insights, and 

23 progress achieved through the program; 

24 and 


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1 (iv) any new topics added to the ex2 change as well as a justification for adding 

3 the new topic; 

4 (B) an assessment of the effectiveness of 

5 the exchange program; and 

6 (C) recommendations on further improve7 ments to the exchange program. 

8 (2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

9 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 

10 include a classified annex. 

11 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SCHOOL.—The 

13 term ‘‘Department of Defense school’’ means any in14 stitution listed in section 1595(c) or section 2162(d) 

15 of title 10, United States Code. 

16 (2) PARTICIPATING MILITARIES IN SUPPORT OF

17 MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL INTEGRATION.—The term 

18 ‘‘participating militaries in support of Middle East 

19 regional integration’’ means military allies and part20 ner forces of the United States working to advance 

21 regional integration in the Middle East. 

Æ 


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