II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1097 

To postpone the deadline for the completion of the conversion of certain 

military technician (dual status) positions to positions of civilian employment by the Federal Government, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2017 

Mr. DAINES introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To postpone the deadline for the completion of the conversion 

of certain military technician (dual status) positions to 

positions of civilian employment by the Federal Government, and for other purposes. 

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 Reserve 

5 and National Guard Dual-Status Review and Moderniza6 tion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POSTPONEMENT OF DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION 

2 OF CONVERSION OF CERTAIN MILITARY 

3 TECHNICIAN (DUAL STATUS) POSITIONS TO 

4 POSITIONS OF CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT BY 

5 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) A September 2013 study conducted by a 

9 federally funded research and development center 

10 found that 21 percent of the military technician 

11 (dual status) positions are administrative in na12 ture—the largest category as a percentage of mili13 tary technician (dual status) positions. The study 

14 recommends investigation on whether ‘‘some Dual 

15 Status MilTech positions supporting general admin16 istration functions could be converted to Title 5 

17 Federal civilian full-time support positions without 

18 compromising unit readiness’’. The study further 

19 recommends investigation on whether ‘‘it is more ap20 propriate to use military full-time support for other 

21 reasons (such as currency in military operations and 

22 training and augmentation)’’. 

23 (2) Section 1053 of the National Defense Au24 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 directs the con25 version of not fewer than 20 percent of all military 

26 technician positions to positions of Federal civilian 


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1 employment under title 5, United States Code, by 

2 January 1, 2017. Section 1084 of the National De3 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 ex4 tends the deadline for that conversion from January 

5 1, 2017, to October 1, 2017. 

6 (3) The Department of Defense submitted a re7 port on the management of military technicians in 

8 December 2016 that finds that 12.6 percent of the 

9 military technician (dual status) positions were ad10 ministrative in nature, and recommended a conver11 sion of 4.8 percent of such positions to positions of 

12 Federal civilian employment. 

13 (4) The Chief of the National Guard Bureau 

14 testified before Congress in April 2017 that a con15 version of 20 percent of military technician (dual 

16 status) positions to positions of Federal civilian em17 ployment would degrade readiness, but that a lower 

18 number could be converted with minimal impact. 

19 The Chief of the National Guard Bureau also testi20 fied that the Department of Defense had not con21 ducted an analysis of the associated costs and bene22 fits of a conversion of 20 percent of military techni23 cian (dual status) positions to positions of Federal 

24 civilian employment. 


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1 (b) POSTPONEMENT OF DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION

2 OF CONVERSION.—Notwithstanding the deadline other3 wise specified in paragraph (1) of section 1053(a) of the 

4 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 

5 (10 U.S.C. 113 note) for the completion of the conversion 

6 of military technician positions as described in that sub7 section, the deadline for the completion of such conversion 

8 shall be 180 days after the date on which the Secretary 

9 of Defense transmits to Congress under paragraph (6) of 

10 subsection (c) the report of the working group required 

11 by paragraph (5) of that subsection. 

12 (c) WORKING GROUP ON FULL TIME SUPPORT OF

13 THE RESERVE COMPONENTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established in 

15 the Department of Defense a working group to be 

16 known as the ‘‘Working Group on Full Time Sup17 port of the Reserve Components’’ (in this subsection 

18 referred to as the ‘‘working group’’). 

19 (2) CO-CHAIRS.—The co-chairs of the working 

20 group shall be the following: 

21 (A) The Director of the Army National 

22 Guard. 

23 (B) The Director of the Air National 

24 Guard. 

25 (C) The Chief of the Army Reserve. 


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1 (D) The Chief of the Air Force Reserve. 

2 (3) MEMBERS.—The members of the working 

3 group shall include the co-chairs of the working 

4 group and such other personnel of the Department 

5 of Defense as the Secretary shall appoint from 

6 among organizations and elements of the Depart7 ment with an interest in full time support of the re8 serve components of the Armed Forces, including 

9 the National Guard Bureau and the Adjutants Gen10 eral of the States. 

11 (4) DUTIES.—The working group shall under12 take a comprehensive review of full time support of 

13 the reserve components of the Armed Forces, includ14 ing the following: 

15 (A) An identification of the missions, pur16 poses, and objectives of military technicians 

17 (dual status) in support of an operational re18 serve force. 

19 (B) A review of the posture of current 

20 military technician (dual status) positions, and 

21 of their current role in meeting the objectives 

22 identified pursuant to subparagraph (A). 

23 (C) An analysis of potential restructurings 

24 of the workforce of military technicians (dual 

25 status) in order to identify a restructuring that 


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1 fully aligns military technician (dual status) po2 sitions with objectives for full time support of 

3 the reserve components. 

4 (D) An identification of the military tech5 nician (dual status) positions whose conversion 

6 to positions of Federal civilian employment 

7 under title 5, United States Code, would best 

8 ensure the achievement of objectives for full 

9 time support of the reserve components. 

10 (E) An assessment of the impact on the 

11 readiness of the National Guard for domestic 

12 operations of the conversion of positions identi13 fied pursuant to subparagraph (D) as described 

14 in that subparagraph. 

15 (F) An assessment of costs and potential 

16 savings associated with the conversion of posi17 tions identified pursuant to subparagraph (D) 

18 as described in that subparagraph. 

19 (5) REPORT TO SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—Not 

20 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act, the working group shall submit to the 

22 Secretary of Defense a report on the comprehensive 

23 review undertaken pursuant to paragraph (4). The 

24 report shall include the following: 


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1 (A) A comprehensive description of the re2 view and the results of the review. 

3 (B) The percentage of military technician 

4 (dual status) positions whose conversion to posi5 tions of Federal civilian employment under title 

6 5, United States Code, would best ensure the 

7 achievement of objectives for full time support 

8 of the reserve components of the Armed Forces 

9 as an operational reserve. 

10 (C) A transition plan for implementing a 

11 new force structure for full time support of the 

12 reserve components, including for the conver13 sion of positions as described in subparagraph 

14 (B) which mitigates any risks to readiness iden15 tified pursuant to paragraph (4)(E). 

16 (D) Recommendations for the reform of 

17 personnel management policy for military tech18 nician (dual status) positions that address— 

19 (i) the eligibility of military techni20 cians (dual status) for civilian retirement 

21 upon retirement from the Armed Forces; 

22 and 

23 (ii) the process for appealing employ24 ment decisions. 


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1 (E) Recommendations for reforms of com2 pensation and benefits policies for military tech3 nician (dual status) positions in order to pro4 vide military technicians (dual status) with par5 ity in compensation and benefits with other 

6 Federal civilian employees of the Department of 

7 Defense under title 5, United States Code. 

8 (6) TRANSMITTAL OF REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

9 The Secretary shall transmit to the congressional de10 fense committees the report of the working group 

11 under paragraph (5), together with such discussion 

12 and recommendations in connection with the report 

13 as the Secretary considers appropriate. The Sec14 retary shall publish the report, and any such discus15 sions and recommendations, in the Federal Register 

16 at the time of transmittal. 

17 (7) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES

18 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘congres19 sional defense committees’’ has the meaning given 

20 that term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United 

21 States Code. 

Æ 


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