I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7444 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to review and report to Congress on 

the status of the professional military education enterprise, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2020 

Mr. BACON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to review and report 

to Congress on the status of the professional military 

education enterprise, 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 ‘‘Professional Military 

5 Education Review Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSFORMATION OF THE PROFESSIONAL MILI7 TARY EDUCATION ENTERPRISE. 

8 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that— 


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1 (1) professional military education is founda2 tional to the development of ethical and effective 

3 military leaders and vital to national security; 

4 (2) oversight of professional military education 

5 is an essential part of Congress’ constitutional re6 sponsibilities to regulate and maintain the Armed 

7 Forces of the United States; 

8 (3) reform of the professional military edu9 cation system, as directed by the congressional de10 fense committees, has played a central role in the in11 stitutionalization of jointness as envisioned by the 

12 Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorga13 nization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–433); 

14 (4) the Goldwater-Nichols professional military 

15 education model has served the Nation well since the 

16 end of the Cold War by enabling successful joint 

17 military operations across the spectrum of conflict; 

18 (5) recent changes in the national security envi19 ronment require that the professional military edu20 cation enterprise adapt to prepare the joint force to 

21 successfully defend American interests in evolving 

22 areas of strategic competition; and 

23 (6) the Department of Defense must transform 

24 the professional military education enterprise to 

25 meet these challenges by emphasizing focused and 


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1 rigorous intellectual study reflecting the hard won 

2 strategic insights of history, while leveraging ad3 vancements in the modern learning environment. 

4 (b) LIMITATION.—None of the funds authorized to 

5 be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available 

6 for fiscal year 2021 for the Department of Defense may 

7 be obligated or expended to consolidate, close, or signifi8 cantly change the curriculum of the National Defense Uni9 versity or any institution of professional military education 

10 of an Armed Force until a period of 120 days has elapsed 

11 following the date on which the Under Secretary of De12 fense for Personnel and Readiness submits the report re13 quired under subsection (c). 

14 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec17 retary of Defense, acting through the Under Sec18 retary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, shall 

19 submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the 

20 Senate and the House of Representatives a report on 

21 the status of the professional military education en22 terprise. 

23 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

24 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

25 (A) A consolidated summary that— 


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1 (i) lists all components of the profes2 sional military education enterprise of the 

3 Department of Defense, including all asso4 ciated schools, programs, research centers, 

5 and support activities; and 

6 (ii) for each such component, identi7 fies the assigned personnel strength, an8 nual student throughput, and budget de9 tails covering the period of three fiscal 

10 years preceding the date of the report. 

11 (B) An assessment of the effectiveness and 

12 shortfalls of the existing professional military 

13 education enterprise as measured against grad14 uate utilization, post-graduate evaluations, and 

15 the education and force development require16 ments of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 

17 Staff and the Chiefs of the Armed Forces. 

18 (C) Recommendations to improve the intel19 lectual readiness of the joint force through re20 forms designed to— 

21 (i) improve the warfighting readiness, 

22 intellectual fitness, and cognitive ingenuity 

23 of military leaders; 

24 (ii) promote development of strategic 

25 thinkers capable of developing integrated 


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1 political-military and cross-domain strate2 gies and new doctrinal concepts; 

3 (iii) enhance the effectiveness, coher4 ence, and efficiency of individual service 

5 approaches to professional military edu6 cation; 

7 (iv) improve the depth and rigor of 

8 professional military education curriculum 

9 in alignment with national defense strategy 

10 pacing threats while enhancing strategic 

11 relationships and operational integration 

12 with key allies and international security 

13 partners; and 

14 (v) foster the deliberate development 

15 of world-class faculty through increasing 

16 the value of faculty assignments and other 

17 appropriate measures. 

Æ 


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