I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5321 

To amend the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for 

Fiscal Year 2019 to improve the John S. McCain strategic defense 

fellows program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 

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

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 to improve the John 

S. McCain strategic defense fellows 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 ‘‘Strategic Defense Fel5 lows Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE JOHN S. MCCAIN STRA7 TEGIC DEFENSE FELLOWS PROGRAM. 

8 (a) SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS.—Subsection 

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1 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 

2 115–232; 10 U.S.C. 1580 note prec.) is amended to read 

3 as follows: 

4 ‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION.—Out 

5 of the total number of individuals selected to partici6 pate in the fellows program in any year, no more 

7 than 20 percent may be from any of the following 

8 geographic regions: 

9 ‘‘(A) The Northeast United States. 

10 ‘‘(B) The Southeast United States. 

11 ‘‘(C) The Midwest United States. 

12 ‘‘(D) The Southwest United States. 

13 ‘‘(E) The Western United States. 

14 ‘‘(F) Alaska, Hawaii, United States terri15 tories, and areas outside the United States.’’. 

16 (b) APPOINTMENT, PLACEMENT, AND CONVER17 SION.—Such section is further amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (d)(3)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘assigned’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘appointed’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘assignment’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘appointment’’; and 

23 (2) by amending subsections (e) and (f) to read 

24 as follows: 

25 ‘‘(e) APPOINTMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who partici2 pates in the fellows program shall be appointed into 

3 an excepted service position in the Department. 

4 ‘‘(2) POSITION REQUIREMENTS.—Each year, 

5 the head of each Department of Defense Component 

6 shall submit to the Secretary of Defense placement 

7 opportunities for participants in the fellows pro8 gram. Such placement opportunities shall provide for 

9 leadership development and potential commencement 

10 of a career track toward a position of senior leader11 ship in the Department. The Secretary of Defense, 

12 in coordination with the heads of Department of De13 fense Components, shall establish qualification re14 quirements for the appointment of participants 

15 under paragraph (1) and subsection (f)(2). 

16 ‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT TO POSITIONS.—Each year, 

17 the Secretary of Defense shall appoint participants 

18 in the fellows program to positions in the Depart19 ment of Defense Components. In making such ap20 pointments, the Secretary shall seek to best match 

21 the qualifications and skills of the participants with 

22 the requirements for positions available for appoint23 ment. 

24 ‘‘(4) TERM.—The term of each appointment 

25 under the fellows program shall be one year with the 


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1 option to extend the appointment up to one addi2 tional year. 

3 ‘‘(5) GRADE.—An individual appointed to a po4 sition under the fellows program shall be appointed 

5 at a level between GS–10 and GS–12 of the General 

6 Schedule based on the directly-related qualifications, 

7 skills, and professional experience of the individual. 

8 ‘‘(6) EDUCATION LOAN REPAYMENT.—To the 

9 extent that funds are provided in advance in appro10 priations Acts, the Secretary of Defense may repay 

11 a loan of a participant in the fellows program if the 

12 loan is described by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) 

13 of section 16301(a)(1) of title 10, United States 

14 Code. Any repayment of a loan under this paragraph 

15 may require a minimum service agreement, as deter16 mined by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(7) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMPONENT

18 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘Depart19 ment of Defense Component’ means a Department 

20 of Defense Component, as set forth in section 111 

21 of title 10, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(f) CAREER DEVELOPMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

24 shall ensure that participants in the fellows pro25 gram— 


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1 ‘‘(A) receive career development opportuni2 ties and support appropriate for the commence3 ment of a career track within the Department 

4 leading toward a future position of senior lead5 ership within the Department, including ongo6 ing mentorship support through appropriate 

7 personnel from entities within the Department; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) are provided appropriate employment 

10 opportunities for competitive and excepted serv11 ice positions in the Department upon successful 

12 completion of the fellows program. 

13 ‘‘(2) NONCOMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT OR CON14 VERSION.—Upon a participant’s successful comple15 tion of the fellows program, the Secretary may, with16 out regard to the provisions of subchapter I of chap17 ter 33 of title 5, United States Code, noncompeti18 tively appoint or convert the participant into a va19 cant competitive or excepted service position in the 

20 Department, if the Secretary determines that such 

21 appointment or conversion will contribute to the de22 velopment of highly qualified future senior leaders 

23 for the Department. The Secretary may appoint or 

24 convert the participant into a position up to the GS– 

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1 sition for which the participant is qualified without 

2 regard to any minimum time in grade requirements. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT OF FORMER PARTICI4 PANTS.—The Secretary may utilize the authority in 

5 paragraph (2) for a participant— 

6 ‘‘(A) up to 2 years after the date of the 

7 participant’s successful completion of the fel8 lows program; or 

9 ‘‘(B) in the case of a participant who en10 tered the fellows program before the date of the 

11 enactment of this subparagraph, up to 5 years 

12 after the date of the participant’s successful 

13 completion of the fellows program. 

14 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION OF SELECTION.—The Sec15 retary shall publish, on an Internet website of the 

16 Department available to the public, the names of the 

17 individuals selected to participate in the fellows pro18 gram.’’. 

Æ 


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