I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6260 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a working group for the 

reform of the casualty assistance officer program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2021 

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

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a working 

group for the reform of the casualty assistance officer 

program, 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 ‘‘Casualty Assistance 

5 Reform Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CASUALTY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: REFORM; ES7 TABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP. 

8 (a) CASUALTY ASSISTANCE REFORM WORKING

9 GROUP.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of Defense shall establish a working group to 

4 be known as the ‘‘Casualty Assistance Reform 

5 Working Group’’ (in this section referred to as the 

6 ‘‘Working Group’’). 

7 (2) DUTIES.—The Working Group shall per8 form the following duties: 

9 (A) Create standards and training for 

10 CAOs across the military departments. 

11 (B) Explore the possibility of establishing 

12 a unique badge designation for— 

13 (i) CAOs who have performed CAO 

14 duty more than five times; or 

15 (ii) professional CAOs. 

16 (C) Examine the current workflow of cas17 ualty affairs support across the military depart18 ments, including administrative processes and 

19 survivor engagements. 

20 (D) Perform a gap analysis and solution 

21 document that clearly identifies and prioritizes 

22 critical changes to modernize and profes23 sionalize the casualty experience for survivors. 

24 (E) Review the organization of the Office 

25 of Casualty, Mortuary Affairs and Military FuVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Dec 20, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6260.IH H6260

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1 neral Honors to ensure it is positioned to co2 ordinate policy and assist in all matters under 

3 its jurisdiction, across the Armed Forces, in4 cluding any potential intersections with the De5 fense Prisoner of War and Missing in Action 

6 Accounting Agency. 

7 (F) Explore the establishment of— 

8 (i) an annual meeting, led by the Sec9 retary of Defense, with gold star families; 

10 and 

11 (ii) a surviving and gold star family 

12 leadership council. 

13 (G) Recommend improvements to the fam14 ily notification process of Arlington National 

15 Cemetery. 

16 (H) Explore the redesign of the Days 

17 Ahead Binder, including creating an electronic 

18 version. 

19 (I) Consider the expansion of the DD 

20 Form 93 to include more details regarding the 

21 last wishes of the deceased member. 

22 (J) Assess coordination between the De23 partment of Defense and the Office of Sur24 vivors Assistance of the Department of Vet25 erans Affairs. 


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1 (3) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the 

2 Working Group shall be composed of the following: 

3 (A) The Under Secretary of Defense for 

4 Personnel and Readiness, who shall serve as 

5 Chair of the Working Group. 

6 (B) At least one person furnished with a 

7 gold star lapel button under section 1126 of 

8 title 10, United States Code, by each Secretary 

9 of a military department. 

10 (C) Other members of the Armed Forces 

11 or civilian employees of the Department of De12 fense, appointed by the Secretary of Defense, 

13 based on knowledge of, and experience with, 

14 matters described in paragraph (2). 

15 (4) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 

16 2022, the Working Group shall submit to the Sec17 retary of Defense a report containing the determina18 tions and recommendations of the Working Group. 

19 (5) TERMINATION.—The Working Group shall 

20 terminate upon submission of the report under para21 graph (4). 

22 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than November 

23 1, 2022, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 

24 Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the 

25 House of Representatives a report setting forth the results 


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1 of a review and assessment of the casualty assistance offi2 cer program, including the report of the Working Group. 

3 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF CERTAIN DEFINITIONS.— 

4 Not later than one year after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with 

6 the Secretaries of the military departments, shall publish 

7 an interim rule that establishes standard definitions, for 

8 use across the military departments, of the terms ‘‘gold 

9 star family’’ and ‘‘gold star survivor’’. 

10 (d) CAO DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

11 ‘‘CAO’’ means a casualty assistance officer of the Armed 

12 Forces. 

Æ 


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