I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3449 

To mandate minimum periods of rest and recuperation for units and members 

of the regular and reserve components of the Armed Forces between 

deployments for Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2009 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER (for herself, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. WALZ, Mr. 

HOLT, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. HALL of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. CARNAHAN, Ms. GIFFORDS, Ms. 

HARMAN, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. 

ABERCROMBIE, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. JONES, Mr. HARE, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. 

PINGREE of Maine, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To mandate minimum periods of rest and recuperation for 

units and members of the regular and reserve components of the Armed Forces between deployments for Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Military 

3 Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deploy4 ment Policy Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. MINIMUM PERIODS OF REST AND RECUPERATION 

6 FOR UNITS OF THE ARMED FORCES BE7 TWEEN DEPLOYMENTS. 

8 (a) REGULAR COMPONENTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—No unit of the Armed 

10 Forces specified in paragraph (3) may be deployed 

11 in support of a covered military operation unless the 

12 period between the most recent previous deployment 

13 of the unit and a subsequent deployment of the unit 

14 is equal to or longer than the period of such most 

15 recent previous deployment. 

16 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON OPTIMAL MINIMUM

17 PERIOD BETWEEN DEPLOYMENTS.—It is the sense 

18 of Congress that the optimal minimum period be19 tween the most recent previous deployment of a unit 

20 of the Armed Forces specified in paragraph (3) and 

21 a subsequent deployment of the unit in support of 

22 a covered military operation should be equal to or 

23 longer than twice the period of such most recent 

24 previous deployment. 


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1 (3) COVERED UNITS.—Subject to subsection 

2 (c), the units of the Armed Forces specified in this 

3 paragraph are as follows: 

4 (A) Units of the regular Army and mem5 bers assigned to those units. 

6 (B) Units of the regular Marine Corps and 

7 members assigned to those units. 

8 (C) Units of the regular Navy and mem9 bers assigned to those units. 

10 (D) Units of the regular Air Force and 

11 members assigned to those units. 

12 (b) RESERVE COMPONENTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—No unit of the Armed 

14 Forces specified in paragraph (3) may be deployed 

15 in support of a covered military operation unless the 

16 period between the most recent previous deployment 

17 of the unit and a subsequent deployment of the unit 

18 is at least three times longer than the period of such 

19 most recent previous deployment. 

20 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON MOBILIZATION

21 AND OPTIMAL MINIMUM PERIOD BETWEEN DEPLOY22 MENTS.—It is the sense of Congress that the units 

23 of the reserve components of the Armed Forces 

24 should not be mobilized continuously for more than 

25 one year, and the optimal minimum period between 


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1 the previous deployment of a unit of the Armed 

2 Forces specified in paragraph (3) and a subsequent 

3 deployment of the unit in support of a covered mili4 tary operation should be five years. 

5 (3) COVERED UNITS.—The units of the Armed 

6 Forces specified in this paragraph are as follows: 

7 (A) Units of the Army Reserve and mem8 bers assigned to those units. 

9 (B) Units of the Army National Guard and 

10 members assigned to those units. 

11 (C) Units of the Marine Corps Reserve and 

12 members assigned to those units. 

13 (D) Units of the Navy Reserve and mem14 bers assigned to those units. 

15 (E) Units of the Air Force Reserve and 

16 members assigned to those units. 

17 (F) Units of the Air National Guard and 

18 members assigned to those units. 

19 (c) EXEMPTIONS.—The limitations in subsections (a) 

20 and (b) do not apply— 

21 (1) to special operations forces as identified 

22 pursuant to section 167(i) of title 10, United States 

23 Code; and 

24 (2) to units of the Armed Forces needed, as de25 termined by the Secretary of Defense, to assist in 


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1 the redeployment of members of the Armed Forces 

2 from a covered military operation to another oper3 ational requirement or back to their home stations. 

4 (d) WAIVER BY THE PRESIDENT.—The President 

5 may waive the limitation in subsection (a) or (b) with re6 spect to the deployment of a unit of the Armed Forces 

7 to meet a threat to the national security interests of the 

8 United States if the President certifies to Congress within 

9 30 days that the deployment of the unit is necessary for 

10 such purposes. 

11 (e) WAIVER BY MILITARY CHIEF OF STAFF OR COM12 MANDANT FOR VOLUNTARY MOBILIZATIONS.— 

13 (1) ARMY.—With respect to the deployment of 

14 a member of the Army who has voluntarily re15 quested mobilization, the limitation in subsection (a) 

16 or (b) may be waived by the Chief of Staff of the 

17 Army. 

18 (2) NAVY.—With respect to the deployment of 

19 a member of the Navy who has voluntarily requested 

20 mobilization, the limitation in subsection (a) or (b) 

21 may be waived by the Chief of Naval Operations. 

22 (3) MARINE CORPS.—With respect to the de23 ployment of a member of the Marine Corps who has 

24 voluntarily requested mobilization, the limitation in 


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1 subsection (a) or (b) may be waived by the Com2 mandant of the Marine Corps. 

3 (4) AIR FORCE.—With respect to the deploy4 ment of a member of the Air Force who has volun5 tarily requested mobilization, the limitation in sub6 section (a) or (b) may be waived by the Chief of 

7 Staff of the Air Force. 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

9 (1) COVERED MILITARY OPERATION.—The term 

10 ‘‘covered military operation’’ means— 

11 (A) Operation Iraqi Freedom; and 

12 (B) Operation Enduring Freedom, includ13 ing participation in the NATO International 

14 Security Assistance Force (Afghanistan). 

15 (2) DEPLOYMENT.—The term ‘‘deployment’’ or 

16 ‘‘deployed’’ means the relocation of forces and mate17 riel to desired areas of operations and encompasses 

18 all activities from origin or home station through 

19 destination, including staging, holding, and move20 ment in and through the United States and all thea21 ters of operation. 

22 (3) UNIT.—The term ‘‘unit’’ means a unit that 

23 is deployable and is commanded by a commissioned 

24 officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine 

25 Corps serving in the grade of major or, in the case 


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1 of the Navy, lieutenant commander, or a higher 

2 grade. 

3 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect on 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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