National Commission on the Structure of the Army Act of 2014

To establish the National Commission on the Structure of the Army, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the National Commission on the Structure of the Army Act of 2014 2. Limitation on availability of funds for reductions to the Army National Guard (a) Aircraft None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2015 for the Army may be used to divest, retire, or transfer, or prepare to divest, retire, or transfer, any aircraft of the Army assigned to units of the Army National Guard as of January 15, 2014. (b) Personnel None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2015 for the Army may be used to reduce personnel below the authorized end strength levels of 350,000 for the Army National Guard as of September 30, 2014. 3. National Commission on the Structure of the Army (a) Establishment There is established the National Commission on the Structure of the Army (in this Act referred to as the Commission (b) Membership (1) Composition The Commission shall be composed of eight members, of whom— (A) four shall be appointed by the President; (B) one shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; (C) one shall be appointed by the Ranking Member of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; (D) one shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives; and (E) one shall be appointed by the Ranking Member of the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives. (2) Appointment date The appointments of the members of the Commission shall be made not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (3) Effect of lack of appointment by appointment date If one or more appointments under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) is not made by the appointment date specified in paragraph (2), the authority to make such appointment or appointments shall expire, and the number of members of the Commission shall be reduced by the number equal to the number of appointments so not made. If an appointment under subparagraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of paragraph (1) is not made by the appointment date specified in paragraph (2), the authority to make an appointment under such subparagraph shall expire, and the number of members of the Commission shall be reduced by the number equal to the number otherwise appointable under such subparagraph. (4) Expertise In making appointments under this subsection, consideration should be given to individuals with expertise in reserve forces policy. (c) Period of appointment; vacancies Members shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. (d) Initial meeting Not later than 30 days after the date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meeting. (e) Meetings The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chair. (f) Quorum A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may hold hearings. (g) Chair and vice chair The Commission shall select a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. 4. Duties of the Commission (a) Study (1) In general The Commission shall undertake a comprehensive study of the structure of the Army to determine the proper force mixture of the active component and reserve component, and how the structure should be modified to best fulfill current and anticipated mission requirements for the Army in a manner consistent with available resources and estimated future resources. (2) Considerations In considering the structure of the Army, the Commission shall give particular consideration to evaluating a structure that— (A) meets current and anticipated requirements of the combatant commands; (B) achieves a cost-efficiency balance between the regular and reserve components of the Army, taking advantage of the unique strengths and capabilities of each, with a particular focus on fully burdened and lifecycle cost of Army personnel; (C) ensures that the regular and reserve components of the Army have the capacity needed to support current and anticipated homeland defense and disaster assistance missions in the United States; (D) provides for sufficient numbers of regular members of the Army to provide a base of trained personnel from which the personnel of the reserve components of the Army could be recruited; (E) maintains a peacetime rotation force to support operational tempo goals of 1:2 for regular members of the Army and 1:5 for members of the reserve components of the Army; and (F) maximizes and appropriately balances affordability, efficiency, effectiveness, capability, and readiness. (b) Report Not later than February 1, 2016, the Commission shall submit to the President and the congressional defense committees a report which shall contain a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the Commission as a result of the study required by subsection (a), together with its recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions it may consider appropriate in light of the results of the study. 5. Powers of the Commission (a) Hearings The Commission may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission considers advisable to carry out this Act. (b) Information from federal agencies The Commission may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out this Act. Upon request of the Chair of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission. (c) Postal services The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government. (d) Gifts The Commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 6. Commission personnel matters (a) Compensation of members Each member of the Commission who is not an officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 (b) Travel expenses The members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 (c) Staff (1) In general The Chair of the Commission may, without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive director and such other additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties. The employment of an executive director shall be subject to confirmation by the Commission. (2) Compensation The Chair of the Commission may fix the compensation of the executive director and other personnel without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 (d) Detail of government employees Any Federal Government employee may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege. (e) Procurement of temporary and intermittent services The Chair of the Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) 7. Termination of the Commission The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the Commission submits its report under section 4. 8. Funding Amounts authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2015 and available for operation and maintenance for the Army as specified in the funding table in section 4301 of the fiscal year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act may be available for the activities of the Commission under this Act.

Summary: National Commission on the Structure of the Army Act of 2014 - Establishes the National Commission on the Structure of the Army to undertake a comprehensive study of the structure of the Army to determine: (1) the proper force mixture of the active component and reserve component, and (2) how the structure should be modified to best fulfill mission requirements in a manner consistent with available resources. Directs the Commission to give particular consideration to evaluating a structure that: (1) meets current and anticipated requirements of the combatant commands; (3) achieves a cost-efficiency balance between the regular and reserve components, with a focus on fully burdened and lifecycle cost of Army personnel; (3) ensures that the regular and reserve components have the capacity needed to support homeland defense and disaster assistance missions in the United States; (4) provides for sufficient numbers of regular members of the Army to provide a base of trained personnel from which the personnel of the reserve components could be recruited; (5) maintains a peacetime rotation force to support operational tempo goals of 1:2 for regular members and 1:5 for members of the reserve components; and (6) maximizes and appropriately balances affordability, efficiency, effectiveness, capability, and readiness. Prohibits the use of any funds made available for FY2015 for the Army to: (1) divest, retire, or transfer, or prepare to divest, retire, or transfer, any aircraft of the Army assigned to units of the Army National Guard as of January 15, 2014; or (2) reduce personnel below the authorized end strength levels of 350,000 for the Army National Guard as of September 30, 2014.