Military FATIGUES Act of 2021

To address out-of-pocket inequities related to military service uniforms, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Military Forces Assuring that Treatment of Items by Gender are Uniform and Equal across the Services Act of 2021 Military FATIGUES Act of 2021 2. Modifications to military service uniform requirements and procedures (a) Establishment of consistent criteria (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and in coordination with the Secretaries concerned with respect to the Armed Forces under their jurisdiction, shall establish consistent criteria for determining which uniform or clothing items across the services are considered uniquely military for purposes of calculating the standard cash clothing replacement allowances, in part to reduce differences in out-of-pocket costs incurred by enlisted members of the Armed Forces across the military services and by gender within a military service. (2) Review The Under Secretary shall review the criteria established under paragraph (1) every 5 years thereafter and recommend adjustments to enlisted clothing allowances if they are insufficient to pay for uniquely military items. (b) Additional reviews The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and in coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall— (1) periodically review all uniform clothing plans of the military services to identify data and requirements needed to facilitate cost discussions and to recommend adjustments as appropriate; (2) periodically review items in the military services’ calculations of the enlisted standard cash clothing replacement allowances, at a minimum, every 5 years and develop a standard by which to identify significant cost differences that warrant being addressed; (3) periodically review all plans of the military services for changing uniform items to determine if the planned changes will result in significant out-of-pocket cost differences among the services or among genders; and (4) periodically review initial officer clothing allowances, at a minimum, every 10 years and identify requirements needed to facilitate cost discussions and adjustment recommendations as appropriate. (c) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the cost of like items between genders should be the same for members of the Armed Forces. (d) Report Not later than December 31, 2022, the Department of Defense, in coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the estimated production and average retail prices of military clothing items for members of each Armed Force, including both officer and enlisted uniforms, and a comparison of costs for both male and female military clothing items for members of each of the respective services.

Summary: Military Forces Assuring that Treatment of Items by Gender are Uniform and Equal across the Services Act of 2021 or the Military FATIGUES Act of 2021 This bill requires the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness within the Department of Defense to establish consistent criteria for determining which uniform or clothing items across the military departments are considered uniquely military for purposes of calculating the standard cash clothing replacement allowance for members of the armed forces. The office must review the established criteria every five years and recommend adjustments to enlisted clothing allowances if they are insufficient to pay for uniquely military items. Additionally, the office must periodically review uniform clothing plans of the military departments to identify data and requirements necessary to facilitate cost discussions and recommend adjustments, items in the military departments' calculations of the enlisted standard cash clothing replacement allowances to develop a standard by which to identify significant cost differences that need addressing, plans of the military departments for changing uniform items to determine if the changes will result in significant out-of-pocket cost differences among the departments or among genders, and initial officer clothing allowances to identify requirements needed to facilitate cost discussions and adjustment recommendations.