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‘‘(A) Legal assistance provided by military or ci-
vilian legal assistance counsel pursuant to section 
1044 of this title. 
‘‘(B) Assistance provided by a Sexual Assault 
Response Coordinator. 
‘‘(C) Assistance provided by a Sexual Assault 
Victim Advocate. 
‘‘(2) A member of the armed forces who is the victim 
of sexual assault shall be informed of the availability of as-
sistance under paragraph (1) as soon as the member seeks 
assistance from a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, a 
Sexual Assault Victim Advocate, a military criminal inves-
tigator, a victim/witness liaison, or a trial counsel. The 
member shall also be informed that the legal assistance and 
the services of a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator or 
a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate under paragraph (1) are 
optional and may be declined, in whole or in part, at any 
time. 
‘‘(3) Legal assistance and the services of Sexual As-
sault Response Coordinators and Sexual Assault Victim Ad-
vocates under paragraph (1) shall be available to a member 
regardless of whether the member elects unrestricted or re-
stricted (confidential) reporting of the sexual assault. 
‘‘(b) RESTRICTED REPORTING.—(1) Under regulations 
prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, a member of the
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armed forces who is the victim of a sexual assault may elect 
to confidentially disclose the details of the assault to an in-
dividual specified in paragraph (2) and receive medical 
treatment, legal assistance under section 1044 of this title, 
or counseling, without initiating an official investigation 
of the allegations. 
‘‘(2) The individuals specified in this paragraph are 
the following: 
‘‘(A) A military legal assistance counsel. 
‘‘(B) A Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. 
‘‘(C) A Sexual Assault Victim Advocate. 
‘‘(D) Healthcare personnel specifically identified 
in the regulations required by paragraph (1). 
‘‘(E) A chaplain.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of chapter 80 of such title is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 1565a the following new item: 
‘‘1565b. Victims of sexual assault: access to legal assistance and services of Sexual 
Assault Response Coordinators and Sexual Assault Victim Advo-
cates.’’.
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SEC. 564. REQUIREMENT FOR PRIVILEGE IN CASES ARISING 
UNDER UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUS-
TICE AGAINST DISCLOSURE OF COMMUNICA-
TIONS BETWEEN SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS 
AND SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE COORDINA-
TORS, SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM ADVOCATES, 
AND CERTAIN OTHER PERSONS. 
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the President shall establish in the Manual for 
Courts-Martial an evidentiary privilege against disclosure 
of certain communications by victims of sexual assault with 
Sexual Assault Response Coordinators, Sexual Assault Vic-
tim Advocates, and such other persons as the President shall 
specify for purposes of the privilege. 
SEC. 565. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION AND DECISION-MAK-
ING ON REQUESTS FOR PERMANENT CHANGE 
OF STATION OR UNIT TRANSFER OF VICTIMS 
OF SEXUAL ASSAULT. 
(a) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION AND PRIORITY FOR 
DECISIONMAKING.—The Secretaries of the military depart-
ments shall provide guidance on expedited consideration 
and decision-making, to the maximum extent practicable, 
on requests for a permanent change of station or unit trans-
fer submitted by a member of the Armed Forces serving on 
active duty who was a victim of a sexual assault.
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(b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretaries of the military de-
partments shall prescribe regulations to carry out this sec-
tion. 
SEC. 566. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE POLICY AND PROCE-
DURES ON RETENTION AND ACCESS TO EVI-
DENCE AND RECORDS RELATING TO SEXUAL 
ASSAULTS INVOLVING MEMBERS OF THE 
ARMED FORCES. 
(a) COMPREHENSIVE POLICY ON RETENTION AND AC-
CESS TO RECORDS.—Not later than February 1, 2013, the 
Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs, develop a comprehensive policy 
for the Department of Defense on the retention of and access 
to evidence and records relating to sexual assaults involving 
members of the Armed Forces. 
(b) OBJECTIVES.—The comprehensive policy required 
by subsection (a) shall include policies and procedures (in-
cluding systems of records) necessary to ensure preservation 
of records and evidence for periods of time that ensure that 
members of the Armed Forces and veterans of military serv-
ice who were the victims of sexual assault during military 
service are able to substantiate claims for veterans benefits, 
to support criminal or civil prosecutions by military or 
civil authorities, and for such purposes relating to the docu-
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mentation of the incidence of sexual assault in the Armed 
Forces as the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate. 
(c) ELEMENTS.—In developing the comprehensive pol-
icy required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall 
consider, at a minimum, the following matters: 
(1) Identification of records, including non-De-
partment of Defense records, relating to an incident 
of sexual assault, that must be retained. 
(2) Criteria for collection and retention of 
records. 
(3) Identification of physical evidence and non- 
documentary forms of evidence relating to sexual as-
saults that must be retained. 
(4) Length of time records and evidence must be 
retained, except that the length of time documentary 
evidence, physical evidence and forensic evidence must 
be retained shall be not less than five years. 
(5) Locations where records must be stored. 
(6) Media which may be used to preserve records 
and assure access, including an electronic systems of 
records. 
(7) Protection of privacy of individuals named 
in records and status of records under section 552 of 
title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as 
the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’), section 552a of
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title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as 
the ‘‘Privacy Act’’), and laws related to privilege. 
(8) Access to records by victims of sexual assault, 
the Department of Veterans Affairs, and others, in-
cluding alleged assailants and law enforcement au-
thorities. 
(9) Responsibilities for record retention by the 
military departments. 
(10) Education and training on record retention 
requirements. 
(11) Uniform collection of data on the incidence 
of sexual assaults and on disciplinary actions taken 
in substantiated cases of sexual assault. 
(d) UNIFORM APPLICATION
TO MILITARY DEPART-
MENTS.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that, to the 
maximum extent practicable, the policy developed under 
subsection (a) is implemented uniformly by the military de-
partments.