153
ber of the armed forces who is an officer or a noncommis-
sioned officers in pay grade E–7 or above or a person who 
is a Federal civilian employee. 
‘‘(d) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS .—The Secretary of 
Defense shall prescribe the duties and functions of Cas-
ualty Assistance Officers and Seriously Injured/Ill Assist-
ance Officers. Such functions shall include the following 
functions for family members: 
‘‘(1) Information source. 
‘‘(2) Counsellor. 
‘‘(3) Advisor on obtaining needed information 
and services. 
‘‘(4) Administrative assistant. 
‘‘(5) Advocate for family members with military 
authorities. 
‘‘(e) DURATION AND LOCATION OF ASSISTANCE.—
Once a family is assigned a Casualty Assistance Officer 
or Seriously Injured/Ill Assistance Officer, the Secretary 
concerned shall ensure that such an officer is continuously 
assigned to that family, regardless of family location, until 
the Secretary determines that the family is no longer in 
need of assistance from such an officer. 
‘‘(f) TRAINING AND OVERSIGHT.—(1) The Secretary 
of Defense shall establish standards for performance of 
the duties of Casualty Assistance Officers and Seriously
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Injured/Ill Assistance Officers, and shall monitor the 
training programs of the military departments for persons 
assigned to duty as such officers, in order to ensure that 
Casualty Assistance Officers and Seriously Injured/Ill As-
sistance Officers are properly trained. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary of each military department 
shall—
‘‘(A) ensure that Casualty Assistance Officers 
and Seriously Injured/Ill Assistance Officers are 
properly trained; and 
‘‘(B) monitor the performance of persons as-
signed to duty as Casualty Assistance Officers and 
Seriously Injured/Ill Assistance Officers. 
‘‘(g) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATION OF SERIOUS 
INJURY OR ILLNESS.—The Secretary of Defense shall 
specify criteria for determination for purposes of this sec-
tion of whether a member is seriously injured or seriously 
ill.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 
by adding at the end the following new item:
‘‘1790. Casualty Assistance Officers; Seriously Injured/Ill Assistance Officers.’’.
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Defense 
shall prescribe regulations for the implementation of sec-
tion 1790 of title 10, United States Code, as added by
155
subsection (a), not later than180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 543. STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR DEPARTMENT 
OF DEFENSE PROGRAMS TO ASSIST WOUND-
ED AND INJURED MEMBERS. 
The Secretary of Defense shall examine the programs 
of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps that pro-
vide assistance to members of the Armed Forces who incur 
severe wounds or injuries in the line of duty, including 
the Army Disabled Soldier Support Program and the Ma-
rine for Life Injured Support Program, and (based on 
such examination) shall develop standards and guidelines 
as necessary to coordinate and standardize those programs 
with the activities of the Severely Injured Joint Support 
Operations Center of the Department of Defense, estab-
lished as of February 1, 2005. The Secretary shall publish 
regulations to implement the standards and guidelines de-
veloped pursuant to the preceding sentence not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 544. AUTHORITY FOR MEMBERS ON ACTIVE DUTY 
WITH 
DISABILITIES 
TO 
PARTICIPATE 
IN 
PARALYMPIC GAMES. 
Section 717(a) of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘participate in—’’ and all that fol-
156
lows through ‘‘(2) any other’’ and inserting ‘‘participate 
in any of the following sports competitions: 
‘‘(1) The Pan-American Games and the Olym-
pic Games, and qualifying events and preparatory 
competition for those games. 
‘‘(2) The Paralympic Games, if eligible to par-
ticipate in those games, and qualifying events and 
preparatory competition for those games. 
‘‘(3) Any other’’. 
Subtitle F—Military Justice and 
Legal Assistance Matters 
SEC. 551. CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY OF MILITARY 
LEGAL ASSISTANCE COUNSEL TO PROVIDE 
MILITARY LEGAL ASSISTANCE WITHOUT RE-
GARD TO LICENSING REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 1044 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(e)(1) Notwithstanding any law regarding the licen-
sure of attorneys, a judge advocate or civilian attorney 
who is authorized to provide military legal assistance is 
authorized to provide that assistance in any jurisdiction, 
subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the 
Secretary concerned.
157
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘military legal as-
sistance’ includes—
‘‘(A) legal assistance provided under this sec-
tion; and 
‘‘(B) legal assistance contemplated by sections 
1044a, 1044b, 1044c, and 1044d of this title.’’. 
SEC. 552. USE OF TELECONFERENCING IN ADMINISTRA-
TIVE SESSIONS OF COURTS-MARTIAL. 
Section 839 of title 10, United States Code (article 
39 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c); 
(2) by designating the matter following para-
graph (4) of subsection (a) as subsection (b); and 
(3) in subsection (b), as so redesignated—
(A) by striking ‘‘These proceedings shall be 
conducted’’ and inserting ‘‘Proceedings under 
subsection (a) shall be conducted’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
sentence: ‘‘If authorized by regulations of the 
Secretary concerned, and if the defense counsel 
is physically in the presence of the accused, the 
presence required by this subsection may other-
wise be established by audiovisual technology 
(such as videoteleconferencing technology).’’.