H. R. 1735—180 
‘‘(K) the program complies with all relevant policies, 
regulations, and directives of the Department of Defense; 
and 
‘‘(L) the Secretary of the military department concerned 
and the Chief of the armed force concerned concur in the 
trade-offs made in accordance with subparagraph (B); and 
‘‘(4) in the case of a space system, performs a cost benefit 
analysis for any new or follow-on satellite system using a 
dedicated ground control system instead of a shared ground 
control system, except that no cost benefit analysis is required 
to be performed under this paragraph for any Milestone B 
approval of a space system after December 31, 2019. 
‘‘(b) CHANGES TO CERTIFICATIONS OR DETERMINATION.—(1) The 
program manager for a major defense acquisition program that 
has received certifications or a determination under subsection (a) 
shall immediately notify the milestone decision authority of any 
changes to the program or a designated major subprogram of such 
program that— 
‘‘(A) alter the substantive basis for the certifications or 
determination of the milestone decision authority relating to 
any component of such certifications or determination specified 
in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a); or 
‘‘(B) otherwise cause the program or subprogram to deviate 
significantly from the material provided to the milestone deci-
sion authority in support of such certifications or determination. 
‘‘(2) Upon receipt of information under paragraph (1), the mile-
stone decision authority may withdraw the certifications or deter-
mination concerned or rescind Milestone B approval if the milestone 
decision authority determines that such certifications, determina-
tion, or approval are no longer valid. 
‘‘(c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—(1) The certifications and deter-
mination under subsection (a) with respect to a major defense 
acquisition program shall be submitted to the congressional defense 
committees with the first Selected Acquisition Report submitted 
under section 2432 of this title after completion of the certification. 
‘‘(2) The milestone decision authority shall retain records of 
the basis for the certifications and determination under paragraphs 
(1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a). 
‘‘(3) At the request of any of the congressional defense commit-
tees, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the committee an 
explanation of the basis for the certifications and determination 
under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) with respect 
to a major defense acquisition program. The explanation shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. 
‘‘(d) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY.—(1) The milestone deci-
sion authority may, at the time of Milestone B approval or at 
the time that such milestone decision authority withdraws a certifi-
cation or rescinds Milestone B approval pursuant to subsection 
(b)(2), waive the applicability to a major defense acquisition program 
of one or more components (as specified in paragraph (1), (2), 
or (3) of subsection (a)) of the certification and determination 
requirements if the milestone decision authority determines that, 
but for such a waiver, the Department would be unable to meet 
critical national security objectives. 
‘‘(2) Whenever the milestone decision authority makes such 
a determination and authorizes such a waiver—
H. R. 1735—181 
‘‘(A) the waiver, the waiver determination, and the reasons 
for the waiver determination shall be submitted in writing 
to the congressional defense committees within 30 days after 
the waiver is authorized; and 
‘‘(B) the milestone decision authority shall review the pro-
gram not less often than annually to determine the extent 
to which such program currently satisfies the certification and 
determination components specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and 
(3) of subsection (a) until such time as the milestone decision 
authority determines that the program satisfies all such certifi-
cation and determination components. 
‘‘(3) The requirement in paragraph (2)(B) shall not apply to 
a program for which a certification was required pursuant to section 
2433a(c) of this title if the milestone decision authority— 
‘‘(A) determines in writing that— 
‘‘(i) the program has reached a stage in the acquisition 
process at which it would not be practicable to meet the 
certification component that was waived; and 
‘‘(ii) the milestone decision authority has taken appro-
priate alternative actions to address the underlying pur-
poses of such certification component; and 
‘‘(B) submits the written determination, and an explanation 
of the basis for the determination, to the congressional defense 
committees. 
‘‘(e) DESIGNATION OF CERTIFICATION STATUS IN BUDGET DOCU-
MENTATION.—Any budget request, budget justification material, 
budget display, reprogramming request, Selected Acquisition 
Report, or other budget documentation or performance report sub-
mitted by the Secretary of Defense to the President regarding 
a major defense acquisition program receiving a waiver pursuant 
to subsection (d) shall prominently and clearly indicate that such 
program has not fully satisfied the certification requirements of 
this section until such time as the milestone decision authority 
makes the determination that such program has satisfied all such 
certification requirements. 
‘‘(f) NONDELEGATION.—The milestone decision authority may 
not delegate the certification requirement under subsection (a) or 
the authority to waive any component of such requirement under 
subsection (d). 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘major defense acquisition program’ means 
a Department of Defense acquisition program that is a major 
defense acquisition program for purposes of section 2430 of 
this title. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘designated major subprogram’ means a major 
subprogram of a major defense acquisition program designated 
under section 2430a(a)(1) of this title. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘milestone decision authority’, with respect 
to a major defense acquisition program, means the official 
within the Department of Defense designated with the overall 
responsibility and authority for acquisition decisions for the 
program, including authority to approve entry of the program 
into the next phase of the acquisition process. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘Milestone B approval’ has the meaning pro-
vided that term in section 2366(e)(7) of this title.
H. R. 1735—182 
‘‘(5) The term ‘core logistics capabilities’ means the core 
logistics capabilities identified under section 2464(a) of this 
title.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2334(a) of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended in paragraph (6)(A)(i) by striking 
‘‘any certification under’’ and inserting ‘‘any decision to grant mile-
stone approval pursuant to’’. 
SEC. 825. DESIGNATION OF MILESTONE DECISION AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2430 of title 10, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d)(1) The milestone decision authority for a major defense 
acquisition program reaching Milestone A after October 1, 2016, 
shall be the service acquisition executive of the military department 
that is managing the program, unless the Secretary of Defense 
designates, under paragraph (2), another official to serve as the 
milestone decision authority. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense may designate an alternate mile-
stone decision authority for a program with respect to which— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary determines that the program is 
addressing a joint requirement; 
‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that the program is best 
managed by a Defense Agency; 
‘‘(C) the program has incurred a unit cost increase greater 
than the significant cost threshold or critical cost threshold 
under section 2433 of this title; 
‘‘(D) the program is critical to a major interagency require-
ment or technology development effort, or has significant inter-
national partner involvement; or 
‘‘(E) the Secretary determines that an alternate official 
serving as the milestone decision authority will best provide 
for the program to achieve desired cost, schedule, and perform-
ance outcomes. 
‘‘(3)(A) After designating an alternate milestone decision 
authority under paragraph (2) for a program, the Secretary of 
Defense may revert the position of milestone decision authority 
for the program back to the service acquisition executive upon 
request of the Secretary of the military department concerned. 
A decision on the request shall be made within 180 days after 
receipt of the request from the Secretary of the military department 
concerned. 
‘‘(B) If the Secretary of Defense denies the request for reversion 
of the milestone decision authority back to the service acquisition 
executive, the Secretary shall report to the congressional defense 
committees on the basis of the Secretary’s decision that an alternate 
official serving as milestone decision authority will best provide 
for the program to achieve desired cost, schedule, and performance 
outcomes. No such reversion is authorized after a program has 
incurred a unit cost increase greater than the significant cost 
threshold or critical cost threshold under section 2433 of this title, 
except in exceptional circumstances. 
‘‘(4)(A) For each major defense acquisition program, the Sec-
retary of the military department concerned and the Chief of the 
armed force concerned shall, in each Selected Acquisition Report 
required under section 2432 of this title, certify that program 
requirements are stable and funding is adequate to meet cost, 
schedule, and performance objectives for the program and identify
H. R. 1735—183 
and report to the congressional defense committees on any increased 
risk to the program since the last report. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary of Defense shall review the acquisition over-
sight process for major defense acquisition programs and shall 
limit outside requirements for documentation to an absolute min-
imum on those programs where the service acquisition executive 
of the military department that is managing the program is the 
milestone decision authority and ensure that any policies, proce-
dures, and activities related to oversight efforts conducted outside 
of the military departments with regard to major defense acquisition 
programs shall be implemented in a manner that does not unneces-
sarily increase program costs or impede program schedules.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 133(b)(5) of such title 
is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: 
‘‘, except that the Under Secretary shall exercise advisory authority, 
subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary 
of Defense, over service acquisition programs for which the service 
acquisition executive is the milestone decision authority’’. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
(1) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
shall submit to the congressional defense committees a plan 
for implementing subsection (d) of section 2430 of title 10, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this section. 
(2) GUIDANCE.—The Deputy Chief Management Officer of 
the Department of Defense, in consultation with the Under 
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics 
and the service acquisition executives, shall issue guidance 
to ensure that by not later than October 1, 2016, the acquisition 
policy, guidance, and practices of the Department of Defense 
conform to the requirements of subsection (d) of section 2430 
of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) 
of this section. The guidance shall be designed to ensure a 
streamlined decisionmaking and approval process and to mini-
mize any information requests, consistent with the requirement 
of paragraph (4)(A) of such subsection (d). 
(3) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—The amendments made by sub-
sections (a) and (b) shall take effect on October 1, 2016. 
SEC. 826. TENURE AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF PROGRAM MANAGERS 
FOR PROGRAM DEFINITION PERIODS. 
(a) REVISED GUIDANCE REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
shall revise Department of Defense guidance for major defense 
acquisition programs to address the tenure and accountability of 
program managers for the program definition period of major 
defense acquisition programs. 
(b) PROGRAM DEFINITION PERIOD.—For the purposes of this 
section, the term ‘‘program definition period’’, with respect to a 
major defense acquisition program, means the period beginning 
with initiation of the program and ending with Milestone B approval 
(or Key Decision Point B approval in the case of a space program). 
(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The revised guidance required by sub-
section (a) shall provide that the program manager for the program 
definition period of a major defense acquisition program is respon-
sible for—