satisfactorily the terms of the agreement of such quali-
fying veteran under subsection (d), whether through fail-
ure to obtain the graduate or post-graduate degree con-
cerned or failure to perform service required of the quali-
fying veteran under subsection (f), shall be liable to the 
United States in such form and manner as the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Defense, specify in the agreement. 
(h) CONTINGENCY OPERATION DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘contingency operation’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, 
United States Code. 
SEC. 3. PROGRAM OF EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING, AND DE-
PLOYMENT OF FORMER MEMBERS OF THE 
ARMED FORCES WITH COMBAT EXPERIENCE 
AS PSYCHIATRIC TECHNICIANS AND NURSES 
FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES IN 
DEPLOYMENT. 
(a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Defense 
shall carry out a program to employ and train qualifying 
former members of the Armed Forces as psychiatric tech-
nicians and nurses of the Department of Defense for the 
provision of mental health counseling and services to mem-
bers of the Armed Forces who are deployed to a combat 
zone. 
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(b) QUALIFYING FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
FORCES.—For purposes of this section, a qualifying 
former member of the Armed Forces is any member 
who— 
(1) during service on active duty in the Armed 
Forces, participated for such period as the Secretary 
shall specify for purposes of the program in a the-
ater of combat or during a contingency operation 
overseas; 
(2) was retired, discharged, separated, or re-
leased from service in the Armed Forces on or after 
a date (not earlier than August 2, 1990) specified 
by the Secretary for purposes of the program; and 
(3) meets such other qualifications as the Sec-
retary may establish for purposes of the program. 
(c) EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING.— 
(1) EMPLOYMENT.—Each qualifying former 
member of the Armed Forces selected by the Sec-
retary for participation in the program may be em-
ployed by the Secretary as a civilian employee of the 
Department of Defense for such minimum period as 
the Secretary considers appropriate for purposes of 
the program. 
(2) TRAINING.—Each qualifying former mem-
ber of the Armed Forces employed by the Secretary 
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under paragraph (1) shall be provided such training 
in the provision of mental health counseling and 
services to members of the Armed Forces deployed 
to a combat zone as the Secretary determines appro-
priate in order to qualify such former member to 
serve as a psychiatric technician or nurse, as appli-
cable, of the Department of Defense for the provi-
sion of such counseling and services to such mem-
bers of the Armed Forces. 
(3) SERVICE.—Upon the successful completion 
by a qualifying former member of the Armed Forces 
of training provided under paragraph (2), the Sec-
retary shall require the former member, as a psy-
chiatric technician or nurse (as applicable) of the 
Department of Defense, to provide such mental 
health counseling and services to members of the 
Armed Forces deployed to a combat zone as the Sec-
retary considers appropriate. 
(4) DEPLOYMENT
TO
COMBAT
ZONE.—Each 
qualifying former member of the Armed Forces serv-
ing as a psychiatric technician or nurse of the De-
partment of Defense under paragraph (3) shall 
agree, as a condition of participation in the pro-
gram, to deploy to a combat zone to perform service 
as a psychiatric technician or nurse, as the case may 
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be, for members of the Armed Forces deployed to 
the combat zone for such period (if any), and under 
such terms and conditions, as the Secretary deter-
mines appropriate. 
(d) CONTINGENCY OPERATION DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘contingency operation’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, 
United States Code. 
SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF AUTHORITY OF VETS CENTERS 
TO PROVIDE REFERRAL AND OTHER ASSIST-
ANCE UPON REQUEST TO FORMER MEMBERS 
OF THE ARMED FORCES NOT AUTHORIZED 
COUNSELING. 
Section 1712A of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 
as subsections (d) through (g), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing new subsection (c): 
‘‘(c) Upon receipt of a request for counseling under 
this section from any individual who has been discharged 
or released from active military, naval, or air service but 
who is not otherwise eligible for such counseling, the Sec-
retary shall— 
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‘‘(1) provide referral services to assist such in-
dividual, to the maximum extent practicable, in ob-
taining mental health care and services from sources 
outside the Department; and 
‘‘(2) if pertinent, advise such individual of such 
individual’s rights to apply to the appropriate mili-
tary, naval, or air service, and to the Department, 
for review of such individual’s discharge or release 
from such service.’’. 
SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 
FOR COUNSELING AND RELATED MENTAL 
HEALTH SERVICES THROUGH VET CENTERS. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 1712A of title 38, United 
States Code, as amended by section 4, is further amend-
ed— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 
subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing new subsection (f): 
‘‘(f)(1) The Secretary shall, upon the request of a 
member of the Armed Forces, furnish the member through 
a center the following: 
‘‘(A) In the case of a member of a regular com-
ponent of the Armed Forces, mental health services 
authorized to be provided under this section. 
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‘‘(B) In the case of a member of a reserve com-
ponent of the Armed Forces, readjustment coun-
seling and related mental health services authorized 
to be provided under this section, including readjust-
ment counseling to assist the member in reinte-
grating into civilian life after demobilization from 
active duty in the Armed Forces. 
‘‘(2) Any general mental and psychological assess-
ment furnished a member under this subsection shall in-
clude such criteria, and be performed in such manner and 
with such protections for the member, as the Secretary 
and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly prescribe for 
purposes of this subsection. 
‘‘(3)(A) In the event a physician, psychologist, or 
other counselor furnishing counseling or mental health 
services to a member under this subsection determines 
that the member may be a danger to the member or oth-
ers, the physician, psychologist, or counselor, as the case 
may be, shall notify an appropriate official of a military 
medical treatment facility designated in the procedures 
under subparagraph (C) of the determination. 
‘‘(B) An official receiving a notification under sub-
paragraph (A) with respect to a member shall transmit 
the notification to an appropriate officer in the chain of 
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command of the member, as designated in the procedures 
under subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(C) The Secretary and the Secretary of Defense 
shall jointly prescribe procedures for notifications under 
this paragraph. The procedures shall include the following: 
‘‘(i) A designation of the military medical treat-
ment facilities to which notice with respect to mem-
bers is to be submitted under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(ii) A specification of the officers who shall 
constitute appropriate officers in the chain of com-
mand of a member for purposes of the transmittal 
of notice under subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall carry out this subsection 
pursuant to a memorandum of understanding jointly en-
tered into by the Secretary and the Secretary of De-
fense.’’. 
(b) OUTREACH ON ELIGIBILITY.—Subsection (g) of 
such section 1712A, as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), 
is further amended by inserting ‘‘and members of the 
Armed Forces’’ after ‘‘veterans’’. 
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SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF SUICIDES OF CERTAIN FORMER 
MEMBERS 
OF 
THE 
ARMED 
FORCES 
AS 
DEATHS IN LINE OF DUTY FOR PURPOSES OF 
ELIGIBILITY OF SURVIVORS FOR CERTAIN 
BENEFITS. 
(a) TREATMENT AS DEATH IN LINE OF DUTY OF 
SUICIDES
OF CERTAIN FORMER MEMBERS
OF
THE 
ARMED FORCES.—The suicide of a former member of the 
Armed Forces described in subsection (b) that occurs dur-
ing the two-year period beginning on the date of the sepa-
ration or retirement of the former member from the 
Armed Forces shall be treated as a death in line of duty 
of a member of the Armed Forces on active duty in the 
Armed Forces for purposes of the eligibility of the sur-
vivors of the former member for the benefits described in 
subsection (c). 
(b) COVERED FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
FORCES.—A former member of the Armed Forces de-
scribed in this subsection is any former member of the 
Armed Forces with a medical history of a combat-related 
mental health condition or Post Traumatic Stress Dis-
order (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). 
(c) COVERED BENEFITS.—The benefits described in 
this subsection are the benefits as follows: 
(1) Burial benefits. 
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(2) Benefits under the Survivor Benefit Plan 
under subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10, United 
States Code. 
(3) Benefits under the laws administered by the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 
(4) Benefits under the Social Security Act. 
(d) DATES FOR PURPOSES OF CERTAIN DETERMINA-
TIONS.— 
(1) DATE OF DEATH.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (2), for purposes of the benefits under 
this section, the date of death of a former member 
of the Armed Forces described by subsection (a) 
shall be the date of the separation or retirement of 
the former member from the Armed Forces. 
(2) DATE
FOR
NATURE
OF
ELIGIBILITY.—In 
determining the scope and nature of the entitlement 
a survivor of a former member of the Armed Forces 
described by subsection (a) to benefits under this 
section, the date of death of the former member 
shall be the date of the suicide of the former mem-
ber. 
(e) REFUND
OF
REDUCTION
IN
RETIRED
PAY 
UNDER SBP.—Any reduction in the retired pay of a 
former member of the Armed Forces described by sub-
section (a) under the Survivor Benefit Plan under sub-
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chapter II of chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code, 
during the period beginning on the date of the retirement 
of the former member from the Armed Forces and ending 
on the date of the suicide of the former member shall be 
refunded to the surviving spouse or children, as applicable, 
of the former member. 
SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORTS ON EFFECTIVENESS OF MENTAL 
HEALTH TRAINING AND RELATED COUN-
SELING UNDER REINTEGRATION PROGRAMS 
FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND 
VETERANS. 
(a) ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS.—Not later than 18 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense and the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly conduct a review 
and assessment of the programs of the Department of De-
fense and the Department of Veterans Affairs for the re-
integration of members of the Armed Forces and veterans 
into civilian life after retirement, discharge, or release 
from the Armed Forces in order to assess the extent of 
the effectiveness of the mental health resiliency training 
and transition counseling provided to members of the 
Armed Forces, veterans, and their families under such 
programs both before and after retirement, discharge, or 
release from the Armed Forces. 
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(b) REPORTS.—The Secretary of Defense and the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to Con-
gress a report on each review and assessment conducted 
under subsection (a). Each report shall set forth the re-
sults of the review and assessment concerned and shall 
include such recommendations for legislative or adminis-
trative action as the Secretary of Defense with respect to 
Department of Defense programs, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs with respect to Department of Veterans Af-
fairs programs, or the Secretary of Defense and the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs jointly consider appropriate. 
Æ 
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