I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4935 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to clarify the roles of surface warfare 
officers of the Navy, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 3, 2021 
Mr. WITTMAN (for himself and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to clarify the roles 
of surface warfare officers of the Navy, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Surface Warfare Offi-
cer Leadership Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘SWOLE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SURFACE WARFARE OFFICERS OF THE NAVY. 
(a) 
SURFACE
WARFARE
OFFICERS
CAREER 
PATHS.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 815 of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
section 8139 the following new section: 
‘‘§ 8140. Regular Navy: officers designated for surface 
warfare 
‘‘Any person originally commissioned as a surface 
warfare officer in the Navy on or after January 1, 2023, 
shall be assigned to one of the following career paths: 
‘‘(1) Ship engineering systems. 
‘‘(2) Ship operations and combat systems.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 8139 
the following new item: 
‘‘8140. Regular Navy: officers designated for surface warfare.’’. 
(b) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF RETENTION OF 
FEMALE SURFACE WARFARE OFFICERS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 
shall seek to enter into an agreement with a non-
profit entity or a federally funded research and de-
velopment center independent of the Department of 
Defense to conduct research and analysis on the 
gender gap in retention of surface warfare officers 
in the Navy. 
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(2) ELEMENTS.—The research and analysis 
conducted under paragraph (1) shall include consid-
eration of the following: 
(A) Demographics of surface warfare offi-
cers, disaggregated by gender, including— 
(i) race; 
(ii) ethnicity; 
(iii) socioeconomic status; 
(iv) marital status (including whether 
the spouse is a member of the Armed 
Forces and, if so, the length of service of 
such spouse); 
(v) whether the officer has children 
(including number and age or ages of chil-
dren); 
(vi) whether an immediate family 
member serves or has served as a member 
of the Armed Forces; and 
(vii) the percentage of such officers 
who— 
(I) indicate an intent to complete 
only an initial service agreement; and 
(II) complete only an initial serv-
ice agreement. 
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(B) Whether there is a correlation between 
the number of female surface warfare officers 
serving on a vessel and responses of such offi-
cers to command climate surveys. 
(C) An anonymous but traceable study of 
command climate results to— 
(i) correlate responses from particular 
female surface warfare officers with res-
ignation; and 
(ii) compare attitudes of first-tour and 
second-tour female surface warfare offi-
cers. 
(D) Recommendations based on the find-
ings under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C). 
(3) REPORTS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 270 
days after the date on which a nonprofit entity 
or federally funded research and development 
center enters into an agreement under para-
graph (1) with the Secretary of Defense, such 
entity or center shall submit to the Secretary of 
Defense a report on the results of the research 
and analysis under paragraph (1). 
(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 
than one year after the date of the enactment 
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of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall sub-
mit to the congressional defense committees 
each of the following: 
(i) A copy of the report submitted 
under subparagraph (A) without change. 
(ii) Any comments, changes, rec-
ommendations, or other information pro-
vided by the Secretary of Defense relating 
to the research and analysis under para-
graph (1) and contained in such report. 
(c) LIMITATION ON TRAINING OF SURFACE WAR-
FARE OFFICERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds authorized to 
be appropriated or otherwise made available in fiscal 
year 2022, the Secretary of the Navy shall not ex-
pend more than 75 percent of the funds authorized 
to be appropriated for Ship Operations, Operation 
and Maintenance, Navy, until the date on which the 
Secretary submits to the congressional defense com-
mittees the certification under paragraph (2) and 
the report under paragraph (3). 
(2) CERTIFICATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Certification under this 
subparagraph is a certification in writing to the 
Congressional defense committees that the Sec-
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retary of the Navy has established standards 
and procedures (subject to subparagraph (B)) 
by which a member of the Navy can receive— 
(i) a merchant mariner credential with 
a national officer endorsement officer sec-
tion 10.109(a) of title 46, Code Federal 
Regulations, as in effect on the date of the 
enactment of the National Defense Author-
ization Act for Fiscal Year 2022; 
(ii) a national rating endorsement 
under section subsection (b) or (c) of sec-
tion 10.109 of such title; or 
(iii) a Standards of Training, Certifi-
cation, and Watchkeeping endorsement 
under section 10.109(d) of such title. 
(B) STRINGENCY.—In no case shall the 
standards described in subparagraph (A) be less 
stringent than the standards applied by the 
Army, Military Sealift Command, or Coast 
Guard vessel operators. 
(3) REPORT.—Concurrent with the certification 
under paragraph (2), the Secretary of the Navy shall 
submit to the congressional defense committees a re-
port that updates the military-to-mariner transition 
provided in response to section 568 of the National 
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Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 
(Public Law 114–328) that includes— 
(A) a description of how the training pro-
gram for surface warfare officers exceeds the 
minimum requirements for a merchant mariner 
credential with an appropriate endorsement; 
(B) a list of the proposed naval curriculum 
courses that have been submitted to the Na-
tional Maritime Center for course credentialing; 
and 
(C) a timeline for— 
(i) all Navy seagoing personnel to re-
ceive merchant mariner credentials with 
national officer and ratings endorsements; 
and 
(ii) 50 percent of such personnel to 
receive such credential with Standards of 
Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping 
endorsement. 
Æ 
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