Title: To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a working group to review and recommend improvements to the casualty assistance program of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This bill requires the Department of Defense to establish the Casualty Assistance Reform Working Group to, among other duties, create standards and training for casualty assistance officers across military departments. Casualty assistance officers are responsible for notifying families when a service member has died and providing other resources and support.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5198 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5198

  To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a working group to 
review and recommend improvements to the casualty assistance program of 
           the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 10, 2021

  Mr. Bacon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a working group to 
review and recommend improvements to the casualty assistance program of 
           the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CASUALTY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: REFORM; ESTABLISHMENT OF 
              WORKING GROUP.

    (a) Casualty Assistance Reform Working Group.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
        establish a working group to be known as the ``Casualty 
        Assistance Reform Working Group'' (in this section referred to 
        as the ``Working Group'').
            (2) Duties.--The Working Group shall perform the following 
        duties:
                    (A) Create standards and training for CAOs across 
                the military departments.
                    (B) Explore the possibility of establishing a 
                unique badge designation for--
                            (i) CAOs who have performed CAO duty more 
                        than five times; or
                            (ii) professional CAOs.
                    (C) Commission a 30-day study that--
                            (i) documents the current workflow of 
                        casualty affairs support across the military 
                        departments, including administrative processes 
                        and survivor engagements; and
                            (ii) performs a gap analysis and solution 
                        document that clearly identifies and 
                        prioritizes critical changes to modernize and 
                        professionalize the casualty experience for 
                        survivors.
                    (D) Review the organization of the Office of 
                Casualty, Mortuary Affairs and Military Funeral Honors 
                to ensure it is positioned to coordinate policy and 
                assist in all matters under its jurisdiction, across 
                the Armed Forces, including any potential intersections 
                with the Defense Prisoner of War and Missing in Action 
                Accounting Agency.
                    (E) Explore the establishment of--
                            (i) an annual meeting, led by the Secretary 
                        of Defense, with gold star families; and
                            (ii) a surviving and gold star family 
                        leadership council.
                    (F) Recommend improvements to the family 
                notification process of Arlington National Cemetery.
                    (G) Explore the redesign of the Days Ahead Binder, 
                including creating an electronic version.
                    (H) Consider the expansion of the DD Form 93 to 
                include more details regarding the last wishes of the 
                deceased member.
                    (I) Assess coordination between the Department of 
                Defense and the Office of Survivors Assistance of the 
                Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (3) Membership.--The membership of the Working Group shall 
        be comprised of the following:
                    (A) The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel 
                and Readiness, who shall serve as Chair of the Working 
                Group.
                    (B) One individual from each Armed Force, appointed 
                by the Secretary of the military department concerned, 
                who is--
                            (i) a civilian employee in the Senior 
                        Executive Service; or
                            (ii) an officer in a grade higher than O-6.
                    (C) One individual from the Joint Staff, appointed 
                by the Secretary of Defense, who is--
                            (i) a civilian employee in the Senior 
                        Executive Service; or
                            (ii) an officer in a grade higher than O-6.
                    (D) The Director of the Defense Prisoner of War and 
                Missing in Action Accounting Agency.
                    (E) The Director of the Defense Health Agency (or 
                the designee of such Director).
                    (F) The Chief of Chaplains of each Armed Force.
                    (G) Such other members of the Armed Forces or 
                civilian employees of the Department of Defense whom 
                the Secretary of Defense determines to appoint.
            (4) Report.--Not later than September 30, 2022, the Working 
        Group shall submit to the Secretary of Defense a report 
        containing the determinations and recommendations of the 
        Working Group.
            (5) Termination.--The Working Group shall terminate upon 
        submission of the report under paragraph (4).
    (b) Report Required.--Not later than November 1, 2022, the 
Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services 
of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report setting forth 
the results of a review and assessment of the casualty assistance 
officer program, including the report of the Working Group.
    (c) Establishment of Certain Definitions.--Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, 
in coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall 
prescribe regulations that establish standard definitions, for use 
across the military departments, of the terms ``gold star family'' and 
``gold star survivor''.
    (d) CAO Defined.--In this section, the term ``CAO'' means a 
casualty assistance officer of the Armed Forces.
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