Source: https://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/charter.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 21:29:18+00:00

Document:
1. Committee’s Official Designation: The Committee shall be known as the Defense Science Board (“the Board”).
2. Authority: The Secretary of Defense, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended) and 41 C.F.R. § 102-3.50(d), established this discretionary Board.
3. Objectives and Scope of Activities: The Board shall provide independent advice and recommendations on matters relating to the Department of Defense’s (DoD) scientific and technical enterprise.
4. Description of Duties: The Board shall provide the Secretary of Defense; the Deputy Secretary of Defense; the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)); the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and, as requested, other Office of the Secretary of Defense Principal Staff Assistants; the Secretaries of the Military Departments; and the Commanders of the Combatant Commands independent advice and recommendations on science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process, and other matters of special interest to the DoD.
The Board is not established to advise on individual DoD procurements, but instead shall be concerned with the pressing and complex technological problems facing the DoD in such areas as research, engineering, and manufacturing, and will ensure the identification of new technologies and new applications of technology in those areas to strengthen national security.
No matter shall be assigned to the Board for its consideration that would require any Board member to participate personally and substantially in the conduct of any specific procurement or place him or her in the position of acting as a contracting or procurement official.
5. Agency or Official to Whom the Committee Reports: The Board shall report to the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense through the USD(R&E). The USD(R&E) shall be authorized to act upon the advice and recommendations of the Board.
6. Support: The DoD, through the Office of the USD(R&E), shall provide the necessary support for the Board and shall ensure compliance with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. § 552b, as amended) (“the Sunshine Act”), governing Federal statutes and regulations, and DoD policies and procedures.
7. Estimated Annual Operating Costs and Staff Years: It is estimated that the annual operating cost, to include travel, meetings, and contract support, is approximately $4.5 million. The estimated annual personnel cost to the DoD is six full-time equivalents.
8. Designated Federal Officer: The Board’s Designated Federal Officer (DFO), pursuant to DoD policy, shall be a full-time or permanent part-time DoD employee, designated in accordance with established DoD policies and procedures.
The Board’s DFO is required to be in attendance at all meetings of the Board and any subcommittees for the entire duration of each and every meeting. However, in the absence of the Board’s DFO, a properly approved Alternate DFO, duly designated to the Board in accordance with established DoD policies and procedures, must attend the entire duration of all of the Board or subcommittee meetings.
The DFO, or the Alternate DFO, shall call all meetings of the Board and its subcommittees; prepare and approve all meeting agendas; and adjourn any meeting when the DFO, or the Alternate DFO, determines adjournment to be in the public interest or required by governing regulations or DoD policies and procedures.
9. Estimated Number and Frequency of Meetings: The Board shall meet at the call of the Board’s DFO, in consultation with the Board Chair and the USD(R&E) as the Sponsor. The estimated number of Board meetings is four per year.
10. Duration: The need for this Board is on a continuing basis; however, this charter is subject to renewal every two years.
11. Termination: The Board shall terminate upon completion of its mission or two years from the date this charter is filed, whichever is sooner, unless the Secretary of Defense or his or her designee renews the charter.
12. Membership and Designation: The Board shall be composed of not more than 50 members, who are eminent authorities in the fields of science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process, and other matters of special interest to the DoD. The Secretary of Defense authorized, and the then-USD(AT&L) administratively certified, the appointment of the Chairs of the Defense Business Board, the Defense Policy Board, the Naval Research Advisory Committee (a subcommittee of the Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel), the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the United States Army Science Board, and the Defense Health Board to serve as non-voting, ex-officio members of the Board, who may not participate in the deliberations of the Board.
The appointment of Board members will be authorized by the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense and administratively certified by the USD(R&E), for a term of service of one-to-four years, with annual renewals, in accordance with DoD policies and procedures. Members of the Board who are not full-time or permanent part-time Federal officers or employees shall be appointed as experts or consultants pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3109 to serve as special government employee (SGE) members. Board members who are full-time or permanent part-time Federal officers or employees shall be appointed pursuant to 41 C.F.R. § 102-3.130(a) to serve as regular government employee (RGE) members. No member, unless authorized by the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense, may serve more than two consecutive terms of service on the Board, to include its subcommittees, or serve on more than two DoD federal advisory committees at one time.
The USD(R&E) may appoint experts or consultants, with special expertise, to assist the Board on an ad hoc basis. These experts and consultants, if not full-time or permanent part-time government employees, shall be appointed under the authority of 5 U.S.C. § 3109, shall serve as SGEs, shall be appointed on an intermittent basis to work specific Board-related efforts, shall not participate in deliberations, shall not have voting rights, and shall not count towards the overall Board membership totals.
The USD(R&E) has the delegated authority to appoint the Board’s leadership from among the membership previously approved in accordance with DoD policies and procedures for a term of service not to exceed the individual member’s appointment.
Such appointments will normally be staggered among the Board membership to ensure an orderly turnover in the Board's overall composition on a periodic basis. With the exception of reimbursement for official Board-related travel and per diem, the members shall serve without compensation.
13. Subcommittees: The DoD, when necessary and consistent with the Board’s mission and DoD policies and procedures, may establish subcommittees, task forces, or working groups to support the Board. Establishment of subcommittees will be based upon a written determination, to include terms of reference, by the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, or the USD(R&E), as the DoD Sponsor.
Such subcommittees shall not work independently of the Board and shall report all their recommendations and advice solely to the Board for full deliberation and discussion according to the FACA. Subcommittees have no authority to make decisions and recommendations, verbally or in writing, on behalf of the Board. No subcommittee or any of its members can update or report, verbally or in writing, directly to the DoD or any Federal officers or employees. If a majority of Board members are appointed to a particular subcommittee, then that subcommittee may be required to operate pursuant to the same notice and openness requirements of the FACA which govern the Board’s operations.
Subcommittee members will be appointed for a term of service of one-to-four years, subject to annual renewals; however, no member shall serve more than two consecutive terms of service on the subcommittee, without authorization from the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Subcommittee members, if not full-time or permanent part-time Federal officers or employees, shall be appointed as experts or consultants pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3109 to serve as SGE members. Subcommittee members who are full-time or permanent part-time Federal officers or employees shall be appointed pursuant to 41 C.F.R. § 102-3.130(a) to serve as RGE members.
Pursuant to Secretary of Defense policy, the USD(R&E) is authorized to administratively certify the appointment of subcommittee members if the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense has previously authorized the individual’s appointment to the Board or another DoD advisory committee. If this prior authorization has not occurred, then the individual's subcommittee appointment must first be authorized by the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense and subsequently administratively certified by the USD(R&E).
With the exception of reimbursement for travel and per diem as it pertains to official travel related to the Board or its subcommittees, Board subcommittee members shall serve without compensation.
The USD(R&E) has the delegated authority to appoint subcommittee leadership from among the subcommittee membership previously approved in accordance with DoD policies and procedures for a term of service not to exceed the individual subcommittee member’s appointment.
Each subcommittee member is appointed to provide advice on behalf of the Government on the basis of his or her best judgment without representing any particular point of view and in a manner that is free from conflict of interest.
All subcommittees operate in accordance with the FACA, the Sunshine Act, governing Federal statutes and regulations, and DoD policies and procedures.
Currently, the DoD has approved 10 subcommittees to the Board.
Subcommittee members must be eminent authorities in the fields of science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process, and other matters of special interest to the DoD.
1) Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Options – No more than 15 members with a focus on identifying new creative and effective weapons system concepts and operational concepts so as to rebalance cost and benefit in order to regain, in a sustainable manner, the operational dominance of the United States Armed Forces at the beginning of this century.
2) Defense Science Board Task Force on Cyber Supply Chain – No more than 15 members to assess whether current practices are able to effectively mitigate malicious supply chain risk and whether opportunities exist to modify or strengthen current practices.
3) Defense Science Board Task Force on Deterring, Preventing, and Responding to the Threat or Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction – No more than 15 members to identify ways in which deterrence can evolve given a changing security environment and, should deterrence alone prove inadequate, identify additional ways to prevent and respond, for both the United States and its allies. The study will investigate how the threat or use of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons) can be best addressed through deterrence, prevention, defense and/or response.
4) Defense Science Board Task Force on Military Satellite Communication and Tactical Networking – Seventeen members to review the current U.S. military satellite communication and tactical networking capabilities, identify shortfalls within existing and planned capability development, and then propose mid- and long-term system and technology improvements needed to allow effective complex operations against advanced threats.
5) The Permanent Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Surety – No more than 15 members who assess all aspects of the Air Force nuclear weapons surety to include military, Federal, and contractors.
6) Defense Science Board Study on Defense Strategies for Advanced Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threats – No more than 15 members to (a) review current and future ballistic and cruise missile threats, (b) assess the implications of those systems to the survivability of U.S. critical assets, (c) review current U.S. responses to those threats and counter-measures that might nullify those responses, (d) investigate and prioritize a proposed short- and long-term U.S. response, and e) address the cost-effectiveness of any proposed recommendations.
7) Defense Science Board Task Force on Air Dominance – No more than 15 members to consider the most effective science, technology, capability, and systems for maintaining air dominance beyond the next decade. The Task Force on Air Dominance should identify and recommend, in the context of projected threats, strategies to establish and maintain our freedom of action in the air in support of national objectives.
8) Defense Science Board Task Force on Cyber Deterrence – Sixteen members to consider the requirements for effective deterrence of a cyber attack(s) against the U.S. and its allies/ partners and to identify critical capabilities (cyber and non-cyber) needed to support deterrence, war-fighting, and escalation control against a highly cyber-capable adversary.
9) Task Force on Defense Strategies for Ensuring the Resilience of National Space Capabilities – Sixteen members to identify and recommend, in the context of current and projected threats, strategies to enhance the net resilience of our national security space enterprise including those critical elements provided by our international partners and the commercial sector. The study should consider all facets of space control including the balanced roles of deterrence measures, the requirements of space situational awareness, protection measures, and active defense concepts.
10) Defense Science Board Task Force on Next-Generation Unmanned Undersea Systems – No more than 15 members to review the nation's undersea warfare capabilities. The Defense Science Board Task Force on Next-Generation Unmanned Undersea Systems should explore roles and missions for candidate unmanned undersea systems with emphasis on leveraging the advantages in the undersea domain to disrupt adversary strategies both undersea and in other domains, focusing on technical capabilities and operational concepts that could result in low-cost, rapidly developed systems that enable cost-imposing strategies.
14. Recordkeeping The records of the Board and its subcommittees shall be managed in accordance with General Record Schedule 6.2, Federal Advisory Committee Records, or other approved agency records disposition schedule, and the appropriate DoD policies and procedures. These records shall be available for public inspection and copying, subject to the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 (5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended).
1. Authority: The Secretary of Defense, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended) and 41 C.F.R. § 102-3.50(d), established the Defense Science Board (''the Board"), a discretionary advisory committee.
2. Mission/Function: The Board shall provide the Secretary of Defense; the Deputy Secretary of Defense; the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)); the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and as requested, other Office of the Secretary of Defense Principal Staff Assistants; the Secretaries of the Military Departments; and the Commanders of the Combatant Commands independent advice and recommendations on science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process, and other matters of special interest to the DoD.
3. Points of View: The Board shall be composed of no more than 50 members, who are eminent authorities in the fields of science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process, and other matters of special interest to the DoD.
The DoD, in selecting potential candidates for the Board, reviews the educational and professional credentials of individuals and bases its selections on this review and the subject matters being handled by the Board. The DoD has found that viewing complex issues facing the DoD through a multi-disciplinary advisory committee provides the DoD and, more importantly, the American public with a broader understanding on which to base subsequent policy decisions.
Each Board member, based upon his or her individual and professional experiences, provides his or her best judgment on the matters before the Board, and he or she does so without representing any particular point of view and in a manner that is free from conflict of interest. Board members who are not full-time or permanent part-time Federal officers or employees, shall be appointed as experts and consultants pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3109 to serve as special government employees (SGE) members. Board members who are full-time or permanent part-time Federal officers or employees shall be appointed pursuant to 41 C.F.R. § 102-3.130(a) to serve as regular government employee (RGE) members. The DoD, unless otherwise required by statute or Presidential directive, does not use representative members on DoD established or supported advisory committees.
Membership will be fairly balanced in terms of points of view represented and the functions to be performed by the Board. The Board’s membership balance is not static, and the Secretary of Defense may change the membership based upon work assigned to the Board by the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, or the USD(R&E), as the Board's Sponsor.
4. Other Balance Factors: Candidates for appointment come from government service, military service, academia, or private industry, and individual appointments are based on the subject matter being reviewed by the Board.
5. Candidate Identification Process: The DoD, in selecting potential candidates for vacancies on the Board, reviews the educational and professional credentials of individuals with extensive professional experience in the areas of science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process, and other matters of special interest to the DoD. Potential candidates are identified by the Board's professional staff and senior DoD career and political officials.
Once potential candidates are identified, the Designated Federal Officer and the Board's staff review the credentials of each individual, narrow the list of potential candidates and forward the list to the USD(R&E). During the USD(R&E) review, he or she strives to achieve a balance between the educational and professional credentials of the individuals and the subjects that he or she anticipates will be reviewed by the Board to achieve expertise in points of view regarding anticipated topics.
Once the USD(R&E) has narrowed the list of candidates and before formal nomination to the Secretary of Defense, the list of candidates will undergo a review by the Office of General Counsel of the Department of Defense and the Office of the Advisory Committee Management Officer to ensure compliance with federal and DoD governance requirements, including compliance with the Board's charter and membership balance plan. Following this review, the USD(R&E) discusses the potential organizations/individuals with the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense and requests authorization to proceed with the nominations. Pursuant to DoD policy, only the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense can invite or approve the appointment of individuals to serve on DoD established or supported advisory committees and subcommittees.
Following the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense authorization and the USD(R&E)’s subsequent administrative certification, the candidates are required to complete the necessary appointment paperwork, to include meeting ethics requirements stipulated by the Office of Government Ethics for Board members.
All Board appointments are for one-to-four year terms of service, with annual renewals. No member, unless authorized by the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense, may serve more than two consecutive terms of service on the Board, including its subcommittees, or serve on more than two DoD Federal advisory committees at one time.
Membership vacancies for the Panel and any subcommittees will be filled in the same manner as described in the previous three paragraphs.
6. Subcommittee Balance: The DoD, when necessary and consistent with the Board’s mission and DoD policies and procedures, may establish subcommittees, task forces, or working groups to support the Board.
Individuals considered for appointment to any subcommittee of the Board may come from the Board itself or from new nominees, as recommended by the USD(R&E) and based upon the subject matters under consideration. Pursuant to Secretary of Defense policy, the USD(R&E) is authorized to administratively certify the appointment of subcommittee members if the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense has previously authorized the individual’s appointment to the Board or another DoD advisory committee. If this prior authorization has not occurred, then the individual's subcommittee appointment must first be authorized by the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense and subsequently administratively certified by the USD(R&E).
Subcommittee members will be appointed for a term of service of one-to-four years with annual renewals. Subcommittee members, if not full-time or permanent part-time Federal officers or employees, shall be appointed as experts or consultants pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3109 to serve as SGE members. Subcommittee members who are full-time or permanent part-time Federal officers or employees shall be appointed pursuant to 41 C.F.R. § 102-3.130(a) to serve as RGE members.
Currently, the DoD has approved 10 subcommittees to the Board. Subcommittee members must be eminent authorities in the fields of science, technology, manufacturing, acquisition process, and other matters of special interest to the DoD.
7. Other: As nominees are considered for appointment to the Board, the DoD adheres to the Office of Management and Budget’s Revised Guidance on Appointment of Lobbyists to Federal Advisory Committee, Boards, and Commissions (79 FR 47482; August 13, 2014); the rules and regulations issued by the Office of Government Ethics; and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum of December 17, 2010, concerning scientific integrity.

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