Each year, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees take up their respective versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). These bills contain numerous provisions that affect military personnel, retirees, and their family members. Provisions in one version are often not included in another; are treated differently; or, in certain cases, are identical. Following passage of these bills by the respective legislative bodies, a conference committee is usually convened to resolve the various differences between the House and Senate versions. In the course of a typical authorization cycle, congressional staffs receive many requests for information on provisions contained in the annual NDAA. This report highlights those personnel-related issues that seem likely to generate high levels of congressional and constituent interest, and tracks their status in the House and Senate versions of the FY2015 NDAA. The initial House version of the Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, H.R. 4435 (113 th Congress), was introduced in the House on April 9, 2014; reported by the House Committee on Armed Services on May 13, 2014 ( H.Rept. 113-446 ); and passed by the House on May 22, 2014. A Senate version, S. 2410 (113 th Congress), was introduced in the Senate on June 2, 2014, and reported by the Senate Committee on Armed Services ( S.Rept. 113-176 ) on the same day. However, the Senate did not consider this bill. Instead, members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees drafted H.R. 3979 , a proposed final version of the FY2015 NDAA. On December 4, 2014, the House approved this H.R. 3979 . Related CRS products are identified to provide more detailed background information and analysis of the issues. For each issue, a CRS analyst is identified and contact information is provided. Some issues were addressed in the FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act, and discussed in CRS Report R43184, FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues , coordinated by [author name scrubbed], or earlier versions of reports on this act. Those issues that were considered previously are designated with a " * " in the relevant section titles of this report. Background: The authorized active duty end-strengths for FY2001, enacted in the year prior to the September 11 th terrorist attacks, were as follows: Army (480,000), Navy (372,642), Marine Corps (172,600), and Air Force (357,000). Over the next decade, in response to the demands of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress increased the authorized personnel strength of the Army and Marine Corps. Some of these increases were quite substantial, particularly after FY2006, but Congress began reversing these increases in light of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011 and a drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan which began in 2012. In FY2014, the authorized end-strength for the Army was 520,000, while the authorized end-strength for the Marine Corps was 190,200. Given the budgetary outlook, particularly the future impact of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), the Army plans to reduce its active personnel strength to between 420,000 and 450,000 by FY2017, while the Marine Corps plans to reduce its active personnel strength to between 175,000 to 182,600. End-strength for the Air Force and Navy has decreased gradually since 2001. The authorized end-strength for FY2014 was 327,600 for the Air Force and 323,600 for the Navy. Discussion: In light of the ongoing drawdown in Afghanistan and the budgetary environment, the Administration requested major reductions in Army (-30,000), Air Force (-16,700), and Marine Corps (-6,100) end strengths in comparison to their FY2014 authorized end-strengths. The end-strength request for the Navy remained stable at 323,600 in comparison to FY2014. The figures in H.R. 3979 are identical to the administration's end-strength request except for the Air Force; the proposed final bill recommends an Air Force end-strength slightly higher (+2,080) than the Administration's request. Taken together, the proposed final bill stipulates a total active duty end-strength which is 50,720 lower than the FY2014 level. The committee report which accompanied H.R. 4435 noted that "the services plan for more drastic reductions in end strength and force structure in fiscal year 2016 absent a change in the Budget Control Act of 2011" and expressed concerns that "This continued stress on the force, coupled with potential further reductions as a result of the BCA's discretionary caps, may have serious implications on the capacity and capability of the All-Volunteer Force and the ability for the services to meet the National Defense Strategy." Reference(s): Previously discussed in CRS Report R43184, FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues , and similar reports from earlier years. CRS Point of Contact: [author name scrubbed], x[phone number scrubbed]. Background: Although the Reserves have been used extensively in support of operations since September 11, 2001, the overall authorized end strength of the Selected Reserves has declined by about 4% over the past twelve years (874,664 in FY2001 versus 842,700 in FY2014). Much of this can be attributed to the reductions in Navy Reserve strength during this period. There were also modest shifts in strength for some other components of the Selected Reserve. For comparative purposes, the authorized end strengths for the Selected Reserves for FY2001 were as follows: Army National Guard (350,526), Army Reserve (205,300), Navy Reserve (88,900), Marine Corps Reserve (39,558), Air National Guard (108,022), Air Force Reserve (74,358), and Coast Guard Reserve (8,000). Between FY2001 and FY2014, the largest shifts in authorized end strength have occurred in the Army and Navy Reserve (-29,800 or -33.5%), Army National Guard (+3,674 or +1.1%), Air Force Reserve (-3,958 or -5.3%), and Coast Guard Reserve (+1,000 or +12.5%). A smaller change occurred in the Air National Guard (-2,622 or -2.4%), while the authorized end strength of the Army Reserve (-300 or -0.15%) and the Marine Corps Reserve (+42 or +0.11%) have been largely unchanged during this period. Discussion: For FY2015, the Administration requested an authorized Selected Reserve end strength lower than those for FY2014 for all of the reserve components. The reductions in comparison to FY2014 are as follows: Army National Guard (-4,000), Army Reserve (-3,000), Navy Reserve (-1,800), Marine Corps Reserve (-400), Air National Guard (-400), Air Force Reserve (-3,300) and Coast Guard Reserve (-2,000). The recommendations in the proposed final bill are identical with the administration's request. Reference(s): Previously discussed in CRS Report R43184, FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues , and similar reports from earlier years. CRS Point of Contact: [author name scrubbed], x[phone number scrubbed]. Background: Increasing concern with the overall cost of military personnel, combined with longstanding congressional interest in recruiting and retaining high quality personnel to serve in the all-volunteer military, have continued to focus interest on the military pay raise. Section 1009 of Title 37 provides a permanent formula for an automatic annual increase in basic pay that is indexed to the annual increase in the Employment Cost Index (ECI). The increase in basic pay for 2015 under this statutory formula would be 1.8% unless either: (1) Congress passes a law to provide otherwise; or (2) the President specifies an alternative pay adjustment under subsection (e) of 37 U.S.C. 1009. The FY2015 President's Budget requested a 1.0% military pay raise, lower than the statutory formula of 1.8%. This is in keeping with Department of Defense (DOD) plans to limit increases in basic pay through FY2017: As part of the FY 2014 President's Budget, the Department had already planned on limiting basic pay raises through FY 2017 to levels likely below those called for under the formula in current law, which calls for a raise to equal the annual increase in the wages and salaries of private industry employees as measured by the ECI. This FY 2014 plan called for pay raises of 1.0 percent in FY 2015 and FY 2016, 1.5 percent in FY 2017, and then returned to more likely ECI levels of 2.8 percent in FY 2018 and beyond. Similar to FY 2014, the FY 2015 President's Budget again seeks a 1.0 percent basic pay raise for military members in FY 2015, which is less generous than the 1.8 percent increase in ECI as of September 30, 2013. Discussion: The House bill contained no provision to specify the rate of increase in basic pay, although the report accompanying it ( H.Rept. 113-446 ) contained the following statement: The committee continues to believe that robust and flexible compensation programs are central to maintaining a high-quality, all-volunteer, combat-ready force. Accordingly, the committee supports a 1.8 percent military pay raise for fiscal year 2015, in accordance with current law, in order for military pay raises to keep pace with the pay increases in the private sector, as measured by the Employment Cost Index. The Senate committee-reported version contained a provision waiving the automatic adjustment of 37 U.S.C. 1009 and setting the pay increase at 1.0% for servicemembers below the O-7 paygrade. On August 29, President Obama sent a letter to Congress invoking 37 U.S.C.