117th CONGRESS 2d Session |
To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize more enlisted members of the Armed Forces to attend the Naval Postgraduate School.
November 7, 2022
Mr. Panetta (for himself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Waltz, and Mr. Fallon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize more enlisted members of the Armed Forces to attend the Naval Postgraduate School.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Strengthening the Force and Fleet Through Enlisted Education Act” or the “Smart Act”.
It is the sense of Congress that:
(1) The demands of the future operating environment need to be met by the most professional, intelligent, innovative, and capable servicemembers our Nation has ever produced.
(2) Though officers comprise roughly 18 percent of the Armed Forces, they receive significantly higher investments into their education up to the PhD level than that of their enlisted counterparts.
(3) Investing in enlisted advanced education will strengthen the lethality of the Armed Forces by producing higher quantities of noncommissioned officers able to operate through the intellectual demands of complex contingencies, producing military leaders at rates higher than is otherwise feasible with the pool of eligible officers.
(4) Conducting research and analysis on the impact of advanced education on enlisted servicemembers performance, promotion rate, misconduct, and retention is critical to propelling the Department of Defense’s initiatives for a modern, state-of-the art approach to education and research to create and sustain an intellectual overmatch in today’s warfighting domains.
(5) The Naval Postgraduate School serves as a converging point for all branches of the United States military while simultaneously offering innovative learning environments that, combined, offers an ideal testing ground to evaluate the potential benefits of expanding enlisted higher education across the Joint Force.
SEC. 3. Naval Postgraduate School: attendance by enlisted members.
(a) In general.—Subsection (a)(2)(D)(iii) of section 8545 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking “only on a space-available basis” and inserting “at a rate of acceptance not to be conditioned by the number of officer applications”.
(b) Briefing.—Six years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall brief the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives on the effects of increasing enrollment of enlisted members at the Naval Postgraduate School pursuant to the amendment made by subsection (a). Such briefing shall include the following elements:
(1) Any increase to the lethality of the Armed Forces.
(2) Effects on rates of recruitment, promotion (including compensation to members), and retention.
(3) Effects on malign behavior by members of the Armed Forces.