This Act may be cited as the “Strategic Defense Fellows Act of 2023”.

(a) Selection of participants.—Subsection (d)(2) of section 932 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115–232; 10 U.S.C. 1580 note prec.) is amended to read as follows:

“(2) GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION.—Out of the total number of individuals selected to participate in the fellows program in any year, no more than 20 percent may be from any of the following geographic regions:

“(A) The Northeast United States.

“(B) The Southeast United States.

“(C) The Midwest United States.

“(D) The Southwest United States.

“(E) The Western United States.

“(F) Alaska, Hawaii, United States territories, and areas outside the United States.”.

(b) Appointment, placement, and conversion.—Such section is further amended—

(1) in subsection (d)(3)—

(A) by striking “assigned” and inserting “appointed”; and

(B) by striking “assignment” and inserting “appointment”; and

(2) by amending subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:

“(e) Appointment.—

“(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who participates in the fellows program shall be appointed into an excepted service position in the Department.

“(2) POSITION REQUIREMENTS.—Each year, the head of each Department of Defense Component shall submit to the Secretary of Defense placement opportunities for participants in the fellows program. Such placement opportunities shall provide for leadership development and potential commencement of a career track toward a position of senior leadership in the Department. The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the heads of Department of Defense Components, shall establish qualification requirements for the appointment of participants under paragraph (1) and subsection (f)(2).

“(3) APPOINTMENT TO POSITIONS.—Each year, the Secretary of Defense shall appoint participants in the fellows program to positions in the Department of Defense Components. In making such appointments, the Secretary shall seek to best match the qualifications and skills of the participants with the requirements for positions available for appointment.

“(4) TERM.—The term of each appointment under the fellows program shall be one year with the option to extend the appointment up to one additional year.

“(5) GRADE.—An individual appointed to a position under the fellows program shall be appointed at a level between GS–10 and GS–12 of the General Schedule based on the directly-related qualifications, skills, and professional experience of the individual.

“(6) EDUCATION LOAN REPAYMENT.—To the extent that funds are provided in advance in appropriations Acts, the Secretary of Defense may repay a loan of a participant in the fellows program if the loan is described by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 16301(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code. Any repayment of a loan under this paragraph may require a minimum service agreement, as determined by the Secretary.

“(7) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMPONENT DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘Department of Defense Component’ means a Department of Defense Component, as set forth in section 111 of title 10, United States Code.

“(f) Career development.—

“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that participants in the fellows program—

“(A) receive career development opportunities and support appropriate for the commencement of a career track within the Department leading toward a future position of senior leadership within the Department, including ongoing mentorship support through appropriate personnel from entities within the Department; and

“(B) are provided appropriate employment opportunities for competitive and excepted service positions in the Department upon successful completion of the fellows program.

“(2) NONCOMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT OR CONVERSION.—Upon a participant’s successful completion of the fellows program, the Secretary may, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, noncompetitively appoint or convert the participant into a vacant competitive or excepted service position in the Department, if the Secretary determines that such appointment or conversion will contribute to the development of highly qualified future senior leaders for the Department. The Secretary may appoint or convert the participant into a position up to the GS–13 level of the General Schedule or an equivalent position for which the participant is qualified without regard to any minimum time in grade requirements.

“(3) APPOINTMENT OF FORMER PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary may utilize the authority in paragraph (2) for a participant—

“(A) up to 2 years after the date of the participant’s successful completion of the fellows program; or

“(B) in the case of a participant who entered the fellows program before the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, up to 5 years after the date of the participant’s successful completion of the fellows program.

“(4) PUBLICATION OF SELECTION.—The Secretary shall publish, on an Internet website of the Department available to the public, the names of the individuals selected to participate in the fellows program.”.