Surface Warfare Officer Leadership Enhancement Act or the SWOLE Act
This bill addresses Naval operations, including the duties of surface warfare officers. Specifically, the bill requires that any person originally commissioned as a surface warfare officer in the Navy on or after January 1, 2023, be assigned to the ship engineering systems career path or the ship operations and combat systems path.
The Department of Defense (DOD) must seek to enter into an agreement with a nonprofit entity or federally funded research and development center independent of DOD to research and analyze the gender gap in retention of surface warfare officers in the Navy.
The Navy must not expend more than 75% of the funds authorized to be appropriated in FY2022 for Ship Operations, Operations and Maintenance, Navy, until the Navy certifies to Congress that it has established certain standards and procedures by which a member of the Navy can receive a merchant mariner credential with a national officer endorsement, a national rating endorsement, or a Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping endorsement.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4935 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4935
To amend title 10, United States Code, to clarify the roles of surface
warfare officers of the Navy, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 3, 2021
Mr. Wittman (for himself and Mr. Gallagher) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to clarify the roles of surface
warfare officers of the Navy, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Surface Warfare Officer Leadership
Enhancement Act'' or the ``SWOLE Act''.
SEC. 2. SURFACE WARFARE OFFICERS OF THE NAVY.
(a) Surface Warfare Officers Career Paths.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 815 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 8139 the following
new section:
``Sec. 8140. Regular Navy: officers designated for surface warfare
``Any person originally commissioned as a surface warfare officer
in the Navy on or after January 1, 2023, shall be assigned to one of
the following career paths:
``(1) Ship engineering systems.
``(2) Ship operations and combat systems.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 8139 the following new item:
``8140. Regular Navy: officers designated for surface warfare.''.
(b) Independent Assessment of Retention of Female Surface Warfare
Officers.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall seek to
enter into an agreement with a nonprofit entity or a federally
funded research and development center independent of the
Department of Defense to conduct research and analysis on the
gender gap in retention of surface warfare officers in the
Navy.
(2) Elements.--The research and analysis conducted under
paragraph (1) shall include consideration of the following:
(A) Demographics of surface warfare officers,
disaggregated by gender, including--
(i) race;
(ii) ethnicity;
(iii) socioeconomic status;
(iv) marital status (including whether the
spouse is a member of the Armed Forces and, if
so, the length of service of such spouse);
(v) whether the officer has children
(including number and age or ages of children);
(vi) whether an immediate family member
serves or has served as a member of the Armed
Forces; and
(vii) the percentage of such officers who--
(I) indicate an intent to complete
only an initial service agreement; and
(II) complete only an initial
service agreement.
(B) Whether there is a correlation between the
number of female surface warfare officers serving on a
vessel and responses of such officers to command
climate surveys.
(C) An anonymous but traceable study of command
climate results to--
(i) correlate responses from particular
female surface warfare officers with
resignation; and
(ii) compare attitudes of first-tour and
second-tour female surface warfare officers.
(D) Recommendations based on the findings under
subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).
(3) Reports.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 270 days after the
date on which a nonprofit entity or federally funded
research and development center enters into an
agreement under paragraph (1) with the Secretary of
Defense, such entity or center shall submit to the
Secretary of Defense a report on the results of the
research and analysis under paragraph (1).
(B) Submission to congress.--Not later than one
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional
defense committees each of the following:
(i) A copy of the report submitted under
subparagraph (A) without change.
(ii) Any comments, changes,
recommendations, or other information provided
by the Secretary of Defense relating to the
research and analysis under paragraph (1) and
contained in such report.
(c) Limitation on Training of Surface Warfare Officers.--
(1) In general.--Of the funds authorized to be appropriated
or otherwise made available in fiscal year 2022, the Secretary
of the Navy shall not expend more than 75 percent of the funds
authorized to be appropriated for Ship Operations, Operation
and Maintenance, Navy, until the date on which the Secretary
submits to the congressional defense committees the
certification under paragraph (2) and the report under
paragraph (3).
(2) Certification.--
(A) In general.--Certification under this
subparagraph is a certification in writing to the
Congressional defense committees that the Secretary of
the Navy has established standards and procedures
(subject to subparagraph (B)) by which a member of the
Navy can receive--
(i) a merchant mariner credential with a
national officer endorsement officer section
10.109(a) of title 46, Code Federal
Regulations, as in effect on the date of the
enactment of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2022;
(ii) a national rating endorsement under
section subsection (b) or (c) of section 10.109
of such title; or
(iii) a Standards of Training,
Certification, and Watchkeeping endorsement
under section 10.109(d) of such title.
(B) Stringency.--In no case shall the standards
described in subparagraph (A) be less stringent than
the standards applied by the Army, Military Sealift
Command, or Coast Guard vessel operators.
(3) Report.--Concurrent with the certification under
paragraph (2), the Secretary of the Navy shall submit to the
congressional defense committees a report that updates the
military-to-mariner transition provided in response to section
568 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2017 (Public Law 114-328) that includes--
(A) a description of how the training program for
surface warfare officers exceeds the minimum
requirements for a merchant mariner credential with an
appropriate endorsement;
(B) a list of the proposed naval curriculum courses
that have been submitted to the National Maritime
Center for course credentialing; and
(C) a timeline for--
(i) all Navy seagoing personnel to receive
merchant mariner credentials with national
officer and ratings endorsements; and
(ii) 50 percent of such personnel to
receive such credential with Standards of
Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping
endorsement.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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