Introduction The Corps is a uniformed service; not an armed force. See 10 USC § 101. In times of national emergency, the President may declare the Corps to be a military service. See 42 USC § 217. Congress passes many laws. Some laws affect the Corps. If the language of the law states “Armed Force” and not “Uniformed Service”, the law or portion of the law does not apply to the Corps. Thus, the Corps monitors the House and Senate for bills, i.e. potential laws, that may affect Corps policy and benefits. For example, the transferability portion of the Post 9-11 GI Bill originally stated Armed Force. Therefore, it did not apply the Corps officers. An amendment to the Post 9-11 GI Bill was passed that changed the language to state Uniformed Service and transferability applied to the Corps.

Introduction (con’t.) The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) requests legislative proposals, i.e. A-19s, every year for any legislation that may affect the Corps. OASH reviews the A-19s and forwards them to the Assistant Secretary for Legislation. As laws are passed, policy, i.e. Corps Directives and Instructions, are passed to implement the law. Check the CCMIS website to for announcements of new policy.

Sources of Corps Policy and Regulations Title 42, Chapter 6A, US Code “The Public Health Service”- Contains laws that govern the administration of the Corps. Section 213a references benefits of Title 10 that Corps officers are entitled to the Same as Army officers. Title 10, “Armed Forces” Title 37, “Pay and Allowances of the Uniform Services” Title 38, “Veteran’s Benefits” Title 42, “Public Health” of Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The CFR implements the laws outline din the US Code.

Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Corps Section 5209 of the ACA eliminated the cap number on Corps officers. Section 5210 of the ACA eliminated the Reserve Corps from the law and established the Ready Reserve. In fact, the law states there shall be a Regular Commissioned Corps and a Ready Reserve Corps for use in time of national emergency. Thus, all laws, Executive Orders and Corps policy that reference the Reserve Corps are no longer valid. All Corps directives and instructions that reference the Reserve Corps are being updated to reflect the Ready Reserve. New Corps appointment standards are needed given the establishment of the Ready Reserve. The appointment standards are list in Title 42, Part 21 of the CFR. The updates are drafted and submitted for the ASH’s approval.

Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Corps (con’t.) The Ready Reserve is for use in times of national emergency. The four uses of the Ready Reserve are training, national emergencies and public health crisis, back-filling for active duty officers in the event of a crisis and serving the medically underserved population in isolated, hardship areas. The President delegated the authority to the Secretary to appoint officers to the Ready Reserve for a period no longer than 6 months. The President retained the authority to appoint officers to the Ready Reserve for longer than 6 months. This is mainly used for JR COSTEPS.

Assimilation Section 5209 of the ACA amended 42 USC § 204 deeming all officers classified as Reserve Corps and serving on active duty on 23 March 2010 to be officers of the Regular Corps. The Secretary has issued a new Directive for officers deemed Regular Corps. The new Instruction will be posted to the CCMIS website. All officers deemed Regular will receive orders declaring such with the effective date 23 March All officers deemed Regular Corps will serve a 3 year probationary period. After the 3 year probationary period, there will be a file review to determine if the officer is suitable for further service. The three year clock started on March 23, Officers deemed Regular Corps will not receive constructive credit for pay purposes. Under the former assimilation process, officers received constructive credit, i.e. credit for time for pay purposes, when the officer passed the assimilation board.

Assimilation (con’t.) New Regulations are needed for the management of all Regular Corps officers. The following regulations have been submitted for clearance: Force Management Involuntary Separation Administrative Action The following regulations are under internal review: Retirement Promotions

Transformation Transformation years spanned 2003 to Major accomplishments include: New billet structure Transitioning to Direct Access for personnel IT support Establishment of the 2-week OBC, which recently graduated its 50 th class

New Accountability Structure OCCFM, OCCO, OFRD, COTA and their respective subdivisions are reorganized into the new Division of Commissioned Corp Personnel (DCCPR). A reorganization chart is pending publication of the notice for DCCPR in the Federal Register. The reorganization was instituted to better serve Corps officers, the various agencies and non-departmental entities. RADM Scott Giberson is the Director of DCCPR.

DCCPR, Policy Group 1101 Wootton Parkway Plaza Level Rockville, MD