Sec. 552. Establishment of mentoring and career counseling program
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Chapter 107 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments and the Chief Diversity Officer, shall implement a program for mentoring and career counseling that— ensures that all military occupational specialties and career fields reflect the demographics of the armed forces; and ensures that members in all ranks and grades reflect the demographics of the armed forces. The program under subsection
(a)shall— include mentoring and career counseling efforts that start prior to the initial career field decision point and continue throughout the career of each participating member; provide guidance on accession into the military occupational specialties and career fields that experience the highest rates and greatest number of promotions to a grade above O–6; and promote information regarding career choices, including opportunities in the reserve components, to optimize the ability of a participating member to make informed career choices from accession to retirement. The Secretary of Defense shall establish and maintain metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the program under this section. . The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 107 of such title is amended by at the end the following new item: 2158. Mentoring and career counseling program. . Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the implementation of section 2158 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). The report under paragraph
(1)shall include the following: A description and assessment of the manner in which the Department of Defense shall implement the program under subsection
(a)of such section 2158. The initial evaluation metrics developed under subsection
(c)of such section 2158. An explanation of whether the program will be carried out as part of another program of the Department or through the establishment of a separate program. A comprehensive description of the additional personnel, resources, and training that will be required to implement the program, including identification of the specific number of additional billets that will be needed to staff the program. Recommendations of the Secretary for additional legislation that the Secretary determines e necessary to effectively and efficiently implement the program. Not later than October 1, 2021, and annually thereafter for three years, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the program under section 2158 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). Each report under paragraph
(1)shall include, disaggregated by Armed Force, the following: The latest evaluation metrics developed under subsection
(c)of such section 2158. The number of individuals, disaggregated by grade, ethnicity, race, and gender, who were eligible for participation in the program. The number of individuals, disaggregated by grade, ethnicity, race, and gender, who opted out of participation in the program. An assessment of the effectiveness of the program in advancing the careers of minority commissioned officers. The Secretary of Defense shall— publish on an appropriate publicly available website of the Department of Defense the reports required under subsections
(c)and (d); and ensure that any data included with each such report is made available in a machine-readable format that is downloadable, searchable, and sortable. The Secretary of Defense shall implement the program under section 2158 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act. In this section: The term minority person means any individual who is a citizen of the United States and who is— Asian American; Native Hawaiian; a Pacific Islander; African American; Hispanic; Puerto Rican; Native American; an Alaska Native; or female. The term minority commissioned officer means any commissioned officer who is a minority person. The term machine-readable has the meaning given that term in section 3502(18) of title 44, United States Code.