Record of Military Service for Members of the Armed Forces Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1291 To provide for a standard record of service on active duty for members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 21, 2021 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. TESTER) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Armed Services A BILL To provide for a standard record of service on active duty for members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Record of Military 4 Service for Members of the Armed Forces Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1291.IS S1291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1291 IS SEC. 2. RECORD OF MILITARY SERVICE FOR MEMBERS OF 1 THE ARMED FORCES. 2 (a) STANDARD RECORD OF SERVICE REQUIRED.— 3 Chapter 59 of title 10, United States Code, is amended 4 by inserting after section 1168 the following new sections: 5 ‘‘§ 1168a. Discharge or release: record of military 6 service 7 ‘‘(a) RECORD OF SERVICE REQUIRED.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 9 shall establish and implement a standard record of 10 military service for all members of the active and re- 11 serve components of the armed forces to encompass 12 all duty under this title and titles 32, and 14. 13 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION.—The record of service shall 14 be known as the ‘Certificate of Military Service’. 15 ‘‘(b) NATURE AND SCOPE.—The record of service re- 16 quired by subsection (a) shall— 17 ‘‘(1) consist of a standardized summary of the 18 service on active duty, inactive duty, annual train- 19 ing, active duty for training, and State active duty 20 in the armed forces of each member who serves in 21 the armed forces; 22 ‘‘(2) be the same document for all members of 23 the armed forces; and 24 ‘‘(3) replace and serve the same function as a 25 discharge certificate or certificate of release from ac- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1291.IS S1291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1291 IS tive duty for purposes of section 1168 of this title 1 that is performed as of the date of the enactment of 2 this Act by Department of Defense Form DD–214. 3 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, 4 the Secretary of Defense shall coordinate with all applica- 5 ble stakeholders, including the Secretary of Veterans Af- 6 fairs, in order to ensure that the record of service required 7 by subsection (a) serves as acceptable proof of military 8 service for receipt of applicable benefits under the laws 9 administered by such stakeholders.’’. 10 (b) ISSUANCE TO MEMBERS OF RESERVE COMPO- 11 NENTS.—Chapter 59 of such title, as amended by sub- 12 section (a), is further amended by inserting after section 13 1168a the following new section: 14 ‘‘§ 1168b. Record of military service: issuance to mem- 15 bers of reserve components 16 ‘‘An up-to-date record of service (as provided for by 17 section 1168a of this title) shall be issued to members of 18 the reserve components of the armed forces as follows: 19 ‘‘(1) Upon permanent change to duty status 20 (retirement, resignation, Expiration Term of Service, 21 commissioning to officer/warrant officer, or perma- 22 nent transfer to active duty). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1291.IS S1291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1291 IS ‘‘(2) Upon discharge or release from temporary 1 active duty orders (minimum of 90 days on orders 2 or 30 days for a contingency operation). 3 ‘‘(3) Upon promotion to each grade (starting at 4 O–3 for commissioned officers, W–3 for warrant of- 5 ficers, and E–4 for enlisted members). 6 ‘‘(4) In the case of a member of the National 7 Guard, upon any transfer to the National Guard of 8 another State or territory (commonly referred to as 9 an ‘Interstate Transfer’).’’. 10 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATED TO CUR- 11 RENT DISCHARGE CERTIFICATE AUTHORITIES.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 13 1168 of title 10, United States Code, is amended— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘his discharge certificate or 15 certificate of release from active duty, respec- 16 tively, and his final pay’’ and inserting ‘‘the 17 member’s record or military service (as provided 18 for by section 1168a of this title), and the 19 member’s final pay’’; and 20 (B) by striking ‘‘him or his’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘the member or the member’s’’. 22 (2) HEADING AMENDMENT.—The heading of 23 such section 1168 is amended to read as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1291.IS S1291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1291 IS ‘‘§ 1168. Discharge or release from active duty: limita- 1 tions; issuance of record of military serv- 2 ice’’. 3 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 4 at the beginning of chapter 59 of such title is amended 5 by striking the item relating to section 1168 and inserting 6 the following new items: 7 ‘‘1168. Discharge or release from active duty: limitations; issuance of record of military service. ‘‘1168a. Discharge or release: record of military service. ‘‘1168b. Record of military service: issuance to members of reserve compo- nents.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1291.IS S1291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS