,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ecec  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,december #f1        
#bjai,ms4 ,houlahan 7for herself and    
,mr4 ,meadows7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a      
,,bill  ,to establish a policy to       
promote and maintain digital and        
software development expertise in the   
workforce of the ,department of         
,defense4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,armed ,forces      
,digital ,advantage ,act4  #b4 ,policy  
on the talent management of digital     
expertise and software professionals    
7a7 ,policy  7#a7 ,in general ,it shall 
be a policy of the ,department of       
,defense to promote and maintain digital
 expertise and software development as  
core competencies of civilian and       
military workforces of the ,department1 
and as a capability to support the      
,national ,defense ,strategy1 which     
policy shall be achieved by--  7,a7 the 

recruitment1 development1 and           
incentivization of retention in and to  
the civilian and military workforce of  
the ,department of individuals with     
aptitude1 experience1 proficient        
expertise1 or a combination thereof in  
digital expertise and software          
development2  7,b7 at the discretion of 
the ,secretaries of the military        
departments1 the development and        
maintenance of civilian and military    
career tracks related to digital        
expertise1 and related digital          
competencies for members of the ,armed  
,forces1 including the development and  
maintenance of training1 education1     
talent management1 incentives1 and      
promotion policies in support of members
 at all levels of such career tracks2   
and  7,c7 the development and           
application of appropriate readiness    
standards and metrics to measure and    
report on the overall capability1       
capacity1 utilization1 and readiness of 
digital engineering professionals to    

develop and deliver operational         
capabilities and employ modern business 
practices4  7#b7 ,definitions ,for      
purposes of this section1 digital       
engineering is the discipline and set of
 skills involved in the creation1       
processing1 transmission1 integration1  
and storage of digital data 7including  
but not limited to data science1 machine
 learning1 software engineering1        
software product management1 and        
artificial intelligence product         
management74  7b7 ,responsibility  7#a7 
,appointment of ,officer ,not later than
 #bgj days after the date of enactment  
of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,defense
 shall appoint a civilian official      
responsible for the development and     
implementation of the policy set forth  
in subsection 7a74 ,the official shall  
be known as the ,chief ,digital         
,engineering ,recruitment and           
,management ,officer of the ,department 
of ,defense 7in this section referred to
 as the ,officer74  7#b7 ,expiration of 

appointment ,the appointment of the     
,officer under paragraph 7#a7 shall     
expire on ,september #cj1 #bjbi4  7c7   
,duties ,in developing and providing for
 the discharge of the policy set forth  
in subsection 7a71 the ,officer shall   
work with the ,assistant ,secretaries of
 the military departments for ,manpower 
and ,reserve ,affairs to carry out the  
following3  7#a7 ,develop for1 and      
enhance within1 the recruitment programs
 of each ,armed ,force various core     
initiatives1 programs1 activities1 and  
mechanisms1 tailored to the unique needs
 of each ,armed ,force1 to identify and 
recruit civilian employees and members  
of the ,armed ,forces with demonstrated 
aptitude1 interest1 and proficiency in  
digital engineering1 and in science1    
technology1 engineering1 and mathematics
 7,,stem7 generally1 including          
initiatives1 programs1 activities1 and  
mechanisms to target populations of     
individuals not typically aware of      
opportunities in the ,department of     

,defense for a digital engineering      
career4  7#b7 ,identify and share with  
the military departments best practices 
around the development of flexible      
career tracks and identifiers for       
digital engineering and related digital 
competencies and meaningful             
opportunities for career development1   
talent management1 and promotion within 
such career tracks4  7#c7 ,develop and  
maintain education1 training1 doctrine1 
rotational opportunities1 and           
professional development activities to  
support the civilian and military       
digital engineering workforce4  7#d7    
,coordinate and synchronize digital     
force management activities throughout  
the ,department of ,defense1 advise the 
,secretary of ,defense on all matters   
pertaining to the health and readiness  
of digital forces1 convene a            
,department-wide executive steering     
group1 and submit to ,congress an annual
 report on the readiness of digital     
forces and progress toward achieving the

 policy set forth in subsection 7a74    
7#e7 ,create a ,department-wide         
mechanism to track digital expertise in 
the workforce1 develop and maintain     
organizational policies1 strategies1 and
 plans sufficient to build1 maintain1   
and refresh internal capacity at scale1 
and report to the ,secretary quarterly  
on the health and readiness the digital 
engineering workforce4  7#f7 ,assist the
 military departments in designing1     
developing1 and executing programs and  
incentives to retain1 track1 and oversee
 digital expertise among civilian       
employees of the ,department and members
 of the ,armed ,forces on active duty4  
7#g7 ,at the request of the ,chief of   
,staff of an ,armed ,force1 or the head 
of another component or element of the  
,department1 undertake an executive     
search for key leadership positions in  
digital engineering in such ,armed      
,force1 component1 or element1 and      
develop and deploy agile hiring         
processes to fill such positions4  7#h7 

,identify necessary changes in          
authorities1 policies1 resources1 or a  
combination thereof to further the      
policy set forth in subsection 7a71 and 
submit to ,congress a report on such    
changes4  7d7 ,implementation plan ,not 
later than ,may #a1 #bjbj1 the          
,secretary of ,defense shall submit to  
the ,committees on ,armed ,services of  
the ,house of ,representatives and the  
,senate a plan to carry out the         
requirements of this section4 ,the plan 
shall include the following3  7#a7 ,an  
assessment of progress of the ,secretary
 in recruiting an individual to serve as
 the ,officer required to be appointed  
under subsection 7b74  7#b7 ,a timeline 
for implementation of the requirements  
of this section1 including input from   
each military department on its unique  
timeline4  7#c7 ,recommendations for any
 legislative or administrative action   
required to meet the requirements of    
this section4