Study and analysis for enhanced maritime surge maintenance, repair, and production capacity

(a) Requirement The Secretary of the Navy shall conduct a feasibility study and business case analysis to evaluate the requirements necessary to expand and optimize existing Navy Reserve maintenance programs, including the Navy Reserve Engineering Duty Officer (NR EDO) Program 29 and the SurgeMain program, to provide enhanced maritime surge maintenance, repair, and production capacity. (b) Report The Secretary of the Navy shall submit a report to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives of the results of the feasibility study and business case analysis required by subsection (a) not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, which addresses the following elements: (1) An assessment of the expansion and optimization of existing Navy Reserve maintenance capabilities, including the Navy Reserve Engineering Duty Officer Program 29 and the SurgeMain construct, and the associated end-strength requirements for supporting both public and private shipyards without degrading current fleet readiness support. (2) An evaluation of the integration of advanced industrial skillsets into existing Reserve ratings and designators. (3) An analysis of the utilization of existing funding mechanisms, including established Navy Reserve training authorities. (4) An evaluation of public-private vocational and technical training partnerships to support workforce development and reduce the need for the Navy to independently develop new training pipelines. (5) An assessment of a legal and operational framework to allow Navy Reserve personnel to support production and maintenance backlogs at private shipyards holding Department of Defense contracts, including an assessment of labor relations, collective bargaining considerations, potential impacts on civilian overtime, recruitment, and retention, and requirements to ensure Reserve personnel supplement rather than displace skilled private-sector workers. (6) Identification of statutory, regulatory, funding, manpower, and other barriers associated with implementation and recommendations for necessary legislative or policy relief. (c) Definition In this section, the term SurgeMain program means the Navy Reserve Surge Maintenance program.