Consideration in member assignments process of colocation of members and civilian employee spouses

(a) In general Not later than March 1, 2028, the Secretary of Defense shall require each of the Armed Forces to have in place a policy for achieving, as a secondary consideration during the process of assigning members to duty stations, colocation of covered couples. (b) Elements In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall— (1) ensure that, in assigning a member of the Armed Forces who is part of a covered couple to a duty station— (A) the primary considerations are the member’s current qualifications and ability to fill a valid mission requirement; and (B) colocation is a secondary consideration, to maximize the opportunities for continued employment of the civilian employee of the Department of Defense through all flexibilities available; (2) ensure civilian personnel policies and processes of the Department are updated to facilitate colocation; and (3) provide resources, training, and additional flexibilities where appropriate to the Armed Forces and human resources managers of the Department to facilitate retention of civilian employees of the Department during permanent change of station moves of members of the Armed Forces who are part of a covered couple. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Civilian employee of the Department of Defense The term civilian employee of the Department of Defense — (A) means an employee (as defined in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code) of the Department of Defense; (B) includes— (i) a nonappropriated fund instrumentality employee (as defined in section 1587(a) of title 10, United States Code); and (ii) a temporary employee of the Department; and (C) does not include an employee of a contractor of the Department of Defense. (2) Colocation The term colocation, with respect to a covered couple, means assigning the member of the Armed Forces to a duty location in a manner that results in the retention of the civilian employee of the Department of Defense at the same pay grade and in the same job series within any component of the Department, whether through remote work, alternate work site arrangements, a reassignment, or an internal transfer. (3) Covered couple The term covered couple means a couple in which a member of the Armed Forces serving on active duty and a civilian employee of the Department of Defense are married to each other.